Our dosimetry platform called MADERE (measurements applied to in-vessel dosimetry) is designed to measure the specific radioactivity of solid samples emitting photonic gamma or X-rays.
This facility meets the needs of experimental dosimetry programmes with all types of neutron sources (mock-up reactors, test reactors in France and overseas, neutron generators, the RES and the future JHR), as well as the needs of the reactor vessel irradiation monitoring programme for the EDF nuclear power fleet. MADERE is accredited ‘COFRAC/Tests’.
MADERE is a CEA facility made available under the International Centres of Excellence based on Research Reactors (ICERR) since 2020. The IAEA relies on this network to support its Member States in quickly gaining access to nuclear infrastructure in order to achieve the objective of consolidating R&D capacities across the board.
Several measurement systems are installed in the MADERE facility and are used for:
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Conventional γ measurements:
Measurement of all γ-emitting samples existing in dosimetry whose activity level ranges between 10 Bq and 10 MBq. The energy range of γ radiation falls between 50 keV and 2 MeV.
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High-efficiency γ measurements:
Samples with an activity level above 0.1 Bq can be measured.
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X-ray measurements:
The energy range of X-rays falls between 10 keV and 90 keV. The absolute activity level of any X-ray emitting sample is also determined by this measurement method, which has yet to be accredited by COFRAC.
These measurement systems are associated with extremely accurate weighing equipment comprising two microscales, as well as different shaped dosimeters: disks with diameters between 1 mm to 30 mm and thicknesses between 0.1 mm and 3 mm, wires of several tens of millimetres to 1 mm in diameter, sometimes encapsulated in quartz, strips of several tens of microns in thickness.
To meet the different requirements involved in monitoring activity levels and ensuring the traceability of information needed to provide customers with reliable results, the MADERE platform also develops and uses computerised management tools to reach an optimal level of efficiency and productivity.