The impact of trade project in the TRIGA RC-1 activities

TRIGA Mark II reactor of ENEA's Casaccia research Center (in Italy named RC-1) reached first criticality in 1960 and, after an upgrade completed in 1967, its power was increased till 1 MW. At this power level it is still running, mainly for short mean life time radioisotopes production (for medical purposes) and neutron radiography. Since 2001, plant personnel and other national/international scientist, were involved in the TRADE (TRiga Accelerator Driven Experiment) project. TRADE experiment, that consists in the coupling of an external proton accelerator to a target to be installed in the central channel of the TRIGA core scrammed to sub-criticality, was based on an original idea of Prof. Carlo Rubbia, presented at CEA in October 2000 and was aimed at a global demonstration of the ADS concept. The TRADE layout, the studies about Target, Target Cooling System, Shielding, system characterisation experiments and other aspects that were investigated, will be described in order to evidence their impact on the TRIGA reactor and related activities. (author)