The neutron utilization and promotion program of TRR-II research reactor project in Taiwan

The objective of the Taiwan research reactor system improvement and utilization promotion project is to reconstruct the old Taiwan research reactor (TRR), which was operated by the Institute of Nuclear Energy Research (INER) between 1973 and 1988, into a multi-purpose medium flux research reactor (TRR-II). The project started in 1998, and the new reactor is scheduled to have its first critical in June of 2006. The estimated maximum unperturbed thermal neutron flux (E<0.625 eV) is approximately 2.7 x 1014 n/cm2sec, and it is about one order of magnitude higher than other operating research reactors in Taiwan. The new reactor will equip with secondary neutron sources to provide neutrons with different energies, which will be an essential tool for advanced material researches in Taiwan. One of the major tasks of TRR-II project is to promote domestic utilization of neutrons generated at TRR-II. The traditional uses of neutrons in fuel/material research, trace element analysis, and isotope production has been carried out at INER for many years. On the other hand, it is obvious that promotions of neutron spectrometric technique will be a major challenge for the project team. The limited neutron flux from operating research reactors had discouraged domestic users in developing neutron spectrometric technique for many years, and only few researchers in Taiwan are experienced in using spectrometers. It is important for the project team to encourage domestic researchers to use neutron spectrometers provided by TRR-II as a tool for their future researches in various fields. This paper describes the current status of TRR-II neutron utilization and promotion program. The current status and future plans for important issues such as staff recruiting, personnel training, international collaboration, and promotion strategy will be described. (orig.)