EU Commission Approved State Funding For PALLAS Research Reactor

The European Commission has approved the Dutch government’s investment plan (€2bn) for the construction of the new research reactor PALLAS in Petten, after the announcement, in September 2023, that there is full financing for the construction of the facility, made by the Dutch Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport Ernst Kuipers.

The current reactor in Petten, the High Flux Reactor (HFR), operated by NRG (ENS Corporate Member) will definitely be replaced, and this greenlight is a confirmation that the PALLAS reactor is of strategic importance for the Netherlands and Europe.

This is good news for us, for the Netherlands, but especially for many patients with life-threatening diseases, such as cancer and cardiovascular diseases, who depend on medical isotopes. With the arrival of the new PALLAS-reactor, the production of medical isotopes and the innovation of new applications for the treatment of, among other diseases, cancer will be guaranteed.

said Bertholt Leeftink, CEO NRG PALLAS.

Furthermore, the new facility will contribute to nuclear technological research and will be essential for maintaining the nuclear knowledge infrastructure. NRG|PALLAS has specific expertise in nuclear energy technology, nuclear safety, radiation protection and radioactive waste management.

The new PALLAS reactor will be located at the Energy & Health Campus (EHC) in Petten.

The EHC has more than 1,600 employees from various companies. To maintain and increase the innovative power and production capacity for medical isotopes, the FIELD-LAB was opened in December 2023, in which University Medical Centres and partners from the pharmaceutical industry collaborate on new applications of nuclear medicines.

Read the NRG Press Release.

Nuclear medicine and medical isotopes benefit thousands of patients every day in current clinical practice and have great potential for future clinical challenges.

Facilities like PALLAS and the currently operating research reactors are crucial to ensure the stable supply of those life-saving products and to meet their growing demand.

Last year, ENS, together with Euratom Supply Agency (ENS Member), organised the event Beating Cancer – turning the tide with medical isotopes, which gave us the opportunity to learn more about those amazing developments and to discuss the challenges ahead.

You can find its recording and all materials in our Special Newsletter.