[en] The annual scientific report gives a summary overview of the research and development activities at the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre SCK-CEN in 2006. The report discusses progress and main achievements in the following areas: reactor safety, radioactive waste and clean-up, radiation protection, the BR2 reactor, nuclear research and society, managing nuclear knowledge and fusion research

[en] The article describes the key activities of the Institute for Communication, General Services and Administration (CSA) of the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre SCK-CEN. CSA deals with communication and knowledge management and co-ordinates courses on the fundamentals and applications of nuclear research. CSA also comprises the administrative, financial, logistic and central technical services, as well as human resources and ICT

[en] At the SCK-CEN different specialised services are delivered for a whole range of external and internal customers in the radiation protection area. For the expertise group of radiation protection dosimetry and calibrations, these services are organized in four different laboratories: dosimetry, anthropogammametry, nuclear calibrations and non-nuclear calibrations. The services are given by a dedicated technical staff who has experience in the handling of routine and specialised cases. The scientific research that is performed by the expertise group makes sure that state-of-the-art techniques are being used, and that constant improvements and developments are implemented. Quality Assurance is an important aspect for the different services, and accreditation according national and international standards is achieved for all laboratories

[en] The introduction to the annual report 2006 of the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre SCK-CEN highlights the reorganisation of SCK-CEN that became effective in 2006. An overview is given of the principal activities of Institute for Nuclear Materials Science, the Institute for Advanced Nuclear Systems, the Institute for Environment, Health and Safety and the Institute for Communication, Services and Administration

[en] The MYRRHA Draft-2 design was produced in 2005, based on the International Technical Guidance Committee evaluation. It resulted in particular from the safety studies carried out with the Draft-1 design. In the IP-EUROTRANS program (EUROpean Research Program for the TRANSmutation of High-Level Nuclear Waste in an Accelerator Driven System), the MYRRHA Draft-2 design was adopted as a basis for the European XT-ADS of 50-100 MWth. In this view, the results of the MYRRHA Draft-2 safety studies will provide some guidance for the design of the future XT-ADS, especially for the core and the emergency cooling system

[en] As a federal research Centre, SCK-CEN has the statutory assignment to give priority to research related to safety, radioactive waste management, protection of man and environment, management of fissile and other strategic materials and social implications as part of the pursuit of sustainable development and to develop and gather the necessary knowledge and spread this knowledge through formation and communication. At the Division of Radiation Protection at SCK-CEN we are therefore active to maintain and enhance knowledge and expertise in each aspect of radiation protection: we study the risk of exposure - the way that radioactive materials spread in the environment and the potential for human contact - and the risk from exposure - how radiation affects human health; we perform health physics measurements; we are involved in emergency planning and preparedness and support to risk governance and decision taking. These activities are supported by radiation specific analysis and measurement techniques. These activities are not performed in isolation but in context of national and international collaborations or demands

[en] The forest tree vegetation, because of its longevity and high evaporative capacity, has a great influence on the water cycling: it can transpire about 80% of the potential evapotranspiration (PET, mm) under high evaporative demand. The presence of a shallow water table increases the water's availability to root uptake from deep layers. In the scenario of a water table polluted with radionuclides, identifying the sources of water used by the forest vegetation (precipitation vs groundwater) is necessary to correctly predict the rhythm at which radionuclides will be absorbed by trees and further recycled into biosphere. This study aims at understanding and quantifying the forest vegetation and water table interactions. Through the soil-tree-atmosphere continuum, the water fluxes were monitored in parallel to the element cycle, the biomass compartments and the ecophysiological response of a Scots pine stand during 2005 growing season

[en] 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

[en] The article describes the key activities of the Institute for Environment, Health and Safety of the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre SCK-CEN. Through the performance of experiments, the development of models and the integration of human sciences in our R and D, propose new durable methods, computer codes and measuring instruments for radiation protection, management and disposal of radioactive waste and dismantling of nuclear installations. These developments belong to the disciplines environmental chemistry, radiobiology and radioecology and include the transfer of radio nuclides in the geosphere and biosphere, as also the behaviour of micro-organisms in space

[en] The low-level radioactivity measurements service performs measurements of alpha or beta emitters on various types of low-radioactivity samples (biological and environmental) from internal and external clients. to maintain and develop techniques concerning the measurement of low-level radioactivity of alpha and beta emitting radionuclides in environmental or biological samples; to measure these samples by means of low-background counters (liquid scintillators, proportional counters, ZnS counters and alpha-spectrometers); to support and advise the nuclear and non-nuclear industry on problems of radioactive contamination or low level radioactivity measurements; to maintain the quality assurance system according to the ISO17025 standard for which we obtained the Beltest accreditation in 1998; to assess the internal dose from occupational intakes of radionuclides for workers of the nuclear industry;