The PULSAR partnership: Joint Research Centre of Karlsruhe – European Commission
The Joint Research Centre provides independent, evidence-based knowledge and science, supporting EU policies to positively impact society. Among the six JRC sites, the Karlsruhe site is the core of the JRC research for nuclear safety and security. The missions are the implementation of the JRC Euratom Research and Training Programme, the maintenance and dissemination of nuclear competences in Europe, to serve both ''nuclear'' and ''non-nuclear'' Member States.
JRC Karlsruhe and its contribution to Horizon Europe PULSAR project
The JRC-Karlsruhe is Europe’s leading laboratory on research on transuranium elements and has glove box facilities enabling the handling of highly radiotoxic materials in sizeable quantities. The JRC-Karlsruhe has broad expertise in all aspects of actinide oxide processing, including handling of highly active Pu-238. The JRC-Karlsruhe also has experience with encapsulation of radioisotope power sources in conventional and advanced cladding materials.
The JRC-Karlsruhe is using its unique expertise to produce PuO2 pellets with representative microstructure and their encapsulation to support the assessment of the production capability in Europe for Pu-238 radioisotope sources for power generators for space applications.
The JRC-Karlsruhe also contributes to the safety assessment of the handling and processing of Pu-238 in nuclear laboratories, as well as to the overall safety assessment, licensing and regulation of the PULSAR project.