An international project that marries a particle accelerator and a nuclear reactor to create the first fast-neutron accelerator-driven system (ADS) is moving forward in Belgium. Two decades in the works, MYRRHA (multipurpose hybrid research reactor for high-tech applications) is designed to study material properties, reactor safety, advanced fuels, and nuclear waste transmutation. It will also be used to produce and develop medical isotopes.
Critics say that MYRRHA proponents are overselling the project. “One might think transmutation is on the list because they know they can get money for it,” says Friederike Frieß, a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Safety and Risk Sciences at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences in Vienna. Research on neutrons and materials is fine, she says, but transmutation and the fuel cycle present proliferation risks.
In September the Belgian government committed €558 million ($637 million) to the project. That money will be used...
