OYSTER year report 2017

Direct to the OYSTER year report.

The OYSTER programme (Optimized Yield - for Science, Technology and Education - of Radiation) will enable educational, scientific and societal challenges in the fields of materials, health and energy to be better addressed.

Over the course of 2017, the results of the programme, in terms of both scientific outcomes and the construction of new and upgraded instruments, have become ever more visible. In October 2017, the construction of the CNS-Utility building has commenced and the building is now near completion. Installation of the equipment that will enable the cooling of the Cold Neutron Source is ongoing.

Our brand-new flexible irradiation facility ‘FlexBeFa’ is now fully operational; in December 2017, the first liver cancer patient was treated with special radioactive microspheres produced in this facility. Thanks to the FlexBeFa, there is a longer window of time to get these medical isotopes to hospitals around the world where they are applied for curative purpose to patients.

Our researchers started non-invasive inspection of historical objects with the new neutron radiography and tomography instrument (FISH) in collaboration with Dutch museums. The instrument SESANS was used to characterize the effect of processing of proteins on the microstructure of new food materials which mimic meat. And one of the most notable achievements of the battery researchers was the study of lithium metal plating for higher battery energy densities. This year report gives you an insight into these and many other developments.