Institute for Nuclear Materials Science

The article describes the key activities of the Institute for Nuclear Materials Science (NMS) of the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre SCK-CEN. The general objective of the institute for Nuclear Material Science is to develop and assess new materials (i.e. fuels, structural materials and radioisotopes) for their suitability in nuclear applications. The overall approach comprises the experimental characterisation of the materials behaviour when subject to irradiation, the improved scientific understanding thereof, and its implementation in numerical simulations that enable the behaviour of materials in a nuclear environment to be predicted. These activities aim both to safeguard our own expertise and to offer high added value services to the nuclear industry