TRENDS IN THE RESEARCH REACTOR FIELD

Construction of the first nuclear facility in Germany in a number of y ears, the Munich research reactor, FRM II, is reason enough to analyze the international trend in the development, planning, construction, a nd operation of these plants. According to IAEA statistics, twenty res earch reactors are in operation worldwide, and 19 plants are in variou s stages of planning and execution, respectively. Research reactors ar e being operated mainly in seven areas. Nine trends in development and application can be distinguished in the light of their oebjectives; i n between them there are mixed uses for which multi-purpose research r eactors are nln. In some cases, the goals of research and application can be achieved also with other large equipment which, in this way, co mpetes with research reactors. The trends derived from projects in the period 1986 to 1996 and from recent designs make no mention of the ch ange from highly enriched to low enriched uranium.