The key-role of instrumentation for the new generation of research reactors

Experimental reactors have been indispensable since the beginning of the use of nuclear energy to support many important fields of industry and research: safety, lifetime management and operation optimisation of nuclear power plants, development of new types of reactors with improved resources and fuel cycle management, medical applications, material development for fusion... Over the last decade, modifications of the operational needs and the ageing of the nuclear facilities have led to several closures and time is coming for new key European Experimental Reactors (EER) within a European and International Framework. Projects like MYRRHA and JHR are underway to define and implement a new consistent EER policy: · Meeting industry and public needs, keeping a high level of scientific expertise; · With a limited number of EER, specified within a rational compromise between specialisation, complementarities and back-up capacities; · To be put into effective operation in this or the next decade. These new projects will give to the scientific community high performances allowing innovative fields of R&D. A new generation of instrumentation to address new phenomena and that allows better on-line investigation of some key physical parameters is necessary to achieve these challenges. One initiative to progress in this direction is the Joint Instrumentation Laboratory between CEA and SCK·CEN which has already given significant results and patents. Major scientific challenges to achieve in the field of instrumentation for this new generation of European Research Reactors have to be investigated and are described in this paper as well as a short description of the JHR and MYRRHA reactors that will be serving as flexible irradiation facilities for testing them.