JRC Information Exchange event, Skopje, 19 October 2010
Joint Research Centre (JRC)
Research Facilities at the JRC
Ulla Engelmann
Joint Research Centre
European Commission
http://www.jrc.ec.europa.eu/
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JRC large-scale Infrastructures
JRC Information Exchange event, Skopje, 19 October 2010
The JRC has a wide range of
laboratories and unique research
facilities at its disposal. They
make it a valuable partner in
many research fields and
through numerous
collaborations, access to many
facilities is granted to scientists
from partner organisations.
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Accelerator Laboratories at JRC-IRMM
JRC Information Exchange event, Skopje, 19 October 2010
Cross-sections measurements
150 MeV linear electron
7 MV van de Graaff accelerator
driven quasi mono-energetic
neutron source
Neutron data for modelling
. nuclear waste transmutation
studies
. safe operation of nuclear power
plants; modelling of ageing
reactors
. understanding safety issues of
innovative reactor concepts
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GELINA – JRC-IRMM
JRC Information Exchange event, Skopje, 19 October 2010
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• Unique nuclear training
opportunities/multi-user facility serving up
to ten experiments
• The data obtained are used by the reactor
modelling community for the development
and safety assessment of innovative
nuclear reactor systems and for waste
transmutation studies.
Energy resolution
• Neutron time-of-flight facility with the best
time resolution in the world
Neutron flux
150 MeV linear electron accelerator in combination with a neutron time-of-flight
facility used for high-resolution neutron cross-section measurements.
The Van de Graaff Generator – JRC-IRMM
JRC Information Exchange event, Skopje, 19 October 2010
7 MV electrostatic accelerator producing either continuous or pulsed ion beams.
• Intense monoenergetic neutron fields are
produced in the energy range 1-24 MeV
by employing suitable nuclear reactions.
• It complements measurements at
GELINA for cases where high energy
resolution is not crucial.
• They are used by the reactor modelling
community for the development and
safety assessment of innovative nuclear
reactor systems and for waste
transmutation studies.
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EU Reference Laboratories at the JRC
JRC Information Exchange event, Skopje, 19 October 2010
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Set up EU-wide standards for testing methods
Organise comparative tests, train analysts from national
laboratories and improve their performance in
measurements
Know international standards and practices
Keep lists of reference substances and their suppliers
Coordinate a network of national reference
Feed additives
GMOs in Food and Feed
Heavy metals in feed and food
Food Contact Materials
Mycotoxins
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)
VELA – JRC-IES
JRC Information Exchange event, Skopje, 19 October 2010
The Vehicle Emissions Laboratory (VELA)
• equipped with the most advanced facilities
and instrumentation
• allows the physical/chemical and
toxicological characterization of the
emissions from all types of transport fleet
• research lines of VELA cover all
environmental aspects related to advanced
technologies, new engines and aftertreatment systems, new or reformulated
fuels, bio-fuels, gaseous fuels and
assessment of future vehicle concepts and
technologies
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ELSA – JRC-IPSC
JRC Information Exchange event, Skopje, 19 October 2010
European Laboratory for Structural Assessment (ELSA)
• Reaction-Wall facility
• largest facility of its kind in Europe and one of the
largest in the World - only exceeded in Japan
• consists of an extremely stiff vertical wall and a
horizontal floor, made of reinforced concrete, rigidly
connected together
• By means of computer controlled hydraulic
actuators mounted on the reaction-wall, is it
possible to expose full scale structures to loads of
dynamic strong forces and control the resulting
movements with high precision.
• pseudo-dynamic test (PSD) technique - simulation
of earthquake loading of full-scale buildings
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High Flux Reactor JRC-IE
JRC Information Exchange event, Skopje, 19 October 2010
The 45 MW High Flux Reactor (HFR) at IE is one of the most powerful multi-purpose
research and test reactors in Europe. Activities at the HFR include:
• nuclear fission and fusion energy research;
• providing neutron beams for analytical applications
(e.g., neutron activation analysis, neutron
radiography) and further research (solid state
physics, materials science, medical therapy);
• producing radioisotopes for scientific, industrial and
medical purposes
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Cyclotron – JRC-IHCP
JRC Information Exchange event, Skopje, 19 October 2010
The Cyclotron is a highly versatile accelerator
with a rather large energy range and the capability
of accelerating protons and alpha particles (up to
energies of 40MeV) as well as deuterons (up to
20MeV).
This facility allows production of a wide variety of
radioisotopes. This Characteristics makes the
cyclotron especially suitable for research
purposes.
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Indoortron – JRC-IHCP
JRC Information Exchange event, Skopje, 19 October 2010
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The Indoortron laboratory is a unique, 30m3 volume walk-in environmental chamber
featuring controlled temperature, relative humidity, air quality, and air exchange rate.
With the indoortron laboratory we can study the sources of indoor pollution by volatile
organic compounds (VOCs) and evaluate human exposure to these compounds and their
impact on human health and comfort.
Nuclear facilities - JRC-ITU
JRC Information Exchange event, Skopje, 19 October 2010
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ITU’s special facilities consist of: 24 hot cells with capacities up to 1 Mio Curies and
some 400 glove boxes
• ARTINA category 10-100 Clean Lab for
safeguards and nuclear forensic applications
• Actinide User lab, open to universities,
national authorities, research organisations,
industry, for highly specialised studies
• Minor Actinide Lab for preparing irradiation
targets containing amounts of actinides for
transmutation experiments.
Hot cell at ITU
• Design and operation of two "On-SiteLaboratories" at COGEMA – La Hague and
BNFL – Sellafield, under contract with the
European Safeguards Office in Luxembourg
BREFs - JRC-IPTS
JRC Information Exchange event, Skopje, 19 October 2010
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For the purpose of achieving integrated control of consumptions of energy, water and
raw materials as well as prevention of pollution to water, air and soil, the European
Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Bureau (EIPPCB) was set up in JRC-IPTS
in 1997
Best Available Techniques Reference Documents (BREFs) - result from an exchange
of technical information between experts from industry, Member States, research institutes
and NGOs. This exchange is catalysed by the EIPPCB, which sets up a technical working
group for each BREF.
Each BREF is the outcome of a two to three
year process involving up to 100
EIPPCB has produced 32 BREFs for its 11
years of existence
Useful links
JRC Information Exchange event, Skopje, 19 October 2010
List of research facilities:
IRMM:
http://www.irmm.jrc.be/html/about_IRMM/laboratories/index.htm
IE:
http://ie.jrc.ec.europa.eu/
ITU:
http://itu.jrc.ec.europa.eu/index.php?id=9
IES:
http://ies.jrc.ec.europa.eu/the-institute/large-scale-facilities.html
IPSC:
http://ipsc.jrc.ec.europa.eu/facility.php?id
IHCP:
http://ihcp.jrc.ec.europa.eu/facilities/specialised_laboratories.htm
IPTS:
http://ipts.jrc.ec.europa.eu/
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JRC Information Exchange event, Skopje, 19 October 2010
Joint Research Centre (JRC)
Robust science for policy making
Web: www.jrc.ec.europa.eu
Contact: jrc-info@ec.europa.eu
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