Jules Horowitz Reactor

The Jules Horowitz Reactor (RJH) will be Europe’s newest research reactor, and site preparations are nearly complete as of July 2008. The 100 MWt reactor is being built at Cadarache in southern France. Thousands of cubic metres of dirt and debris have been moved since March 2007 in preparation for the reactor's foundations and first concrete is expected to be poured soon.cite news
title = European materials test reactor progresses
publisher = World Nuclear News
date = 2008-07-01
url = http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/NN-European_materials_Test_reactor_progress-0107088.html
accessdate = 2008-07-08]

RJH is part of The European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures ( ESFRI) which published the European Roadmap for Research Infrastructures Report in 2006 [ www.eibir.org/cms/website.php?id=/de/index/news/news/esfri_roadmap_report.htm ]

RJH is being built under the framework of an international consortium of research institutes from France, the Czech Republic, Spain, Finland, Belgium and the European Commission plus major companies such as Electricité de France (EdF) and Areva. Partners from India and Japan have recently joined the consortium and the door remains open for potential European or international partners. The construction of RJH is funded by a consortium of CEA (50%), Electricité de France (20%), [\EU research institutes (20%) and Areva (10%).cite news
title = Construction starts on Jules Horowitz
publisher = World Nuclear News
date = 2008-03-21
url = http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/newNuclear/210307Construction_starts_on_Jules_Horowitz.shtml
accessdate = 2008-07-08]
RJH will be a materials test reactor. Upon operation in 2014, RJH will become a versatile research tool, designed to be adaptable for as-yet unimagined uses over a lifetime of 50 years. It may be used by nuclear utilities, nuclear steam system suppliers, nuclear fuel fabricators, research organisations and safety authorities. Its primary uses will be research into the performance of nuclear fuel at existing reactors, testing designs for fuel for future reactors and the production of radioisotopes for use in medicine. The reactor will be much needed by the time it starts up, as all of Europe's existing material test reactors were built in the 1960s and will be reaching the ends of their lives in the period 2015-2020.

The modular design will be highly versatile and able to accommodate some 20 simultaneous experiments. Over its anticipated 50-year lifespan it will be used for studies on materials used in the nuclear power reactors of today and tomorrow, as well as testing fuels for current and future reactors. The instrumentation to be used with the reactor will allow hitherto unavailable real-time analysis to be performed. The reactor will also play a vital role in producing radioisotopes for use in nuclear medicine across Europe in coordination with existing NRG production facilities at Petten in the Netherlands. The CEA's Cadarache site will also be home to the Iter fusion reactor, for which ground is being prepared about convert|3|km|mi away.

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