Annual report 1975

In 1975 RCN contributed to the research and development of water cooled reactors, fast sodium-cooled breeders and sevaral aspects of the fuel cycle. For thermonuclear reactors and non-nuclear energy systems, research projects are started or planned. Some non-energy research topics are isotope production, solid state physics, neutron capture gamma radiation, radiobiology, ecology and industrial applications. RCN cooperated in the risk analyses to prepare the governmental decision on the proposal to build three 1000 MWe plants as well as in safety studies concerning hypothetical accidents for the SNR-300 protoytpe plant under construction within the framework of the German Benelux collaboration on fast reactors. RCN completed its contribution to the three-particle centrifuge enrichment project. The Interfuel Company in which RCN was a partner has been terminated although promising work on the sol-gel process might be continued. Proposals have been put to the Dutch government to take part in the Belgian project to reactivate and expand the Eurochemical plant as well as to the European Commission to finance the construction and utilization of a storage cavern for low and medium level radioactive wastes. The forth-coming extension of RCN's tasks to the energy research field, where RCN will become Netherlands Energy Research Foundation (ECN), is reflected in its projects on windmill research and energy storage in flywheels