GLOSSARY
GLOSSARY
Palladium.
103Pd is the isotope of Palladium, it is used in radiotherapy in cases of prostate cancer or choroid melanoma.
Iodine.
125I is the isotope of iodine, it is commonly used in brachytherapy at low dose, for the treatment of cancers other than thyroid, especially prostate cancers. It is also used for antibody marking in radioactive immunological tests and other gamma-ray counting procedures involving in vitro proteins.
Samarium.
153Sm is the isotope of Samarium, metabolized as the calcium and concentrated in the bones. The 153Sm can therefore be used in palliative care of certain bone cancers.
Holmium.
166Ho is the holmium isotope, it is developed for therapeutic applications in the cure and treatment of liver cancer.
Erbium.
169Er is the isotope Erbium, used in the treatment of rheumatoid disease.
Ytterbium.
169Yb is the isotope Ytterbium, it is used in medical and industrial radiography, it is a source of radiation among others for portable radiographic devices when there is no electricity available.
Lutetium.
The radioactive isotope 177Lu is used in hospitals to treat neuroendocrine tumors. Neuroendocrine cells are found mainly in the organs of the digestive system, including the stomach, pancreas and intestines.
Rhenium.
186Re is the isotope of Rhenium, it is used in the treatment of inflammatory joint damage in the context of a rheumatoid disease or hemophilia, during inflammatory outbreaks in the joints of the shoulder, elbow, wrist, ankle and hip.
Iridium.
192Ir is the isotope of Iridium, it is used in brachytherapy for the specific treatment or in addition to another treatment, of cancerous tumors, especially of the ENT sphere, skin, breast or genitals.
Cobalt.
60Co is the isotope of Cobalt, it is used in medical applications in radiotherapy, in industry (radiography, level gauges, equipment sterilization, food ionization) and in research (metrology and irradiation).
Selenium.
75Se is the isotope of Selenium, it is used for industrial applications such as radiography, metallurgy, which allows to control the quality of metal parts.
Yttrium.
The radioactive isotope 90Y is mainly used to treat various cancers, including lymphomas, leukaemia, ovarian cancer, pancreatic cancer, bone cancer and colorectal cancer. This isotope will adhere to monoclonal antibodies, which in turn will bind to the cancer cells and kill them by emitting beta particles owing to the decay of 90Y.
Needles made of 90Y can also cut more accurately than scalpels and have been used to cut pain-transmitting nerves in the spinal cord.
90Y is also used in radionuclide synovectomy to treat inflamed joints, particularly knees, in patients suffering from conditions like rheumatoid arthritis.
Molybdenium / Tecnetium.
99Mo is the isotope of Molybdenum, during its radioactive decay, carried out in specific generators, it leads to the «production» of 99Tc, technetium, which is an essential marker in scintigraphy.
Advanced Device for Experimenting up to the Limits of the Nuclear fuel Element.
This loop-type irradiation device is used to vary the reactor power and study its impact on fuels (known as power ramp experiments).
This refers to a process in which no heat is transferred into or out of a system. It may also refer to the walls of an insulated container enclosing a system that prevent heat transfers with its surroundings.
Radiation due to radioactive nuclei emitting helium composed of two protons and two neutrons, otherwise known as alpha particles. These particles are highly ionising but unable to penetrate very far through matter because they interact very strongly with the atoms they encounter and are stopped by a simple sheet of paper.
An artificial radioisotope refers to an isotope that does not exist naturally in the environment since there is no natural mechanism to produce it, or it is a radioisotope that is so unstable that it disintegrates over a very short half-life. Artificial radioisotopes have been produced since the early 20th century; Frédéric Joliot-Curie and Irène Joliot-Curie were the first to discover this phenomenon in 1934. Since then, radionuclides have been produced by means of a particle accelerator or a material test reactor.
Radiation emitted by certain radioactive nuclei that decay during weak interactions. There are two types of beta decay: beta plus or beta minus. β+ decay occurs when a proton is converted into a neutron, while β- occurs when a neutron is converted into a proton. An electron antineutrino is also emitted. It is not a very penetrating type of radiation as a single sheet of aluminium or several metres of air will stop it.
Boiling Water Reactor
A BWR uses demineralised water as a coolant and a neutron moderator. The heat produced by nuclear fission in the core causes the coolant to boil and produce steam, which is used directly to drive a turbine. This reactor technology represents about a quarter of the installed capacity worldwide.
CANada Deuterium Uranium.
CANDU reactors operate with non-enriched natural uranium and pressurised heavy water; this reactor technology was developed by the Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL).
French Alternatives Energies & Atomic Energy Commission (Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives).
China General Nuclear Power Corporation – Chinese partner in the JHR Mateial Test Reactor international consortium.
Centre for Energy, Environmental and Technological Research: the spanish partner in the JHR Material Test Reactor international consortium (Centro de InvestigacionesEnergeticas, MedioAmbientales y Tecnologicas).
Corrosion LOop Experiments.
This loop-type experimental device is designed to study the corrosion of materials under stress and irradiation.
Transport & logistics research centre (Centre de Recherche sur le Transport et la Logistique).
A reactor achieves criticality when each fission releases a sufficient number of neutrons to sustain an ongoing series of reactions. It is the normal operating condition in a nuclear reactor.
Department of Atomic Energy – Indian partner in the JHR Material Test Reactor international consortium.
Mediterranean demographic observatory (Observatoire DEMOgraphique de la MEDiterranée).
University hospital departments specialised in imaging.
Displacement Per Atom.
A way of evaluating radiation damage in a material that can be observed on a microscopic level. This damage-based exposure unit represents the number of atoms displaced from their normal lattice sites because of energetic particle bombardment; the greater the dose, the greater the displacement.
French partner in the JHR Material Test Reactor international consortium (Electricité de France).
Channel under the hot cell (radionuclides and material conditioning).
Channel under the hot cells (alpha radiation and standard fuels).
Future European Union Needs in Material Research Reactors (a European consortium).
Framework for IrraDiation Experiments.
An Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) international programme to support the JHR Material Test Reactor project by preparing joint experimental programmes in the JHR Material Test Reactor.
Splitting of a heavy atomic nucleus into several lighter nuclei. Fission can be spontaneous (such as for mendelevium-258 or several Rutherfordium isotopes) or more frequently caused by the absorption of a neutron (such as for uranium-235 or plutonium-239). Neutrons, gamma radiation and heat are released when fission occurs.
Nuclides generated by the fission of a heavy atom (235Uranium or 239Plutonium) which breaks into two new lighter atoms.
FUel Irradiation CApsule.
This is a capsule-type experimental device designed to study the behaviour of nuclear fuels in static conditions up to the deterioration/ failure of the cladding by varying the baking time. This device will be used to test fuel ageing and deterioration, as well as to study new fuels.
Electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than 10 picometres (10-11 m), i.e. a frequency higher than 30 exahertz (3.1019 Hz). This type of radiation is emitted by radioactive nuclei when they undergo de-excitation. Electron-positron annihilation also produces two gamma photons. This phenomenon is exploited in medical imaging (positron emission tomography, PET). Gamma rays are detected in cosmic radiation resulting from sources in which very energetic phenomena have occurred.
Gas-cooled Fast Reactor.
A GFR is a nuclear reactor design which is currently in development. Classed as a Generation IV reactor, it features a fast-neutron spectrum and closed fuel cycle for efficient conversion of fertile uranium and management of actinides.
A gradient operates on a scalar function to produce a vector whose scale is the maximum rate of change of the function at the point of the gradient and which is pointed in the direction of that utmost rate of change. In brief, it tells you how much something (a physical quantity) changes as you move from one point to another. In practical terms, the spatial derivative of this physical quantity is calculated according the directions chosen.
Calculation that assesses the electrical distance covered in a given time. The burn-up is calculated as follows: power x irradiation time expressed in tonnes of uranium.
Shielded concrete room designed for the safe handling of irradiated materials using robotic arms, protective lead screens and lead glass windows 70 to 80 cm thick.
High Temperature Reactor.
High-temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTGRs), also known as very-high-temperature reactors (VHTR), are Generation IV reactors that operate at very high temperatures and use a graphite-moderated gas-cooled nuclear reactor with a once-through uranium fuel cycle.
Phenomenon that results in the aggregation of hydrogen with another element and wherein the hydrogen atom plays an electronegative role, i.e. it accepts an electron and is negatively polarised. This concerns most metal hydrides such as lithium hydride, sodium hydride and magnesium hydride, as well as several non-metallic elements such as boranes, silanes and germanes.
Israel Atomic Energy Commission – Israeli partner in the JHR Material Test Reactor international consortium.
International Centre based on Research Reactors.
A label awarded by the IAEA that gives its research members access to approved research infrastructures and reactors.
Institute For Energy Technology – Norwegian partner in the JHR Material Test Reactor international consortium.
Mediterranean institute of marine & terrestrial biodiversity and ecology (Institut Méditerranéen de Biodiversité et d’Ecologie marine et continentale).
A European cooperation initiated under the FIDES programme focusing on in-pile creep tests on accident-tolerant fuel cladding.
Belgian National Institute for Radioelements (Institut National des Radioéléments de Belgique).
Jules Horowitz Operating Plan.
A European programme supporting the JHR Material Test Reactor to prepare the operations.
This refers to Joint International Program experiments jointly developed by several members of the JHR Material Test Reactor consortium in view of conducting these experiments in the JHR Material Test Reactor for said members
Joint Research Centre.
The European Commission’s science and knowledge service which employs scientists to carry out research to provide independent scientific advice and support to EU policy.
Kiloelectron Volt.
An electronvolt is defined as the kinetic energy accumulated by an electron accelerating from rest through an electric potential difference of one volt. It is a unit of energy commonly used in particle physics to express the energy levels found in particle accelerators and thermonuclear fusion, as well as in plasma physics and in semiconductor physics to express the band gap.
Kilowatt.
A unit of energy equal to the power consumed by a 1000-watt electrical appliance, i.e. 1 Kw, for one hour.
Loss-Of-Coolant Accident.
A LOCA is a hypothetical accident in a PWR caused by a break in the primary system. This break leads to a pressure drop in the primary system and loss of coolant, which in turn causes the fuel rods to heat up. This heating must remain limited otherwise damage to the fuel rods could compromise core cooling and result in meltdown. The loss-of-coolant accident is used to design the safety injection system, and mechanical components for the primary system and reactor containment.
Light water One-Rod Equipment for Loss-of-coolant accident Experimental Investigations.
This is a loop-type experimental device designed to study the behaviour of fuels in Loss-Of-Coolant Accident (LOCA) conditions with loss of cooling and fuel melting.
Light-Water Reactor.
LWR is a type of thermal-neutron reactor that uses normal water, as opposed to heavy water, as both its coolant and neutron moderator; furthermore a solid form of fissile elements is used as fuel. Thermal-neutron reactors are the most common type of nuclear reactor, and LWR are the most common type of thermal-neutron reactor.
Multirod Adaptable Device for Irradiation of LWR’s Fuel Samples Operating in Normal conditions
This is a loop-type experimental device designed to study the behaviour of nuclear fuels under static conditions in a thermohydraulic environment representative of a nuclear power plant with varying baking times though without cladding failure (contrary to the FICA device). This makes it an ideal device for testing fuel ageing and deterioration, as well as for studying new fuels.
Material Irradiation CApsule
This is a capsule-type experimental device. This capsule is designed to test materials at high temperature in a NaK environment, i.e. a kind of furnace designed to reach temperatures up to 400°C.
This is a unit of power in the International System of Units (SI); it is equal to one million watts.
A unit of the electricity output provided by a power plant to the grid. It differs from megawatt thermal (MWth).
This refers to the electric power of a reactor in terms of the heat produced. The thermal power is about three times greater than the electric power.
NaK is an alloy of sodium (Na) and potassium (K), which is usually liquid at room temperature.
Expression used when an atomic nucleus absorbs a neutron that collides with it.
The neutron, together with the proton, is one of the components of the atom’s nucleus. Neutrons have very high penetrating power that can be achieved by fission reactions.
National Nuclear Laboratory – UK partner in the JHR Material Test Reactor international consortium.
Out-of-Core Capsule for Irradiation Testing of Ageing by Neutrons
This is a capsule-type experimental device designed to study the ageing of reactor vessel materials.
French-Belgian cooperation within the scope of the FIDES programme focusing on operability studies and slow-power transients to reach partial fuel melting.
This refers to a programme of experiments jointly developed by several members of the JHR Material Test Reactor consortium in view of conducting these experiments in the JHR Material Test Reactor for said members.
Prevention of technical risks and nuisances (Prévention des Risques et Nuisances Technologiques).
Pressurised Water Reactor.
In a PWR, the coolant is pumped under high pressure to the reactor core where it is heated by nuclear fission. This heated, high-pressure water circulates through a steam generator where it transfers its thermal energy to a lower-pressure secondary system where steam is generated to drive a turbine. The core outlet temperature of the coolant is at about 330°C and the pressure is about 15.5 MPa. These reactors represent half of the world’s installed capacity.
Interval of time required for one-half of the atomic nuclei in a radioactive sample to decay, or equivalently for the number of disintegrations per second of a radioactive material to decrease by one half. Decay occurs when a nuclear species changes into another by emitting particles and energy.
This refers to one of the radioactive isotopes of a chemical element. Synonym for radionuclide and radioisotope.
This refers to one of the radioactive isotopes of a chemical element. Synonym for radionuclide and radioelement.
This refers to one of the radioactive isotopes of a chemical element. Synonym for radioisotope and radioelement.
Is the Belgian nuclear research centre, the Belgian partner in the JHR Material Test Reactor international consortium (Studie Centrum voorKernenergieCENter).
Is the company running the canal that supplies water to the JHR Material Test Reactor (Société du Canal de Provence de EDF).
Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor.
An SFR is a fast neutron reactor cooled by liquid sodium.
Small Modular Reactor
These compact fission reactors generate lower power compared with conventional nuclear reactors and tend to be used by the military in submarines and aircraft carriers. The international community is studying an industrial-scale version for local electricity generation.
Technology Readiness Level
This method is used to assess the level of maturity of a technology. There are currently nine levels on the TRL scale, ranging from 1 (lowest) to 9 (highest): the higher the level, the more secure the technology is considered in terms of marketing a product or component for incorporation into a system.
Is the Czech Republic research centre, the partner in the JHR Material Test Reactor international consortium (Centrum výzkumuŘež-Czech).
Periodic regulatory checks (Visites Règlementaires Périodiques).
Is the Finnish Nuclear Research Centre, the Finnish partner in the JHR Material Test Reactor international consortium.
French abbreviation for zero power, uranium oxide, heavy water (Pile Zéro énergie, d’Oxyde d’uranium et d’Eau lourde).
