REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

Operation of the High Flux Reactor in the period 2012-13

On 13 November 2012, the Council adopted a four-year (2012-15) supplementary research programme for the HFR (Council Decision 2012/709/Euratom) — ), to be implemented by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) on the operation of the High Flux Reactor (HFR) located in Petten, The Netherlands. Under Article 4 of this Council Decision, the Commission must keep the European Parliament and the Council informed by producing a mid-term report on the implementation of the supplementary research programme. This report addresses this obligation, and covers the 2012-13 period.

In operation since 1961, the HFR reactor provides a variety of irradiation location possibilities (reactor core, reflector region and in the poolside).

The main objectives of the supplementary research programme are:

To ensure the safe and reliable operation of the HFR, in order to guarantee the availability of the neutron flux for experimental purposes.

To allow an efficient use of the HFR by research institutes in a broad range of disciplines: improvement of the safety of nuclear reactors, health including the development of medical isotopes, nuclear fusion, fundamental research and training, and waste management including the possibility to study the safety issues of nuclear fuels for reactor systems of interest to Europe.

The HFR is used for the commercial production of radio-isotopes and also acts as a training facility for doctoral and post-doctoral fellows, allowing them to perform research activities through national or European programmes.

1. Safe operation of the HFR

The European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) is the owner of the HFR (for a lease of 99 years). The HFR reactor is operated by the NRG (Nuclear Research and Consultancy Group) which operates and maintains the plant and manages the commercial activities around the reactor. It has an operating licence granted by the Dutch national regulator KFD (Kernfysische Dienst). As for nuclear power plants, the HFR is subject to legally required 10-year periodic safety reviews which are performed by the NRG.

The 2012-13 period was characterised by several events that affected the availability of the neutron flux.

Initially, tritium was detected in the groundwater around the reactor building (traced back to an underground leak in a water pipeline) as well as a leak path between the primary cooling water system and the bottom plug cooling system (part of the pool cooling system). Both issues were of separate origin and were investigated and repaired and the reactor was restarted safely

The NRG then faced another distinct unplanned outage of two nuclear facilities, namely the high flux reactor (HFR) and the molybdenum production facility. The NRG put all its facilities and processes in a temporary safe standby mode to focus on global improvements in technology, procedures and organisation.

By the end of 2013, improvements were being carried out and implemented. The HFR and the other nuclear facilities once meeting all safety requirements, were authorised by KFD to return back in operation in early 2014.

In 2012, the planned cycle pattern consisted of a scheduled number of 296 operation days and one maintenance period of 31 days in March. The in-service inspection of the north and south reducer, welds of the reactor vessel and the annual leak test of the reactor containment were performed during this period. In reality, due to unplanned outages, the HFR was in operation for 253 days, which corresponds to an actual availability of 85.26 % compared with the original schedule. Its nominal power was at 45 MW, and the total energy production for 2012 was approximately 11 313 MWd, corresponding to a fuel consumption of about 14.12 kg U-235.

In 2013, the planned cycle pattern consisted of a scheduled number of 166 operation days and a maintenance period of 18 days during the month of August. In reality, due to unplanned outages relative to the aforementioned issues, the HFR was in operation during 81 days, which corresponds to an actual availability of 49.07 % compared the original schedule. Its nominal power was at 45 MW, and the total energy production for 2013 was approximately 3661 MWd, corresponding to a fuel consumption of about 4.57 kg U-235.

Maintenance activities consisted of preventive, corrective and regular maintenance of all systems, structures and components. They were carried out with the objective of ensuring the HFR’s safe and reliable operation. The main activities carried out during the maintenance period were the following:

(a) a major containment leak test (0.5 bars overpressure — 48 hour duration);

(b) an in-service inspection of the north and south reducers and the welds of the reactor vessel;