Apart from its function as a research centre, Petten is also a large producer of radioactive material for the purpose of medical diagnosis and the treatment of cancer and contrast agents. The nuclear facilities at Petten supply 60% of the European demand for medical isotopes. Also at the high flux reactor, one of the neutron beam channels, which was originally installed for performing fundamental research, has been specially modified for the direct irradiation of patients. This allows use of neutrons for the treatment of tumors after saturation of these tumors with a pharmaceutical containing boron. When hit by a weak neutron beam, boron will locally emit radiation that will destroy the tumor. This technique is mainly suitable for the treatment of brain tumors.
The high flux reactor in Petten has been in use since 1961. The first criticality was obtained on 9 November 1961. The reactor was furnished by Allis-Chalmers. Its capacity was increased in steps to 45 MW by 1970. The reactor is property of the European Commission and is operated by the Nuclear Research and Consultancy Group. the reactor is expected to remain operational until 2024, when it will be replaced at Petten by a new high flux reactor;. From August 2008 the reactor was shut down due to corrosion of the pipes in its primary cooling circuit. The operator is expecting to bring the plant back on-line in February 2009.
The low flux reactor
The low flux reactor was first used in 1960 and permanently shut down in 2010. It had a capacity of 30 kW. The reactor was property of the Nuclear Research and Consultancy Group and mainly used for the production of neutrons for biological and physical research.
Timeline
In 2009 the Argentine company INVAP was pre selected in the international tender for the PALLAS project, for the procurement of an 80 MW nuclear reactor for the Dutch village of Petten but on February 2010, the Dutch radiopharmaceutical producer Nuclear Research and Consultancy Group extended the preparatory phase up to end of the year for financing In mid-May 2014, NRG, the company that operates the reactor, asked for a bridging loan at the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs, because of the financial losses in the previous years. A bankruptcy could not be ruled out, if the credit would be refused. In addition, there were negotiations with the banks, because of the estimated 80 million euros, needed for the upcoming maintenance of the 50-year-old reactor.
Safety issues
In 2002, the High Flux Reactor was shut down for a few weeks because of two unrelated issues. There were indications of a weld defect in the reactor vessel and there were some concerns about the safety culture within the company. After completion of extensive research and the announcement of a series of additional measures, the reactor was put back into use. , former director of ECN Petten, and former professor of physics and dean of mathematics and natural Sciences at the University of Leiden published in November his book "Darwin meets Einstein". In his book Saris mentioned two previously not noted incidents which he gives as the reason for his resigning from ECN. Saris says the following and There have been a number of issues raised in reports stating protocol breaches and insufficient safety culture in the reactor as well as requests from parliament members to shut down the reactor. The reactor has been shut down a number of times since 2012 with different issues including radioactive waste leaking, tritium leaking into the surrounding underground waters and control rod problems. New allegations from Frans Saris and 3 INES2 scale incidents in 2013 in an article in 2016 arose.
