RIDER research group news

DIFFER researcher and group leader Beata Tyburska-Pueschel has been appointed as a parttime associate professor Material Science and Engineering at TU Delft. As of this summer, she will combine her work at DIFFER in Eindhoven with the professorship at the university in Delft.

European Commissioner Wopke Hoekstra gave the go-ahead for a major step forward towards a new way of generating energy in Europe: the establishment of a test site for a molten salt reactor. On Monday 1 June 2026 the official kick-off took place at the High Tech Campus in Eindhoven, where Thorizon develops, builds and tests key components for the molten salt reactor.

Beata Tyburska-Pueschel sees a multitude of research opportunities lie ahead in the coming decades. The new group leader of the Radiation-Induced Defect Research group (RIDER) has ambitious plans for the future: “Now is the moment it is going to take off.”

A consortium of Dutch technology companies – DEMCON, Thorizon, and VDL Group – signed a project agreement last December. Their shared mission: to achieve a breakthrough in the development of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), specifically molten salt reactors. DIFFER supports the development of these reactors through its unique DICE research facility.

DIFFER partner Thorizon has been included in the French government’s nuclear innovation program called France 2030. In addition to the grant, the program provides access to expertise in nuclear research, European legislation, and business development.