Research reactor Jülich 2

Research reactor Jülich 2
location
Coordinates	50 ° 54 '15 "  N , 6 ° 25' 2"  E Coordinates: 50 ° 54 '15 "  N , 6 ° 25' 2"  E
country	Germany
Data
operator	research center Julich
start of building	June 11, 1958
Installation	November 14, 1962
Shutdown	May 2, 2006
Reactor type	Tank / heavy water reactor
Thermal performance	1962-1967 : 10 MW 1967-1972 : 15 MW from 1972 : 23 MW
Neutron flux density	3 × 10 14  n / (cm 2 s)
Website	Homepage at the FZJ
was standing	February 2, 2009

The research reactor Jülich 2 ( FRJ-2 , also called research reactor DIDO ) was a nuclear reactor that was operated from 1962 to 2006 on the premises of the Jülich Research Center (formerly the Jülich nuclear research facility ). With a nominal output of 23 megawatts (MW), it was the third largest research reactor ever to be in operation in Germany. As a neutron source, it was used exclusively for research purposes. The dismantling should take place by 2021.

history

The foundation stone for the DIDO research reactor was laid together with the MERLIN research reactor on June 11, 1958, a good year after the research center itself was founded (at that time the Society for the Promotion of Nuclear Physics Research ). The reactor reached its first criticality on November 14 1962, about nine months later than its partner reactor. Its thermal output was initially 10 MW, but it was possible to increase the output to 15 MW in October 1967 by exhausting existing reserves. In March 1972, after renovations, there was a further increase in output to 23 MW.

In 1968 an external neutron measuring house was added to the reactor building. This measuring house was replaced in 1986 by a larger laboratory called ELLA (External Electron Conductor Laboratory), in which various neutron scattering instruments for materials and structural research were set up. The entire reactor plant was continuously modernized and adapted to the state of science and technology.

On May 2, 2006, the reactor was finally shut down after almost 44 years of operation. The reactor is currently in the post-operational phase , which should last about two and a half years. The application for decommissioning was submitted to the Ministry of Economics, SMEs and Energy of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia on April 27, 2007. The European Commission approved the guidelines of the German Atomic Energy Act on July 24, 2008. The approval for decommissioning and dismantling was granted on September 20, 2012. The Jülich Research Center is responsible for the dismantling of the reactor plant to a “ green field ”.

In June 2004, Forschungszentrum Jülich signed a cooperation agreement with the Technical University of Munich , the operator of the new research neutron source Heinz Maier-Leibnitz . According to this, Forschungszentrum Jülich will set up an outstation to use the Munich research reactor in Garching . Seven measuring devices for neutron research worth a total of 45 million euros are to be brought to Garching and operated there independently.

construction

The research reactor FRJ-2 was a DIDO- class nuclear reactor . It was a tank-type reactor that was moderated and cooled with heavy water (D ₂ O). When nuclear fuel one was uranium - aluminum - alloy used in the 80 to 90 percent highly enriched uranium was used -235. The neutrons were graphite - reflectors bundled and passed into 30 horizontal jet pipes through the concrete shielding in the adjoining experiment hall. A cold neutron source was built into the largest beam tube.

In the last few years of operation, a total of twelve experiments with cold neutrons and six experiments with thermal neutrons were available. The experimental facilities included several diffractometers , time-of-flight spectrometers, three-axis spectrometers and backscattering spectrometers, as well as two small-angle scattering systems, a neutron spin echo spectrometer and an NMR spectrometer . The maximum thermal neutron flux was 3 × 10 ¹⁴ n / cm ² s.

research

The DIDO research reactor was the most powerful neutron source in Germany from the shutdown of the Karlsruhe Research Reactor 2 in 1981 to the commissioning of the Munich II Research Reactor in 2004. It was mainly used to carry out scattering and spectroscopy experiments on condensed matter . For example, additives have been developed to prevent diesel fuels from gelling in winter, and polymers have been developed as additives to increase the detergency of surfactants . This work was awarded the Erwin Schrödinger Prize of the Stifterverband for German Science in 2002. Furthermore, technetium for the detection of tumor cells in medical applications was produced at the research reactor .

See also

• List of nuclear power plants
• List of nuclear reactors in Germany

Web links

• Homepage of the DIDO research reactor at Forschungszentrum Jülich

swell

1. ↑ https://www.landtag.nrw.de/portal/WWW/dokumentenarchiv/Dokument/MMA16-871.pdf
2. ↑ ^{a b c d}  ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Research reactor FRJ-2 has been switched off since today, press release from Forschungszentrum Jülich dated May 2, 2006
3. ↑ List of nuclear facilities in the Federal Republic of Germany ( Memento of the original from January 26, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Federal Office for Radiation Protection, August 2011  
4. ↑  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Approval procedure for the decommissioning and dismantling of the FRJ-2, notification from Forschungszentrum Jülich dated August 20, 2008
5. ↑ https://www.jen-juelich.de/projekte/forschungsreaktor-frj-2-dido/
6. ↑  ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Scientific report 2006 of Forschungszentrum Jülich
7. ↑ Operation of reactor FRJ-2 (Dido) , information page of the Jülich Research Center
8. ↑ Schrödinger Prize 2002: Polymers make surfactants more efficient , press release of the Helmholtz Association, 2002