11 Dec (NucNet): The planned new European research reactor Pallas should be built in Petten and not at an alternative location in the south of the Netherlands, the Nuclear Research and Consultancy Group (NRG; http://www.nrg.eu) has said.
NRG, which operates the existing High Flux Reactor (HFR) at Petten on behalf of its owner, the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission, said the final choice of location will be made in the spring of 2010.
The two sites being considered for the new reactor are Petten in the northwest of the Netherlands and Borssele in the southwest. Borssele is home to the single-unit Borssele nuclear power plant.
The Pallas reactor will replace the HFR, which has been in operation since 1961 and is reaching the end of its economic life. NRG said Pallas will guarantee the production of medical isotopes and the continuation of nuclear research.
Construction of Pallas is expected to start in 2012 and it could be operational by 2016.
Full report in database: NucNet News in Brief No. 159, 8 December 2009.
>>Related reports in the NucNet database (available to subscribers)
Study Launched To Plan Replacement Petten Research Reactor (News No. 14, 20 January 2005)
Permit Procedure Starts For Replacement Dutch Research Reactor (News in Brief No. 149, 19 November 2009)
