The JEEP II reactor at IFE, Kjeller in Norway – Instrumentation and research activities

The 2 MW JEEP II reactor at IFE Kjeller in Norway has been in operation since 1967. Based on a research infrastructure grant from the Research Council of Norway there is a significant ongoing upgrade of the neutron scattering and imaging instrumentation, NcNeutron – Norwegian Center for Neutron Research. The total investment to obtain a state-of-the-art instrumentation is approximately 10 mill. euro. The present instrumentation includes: our upgraded SANS instrument (with cold neutrons), the powder diffractometer PUS, the amorphous materials diffractometer DIFF and the ESS test beamline R2D2. A new modern flexible powder neutron diffractometer ODIN will be available for users in 2018. The further upgrade will include a new state-of-the-art neutron reflectometer FREYJA (with cold neutrons), a neutron radiography and tomography instrument NIMRA, a residual stress diffractometer NEST as well as a new cold moderator. This upgrade will be completed in 2020. With the NcNeutron research infrastructure will the JEEP II reactor become the regional neutron scattering and imaging facility in the northern Europe both before and from 2023 when the user program at the ESS in Lund, Sweden starts.
The main research topics in the Physics Department at IFE are: Soft matter, materials for energy storage (hydrogen and batteries), materials for energy efficiency (magnetocaloric and thermoelectric materials) and magnetism. For the structural characterization the combination of neutron and X-ray (including synchrotron radiation) diffraction is crucial.
This presentation will give an overview of the instrumentation in NcNeutron and present some selected examples related to our research activities.
The Research Council of Norway is acknowledged for financial support.