Workshops

Instrumentation and measurement methods in nuclear environments are key aspects that contribute to the quality of scientific and technological programs in the fields of physics, energy, nuclear fuel cycle, Safeguards and radioactive waste management. Furthermore, measurements relying on nuclear physics now play an important role in various fields of application such as biology, medicine and environment.

For nuclear physics and technology side, nuclear experimental/research reactors are widely used around the world for various purposes, such as irradiation of material or fuel samples for present and future power reactors, safety studies, assessment of neutronic parameters (such as neutron absorption cross sections or reaction rates), production of artificial radio-elements, etc.
A sustainable nuclear energy requires research on fuel and material behaviour under irradiation with a high level of performances in order to meet following needs for the benefit of industry and public bodies:

• A constant improvement of the performances and safety of present and coming water cooled reactor technologies. Taking into account the lifetime extension and the progressive launch of generation III, nuclear power plants using water coolant will be in operation through the entire century. They will require a continuous R&D support following a long-term trend driven by the plant life management, safety demonstration, flexibility and economics improvement. Experimental irradiations of structure materials are necessary to anticipate these material behaviours and will contribute to the operation optimisation.
• Fuel technology in present and future nuclear power plants is continuously upgraded to achieve better performances and to optimise the fuel cycle, still keeping the best level of safety. Fuel evolution for generation II and III is and will stay a key stake requiring developments, qualification tests and safety experiments to ensure the competitiveness and safety: experimental tests exploring the full range of fuel behaviour determine fuel stability limits and safety margins, as a major input for the fuel reliability analysis.
• To meet nuclear energy sustainable development objectives in the resources and waste management, generation IV reactors are mandatory and require innovative materials and fuels which resist to high temperatures and/or fast neutron flux in different environments. These environments will be needed for demonstrating the technical, economical and safety performances of these technologies.

To perform such accurate and innovative progress and developments, specific and ad hoc instrumentation, irradiation devices, measurement methods are necessary to be set up inside or beside the reactor core. These experiments require beforehand in situ and on line sophisticated measurements to accurately determine parameters such as thermal and fast neutron fluxes and nuclear heating in order to precisely monitor and control the conducted assays.

As entitled, this workshop deals with research, development and innovation in the frame of instrumentation and measurement dealing with nuclear experimental reactor such as ZPR (Zero Power Reactors), MTR (Material Testing Reactors), reactor demonstration prototypes for future nuclear power reactor / fission and fusion (GEN IV, ITER…) as well as nuclear power reactors and also nuclear fuel cycle, safeguards and homeland security and radioactive waste management.
Workshop topics will concern instrumentation and measurement in the following areas:

• MTR (JHR, ATR, BR2, …) and ZPRs instrumentation and measurement programs.
• Nuclear power reactors Research and Development program in the frame of instrumentation and measurements.
• Future nuclear reactor programs GENIV (ASTRID, MYRRHA, ITER, …) and their specificities and needs regarding instrumentation and measurement technics and tools.
• Advanced research programs in the field of instrumentation and measurement developments dedicated to nuclear experimental reactor.
• Innovative radiation detector developments/testing and qualification.
• New/innovative/advanced data acquisition, treatment and analysis methodologies.
• Neutron and photon measurement tools and techniques within experimental reactor(s).
• Instrumentation, measurement, control for severe accident monitoring.
• Instrumentation and measurement techniques and methodologies for nuclear material control and characterization (nuclear fuel, safeguards, non-proliferation, homeland security, radioactive wastes…).

The workshop will be divided in two parts.
The part 1 will treat and discuss measurement and instrumentation performances, limitations, challenges and perspectives applied to nuclear research reactors as well as nuclear power reactors.
The part 2 will be dedicated to nuclear fuel cycle measurements and instrumentation (fuel measurement, reprocessing process control and assay, radioactive waste management, spent fuel measurement and characterization, spent fuel & nuclear material control).

It is foreseen to have overview talks made by recognized experts in the field of nuclear measurement and instrumentation. We also encourage young researchers and scientists as well as PhD students to present and discuss their works and research studies.

An important part of this workshop will be dedicated to discussion, exchange and interaction between the participants.

The development of new detector systems dedicated to the search of new physics in the underground laboratories is mandatory for exploring the physics beyond the Standard Model. Searches for extremely rare or even not existent processes, such as neutrino-less double beta decays, the decay of the proton, dark matter candidates or processes prohibited by the standard quantum mechanics are extremely important to better understand Nature and Universe, from particle world to the sky (cosmology). The capacity to either set limits for the investigated processes or to, finally, discover them strongly depends on the dedicated detector systems technologies and performances.

In the last 5 years huge progress was achieved both in developing new detector concepts or pushing to the limits the existing ones, by refining the involved technologies. Various detector systems, going from cryogenic solids and large liquid masses, to radiation detectors, such as silicon drift detectors, ultrapure germanium detectors, dedicated photo-multipliers, and particle detectors, such as directional TPC, were developed and some of them are already installed and in data taking at major underground laboratories in the world. Some other detector systems is being optimized for future-generation experiments.

This DEUS workshop will introduce to the non-experts in the Underground Searches of new physics the main physics ideas and motivations for these searches, together with the main technologies for detector systems dedicated to the searches of neutrino-less double beta decays, decay of the proton, dark matter candidates or processes prohibited by the standard quantum mechanics of dark matter.

Introductory talks from experts belonging to experiments currently in operation will review the current status of their detectors and will introduce the challenges which they face in carrying out the physics program and young scientists will present specific topics related to their research in the field. Future plans for the development and use of new technologies which could either improve or revolutionize the underground physics will be discussed.

The workshop will be held on Sunday 11 November 2018.
The interested participants, in particular young scientists, are encouraged to participate and to present their research activity and results, especially focused on the new ideas for the development of detectors dedicated to the underground searches of new physics.

Developments in nuclear and X-ray science underpin a wide range of industrial and medical technologies. Well-known examples include the many forms of medical imaging (XRT, CT, PET, SPECT, etc), radiotherapy, product sterilisation and a wide range of techniques for materials analysis. But how do new technologies make the transition from laboratory to market place?

This workshop is aimed at scientists interested in learning more about the different pathways for commercialising their research. Key questions that will be addressed include:

• Is my technology ready for commercialisation?
• What is the best commercial model to choose?
• What are the pros and cons of launching a start-up company?
• How do I pitch my idea and raise money?
• Do I need a business plan?
• What new skills am I going to need?

The workshop will be organised in three sessions.

In the first, several successful scientists-turned-entrepreneurs who have made the transition from laboratory to business will talk about their experiences. All the speakers started in a research environment working in a range of X-ray and nuclear fields. They will discuss what inspired them to make the leap, their successes and failures, and lessons learned in turning their idea into a product.

The second session will introduce a panel of commercial, legal and financial experts who will offer their insights into some of practicalities of starting a new business venture. The panel will cover intellectual property protection and patenting; finding partners; preparing an investment pitch; developing a business plan; and the benefits and drawbacks of different funding sources.

After both sessions, there will be ample time for questions and discussion.

In the final session of the workshop, participants are invited to give an informal, 3-minute pitch of a technology idea that addresses a significant market need. Technologies can be at any stage from early concept through to near-maturity, but should have a clear application. Constructive questions and feedback will be encouraged after each presentation. Interested participants should submit a short abstract describing the opportunity, their solution and a potential route to market.

The workshop will be an excellent opportunity for both early-career and more experienced researchers to hear first-hand about the joys and trials of life outside of the laboratory, and to present their own ideas for the 'next big thing' in nuclear science or medical imaging.

The objective of this workshop is to review the current state-of-the-art and challenges associated with hadron therapy instrumentation. The workshop will be held on Tuesday November 13th 2018, 10:00 – 17:00, and will bring together clinical and basic scientific experts in the fields of proton therapy, carbon ion therapy and boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT). Central topics will include developments in

The purpose of this workshop is to bring together investigators who are working on or who are interested in the technology and methodology for long axial field-of-view PET scanners. Such scanners can image a substantial fraction or even all of the human body simultaneously. The workshop will consist of invited talks and proffered oral/poster presentations. We invite submissions related to long axial field of view PET in areas including:

The workshop provides an overview of the role and importance of imaging in the context of radiotherapy using conventional or emerging X-ray sources with particular emphasis on real time imaging directly prior or during delivery. This image guidance has been one of the few ‘game changers’ in radiotherapy with clinical outcomes demonstrating significantly reduced toxicity as well as new indications. Of particular note is the introduction of highly focused ‘stereotactic’ delivery techniques that delivery very high doses in a highly precise fashion. The workshop is aimed at physical scientist and engineers as well as technology minded oncologists and therapists. It provides insights in current best practice from a technical and clinical perspective. It then explores future applications mostly in the context of work performed at the Australian Synchrotron (AS) in Melbourne.