Short presentation of the PRISMAP project

Car­ry­ing out an effec­tive energy trans­for­ma­tion requ­ires, among others: com­pre­hen­sive moni­to­ring of the pro­gress of its imple­men­ta­tion, which must be based on cur­rent and relia­ble data ana­ly­ses. Such acti­vi­ties will be car­ried out at NCBJ as part of the „Energy Trans­for­ma­tion Obse­rva­tory” pro­ject that is just star­ting.

Promising results of the first studies and tests of radiotherapy using ultra-high FLASH dose rates mean that interest in this technique is constantly growing. Research in this field is appreciated, as confirmed by the award received recently for an article on FLASH therapy by scientists from the NCBJ Nuclear Equipment Department.

On Tuesday, June 20, a resolution was adopted on a multi-year program called "Program for the modernization of the MARIA nuclear research reactor". The cost of the project will be approximately PLN 91.7 million and will allow the reactor to be operated after 2027. Thanks to the reactor, Poland is at the forefront of the global radiopharmaceutical sector, covering the vast majority of the needs of nuclear medicine in Poland, as well as exporting its products around the world. Radioisotopes produced in the reactor provide Poles with access to cancer imaging and treatment at prices lower than foreign alternatives.

In recent years, the popularity of individual energy production using renewable energy sources has been growing rapidly. At the beginning of July this year, the first collective prosumer in Poland began operating. This was made possible by cooperation in which the Interdisciplinary Department of Energy Analysis (IDEA), which is part of the National Centre for Nuclear Research, participated.

On August 21-23, 2023, a meeting was held at NCBJ as part of work on the preparation of the basic research project of the high-temperature gas-cooled reactor HTGR-POLA (High Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor - POLski Atomowy). This was the next stage of reviewing the documentation provided by JAEA (Japan Atomic Energy Agency) under the contract concluded in March 2023 for cooperation in the preparation of the design of this reactor. The purpose of the talks was also to adapt the documentation provided to the requirements set by the Polish design team and to adapt the reactor design to the research, experimental and application requirements of the HTGR reactor for NCBJ and the Polish market.

Part of the POLATOM Radioisotope Center operating at NCBJ is the Radioactivity Standards Laboratory (LWR – Laboratorium Wzorców Radioaktywności) accredited by the Polish Center for Accreditation. The technical competence of LWR employees is confirmed by the fact that the laboratory is the depositary of the State Standard for the Unit of Measurement of Radionuclide Radioactive Activity. Employees devote a significant part of their time to monitoring the activity and level of radioactive contamination (radionuclide purity) of radiochemical preparations and radiopharmaceuticals produced in OR POLATOM. They also calibrate dozens of activity meters located in hospitals and diagnostic centers throughout Poland. Scientific and research work is also carried out at LWR. The latest published results concern precise measurements of the activity of 177Lu and 225Ac solutions and the half-life of these radionuclides.

In the study, the results of which have just been published in the journal "Molecules", scientists have shown that exposing non-small cell lung cancer cells to appropriately selected amino acids can increase the effectiveness of radiotherapy based on local emission of alpha radiation by neutron-activated boron. The so-called BNCT therapy is mainly used to treat particularly sensitive organs, e.g. the brain. The first author of the work is a doctoral student of RadFarm studies conducted at NCBJ.