NRG PALLAS says the construction pit and the foundation have been completed on the site of the PALLAS reactor project in the Netherlands, near the town of Petten. Peter Dijk, Programme Director and member of the Executive Board at NRG PALLAS said this was a significant step forward. “This has laid the foundation for the next phase of construction. The arrival of the PALLAS reactor is crucial for the production of medical isotopes. Patients with life-threatening illnesses, such as cancer and cardiovascular diseases, depend on these isotopes for diagnosis or therapy. The construction of the new reactor will ensure that millions of patients can continue to receive help in the future.”
The 55 MWt tank-in-pool PALLAS research reactor will replace the existing 45 MWt High Flux Reactor (HFR), which began operating in September 1960. It was originally used for materials testing but is currently used for fundamental research and the production of medical radioisotopes. The reactor is operated by NRG on behalf of the European Union’s Joint Research Centre. It supplies some 60% of Europe’s and 30% of the world’s use of medical radioactive sources. PALLAS will be able to deploy its neutron flux more efficiently and effectively than the HFR.
In 2023, Belgian construction firm BESIX began preparations for the construction pit and the foundation, and in May 2023 first concrete was poured. Since then, the construction site at the Energy & Health Campus in Petten has been transformed with the completion of the pit. Highlights of this phase include: 30 deep walls; 162 drilled grout anchors equipped with 15 pre-stressing strands per anchor; 380 foundation piles drilled; an underwater concrete floor 1.5 metres thick; and on top of this, a reinforced foundation slab measuring 50 by 50 metres and also 1.5 metres thick.
Nic De Roeck, Managing Director of BESIX Nederland: “This unique construction project has brought together all of our expertise and innovative capabilities. Both in terms of technical aspects and the stringent security requirements of a nuclear site, as well as the construction site surrounded by the dune area. All of this introduced additional considerations for how we had to execute the work. I look back with satisfaction on how we carried out this challenging work together with NRG PALLAS and our partners; this was work at a Champions League level.”
NRG PALLAS, together with main contractor FCC and designer ICHOS, is now preparing the next phase of the project. The construction site is being restructured so that work on the lower section of the reactor can begin later this year. Additionally, preparations are underway for the installation of the cooling water pipeline. The pipeline will extract water from the North Holland Canal and discharge it into the sea.
