In search of new neutrinos and dark matter. The return of fundamental research to BR2

A consortium of three French, two British, and four Flemish universities and research institutions, including the Belgian Nuclear Research Center SCK-CEN, started in 2014 on the construction of a neutrino experiment in the BR2 reactor. A reactor such as this is an extremely intense source of neutrinos: elementary particles that are generated as a by-product of nuclear beta decay. BR2 is particularly suitable with regard to carrying out this measurement because of the compact core, the high operating capacity, sufficient space for placing a fairly large detector, and the extremely low background radiation. The article discusses recent developments.