The Centre for Energy Research was established in January 2012 on the basis of two former independent institutions, Institute of Isotopes (IKI) and the KFKI Atomic Energy Research Institute (AEKI KFKI). The Centre is part of the research network of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.
The institute is located at the campus of the Central Research Institute for Physics with a wide variety research infrastructure. It has a strong interest in applied nuclear methods.
Relevant experience
Dr. T. Belgya is the leader of the Nuclear Analysis and Radiography Department, which was formed at the establishment of the Centre. However, experience goes back to about 30 years. The early works were concentrated on Nuclear Structure studies with gamma rays induced by fast neutrons provided by the local Budapest Research Reactor and the accelerator based neutron source of the University of Kentucky during the reconstruction of the reactor. About seventeen years ago the reconstructed reactor came into operation and a new research direction, the Prompt Gamma Activation Analysis (PGAA), was initiated with slow neutrons using the installed neutron guide system. Since then the research around the reactor is co- ordinated by the Budapest Neutron Centre (BNC). The guide system was upgraded with a cold source and super mirror guides in the year 2000.
The Nuclear Analysis and Radiography Department has built a strong research group in PGAA with a number of applications, including cross section measurements of nuclear wastes, nuclear structure and standards, and nuclear research in Archaeology, Geology, Catalyst and Inactive Tracing. The research group has participated in a number of IAEA coordinated research projects (CRP) and founded a new PGAA database library, which was tested and is recommended for use by IAEA in one of the recently finished CRP (http://www-nds.iaea.org/pgaa/).
Role and main tasks
Within WP5, the Centre for Energy Research provides transnational access to the following: a cold neutron beam at the PGAA-NIPS facility, the complete PGAA system and method, some nuclear electronics, connection to NAA facilities and supports experiments of external users by its measurement capabilities and the expertise of the staff members of the Nuclear Analysis and Radiography Department.
Scientific and technical personnel involved
- Dr. T. Belgya: 30 year experience in measurements with (n,n'γ) and (n,γ) reactions. He worked out the Doppler Shift Attenuation Method and measured a large number of nuclear level lifetimes in various nuclei. Recently he has been interested in high precision calibrations and thermal neutron cross section measurements.
- Dr. Z. Kis: Physicist with experience in Monte Carlo simulations, gamma spectrometry and nuclear waste disposal.
- Dr. L. Szentmiklósi: Chemist, expert in high precision gamma spectrometry, data acquisition systems and information technology.