Research reactors contribution in national nuclear programmes in Poland

The Polish Research Reactors EWA and MARIA are located in the Isotope Production and Reactor Centre/IPRC of the Institute of Atomic Energy. EWA-10 MW, was first put into service in 1958 as a 2 MW Research Reactor, designed especially for isotope irradiation and neutron beam experiments. It has been upgraded two times to achieve an actual power of 10 MW. MARIA-30 MW, is a material testing reactor with large capability of isotope irradiations. Some horizontal neutron beam tubes have been also designed. Nuclear power programme in Poland demands research support. MARIA is a particularly convenient reactor for loop experiments, so that two large loops are being under construction. The first one, for light water, PWR type reactor and the second is for fast breeder gas cooled reactor programme. Neutron beams of EWA and MARIA reactors are used for solid state investigation. For this reason several sorts of neutron spectrometers and diffractometers have been designed and constructed. Among different services, activation analysis and neutron doping of silicon are the most important. The spent fuel of MARIA reactor is a convenient gamma radiation source. It is used to sterilize some medical equipment. Such a wide range of the production and the services is to satisfy the national needs and is also the subject of exportation. (author)