RIDER research group news

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.

Martijn van Gruijthuijsen, deputy of the Province of Noord-Brabant officially opened DICE, the DIFFER Irradiation-Corrosion Experiment. The tests conducted at this new research facility bring nuclear energy one step closer through inherently safe thorium reactors. The event took place on 25 October 2023.

Scientists at DIFFER are bringing nuclear power via inherently safe thorium reactors one step closer. With DICE (the DIFFER Irradiation-Corrosion Experiment), they will develop materials resistant to the combination of heat, salt and radiation. On 25 October, DIFFER will officially inaugurate the facility.