New domestic development realized with the involvement of HUN-REN EK-CER researchers may accelerate drug active ingredient testing

Researchers from the Institute of Technical Physics and Materials Science of the HUN-REN Centre for Energy Research (HUN-REN EK-CER) have developed methods based on optical and electrochemical sensors applicable in a microscopic environment, in collaboration with Aedus Space Ltd. and the Dutch company Micronit B.V. under the umbrella of the Moore4Medical ECSEL project. The new technology facilitates the direct mapping of the chemical environment and metabolism of cell cultures established in microfluidic Organ-on-Chip systems, thereby …

EK-CER researchers developed novel nanostructures for electronics manufacturing and hydrogen catalysis

The researchers at the Institute of Technical Physics and Materials Science of the ELKH Centre for Energy Research (EK-CER) are developing advanced semiconductor materials and technologies with a strong emphasis on energy efficiency and sustainability within an ongoing Thematic Program of Excellence. These materials and processes can be utilized for manufacturing more efficient light sources (LED) and electronic devices, and for catalysizing the production of hydrogen from water. Semiconductor materials are of fundamental importance in …

The production of the Na-S battery for the Centre for Energy Research has begun

The Centre for Energy Research has been given the opportunity to install a demonstration stationary energy storage system within the Tesseract Energy Storage (2021-2.1.1-EK-2021-00002). The Centre decided in favor of sodium sulfur technology, as it has a large capacity and the ability to discharge electricity over long periods of time. The contract with the Japanese NGK Insulators Ltd. was signed earlier in the year, and now the production of the battery has started in Japan …

Dr. Sándor Zoletnik was elected chairman of the ITPA Diagnostic Topical Group

Dr. Sándor Zoletnik, head of the Fusion Plasma Physics Department of the Centre for Energy Research, was elected as the next president of the International Tokamak Physics Activity (ITPA) Diagnostic Topical Group. ITPA is a scientific organization of the 7 partners contributing to ITER project, which brings together the work going on in ITER and the partners’ national fusion facilities. The organization has 7 Topical Groups, one of which is diagnostics. Dr. Sándor Zoletnik has …

The 15th Central European Training School on Neutron Techniques was held at our research centre

On the 28th of April 2023, the Central European Training School on Neutron Techniques, CETS, organized by the Budapest Neutron Centre (Centre for Energy Research), was successfully completed. The 2023 event was the 15th of the series launched in 2001. 25 participants from Armenia, Belgium, Germany, Ghana, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Serbia, Spain and Turkey presented their research in a poster and in a flash presentation at the welcoming event. The participants’ abstracts have been collected …

EK-CER researchers develop more efficient wastewater treatment technology using electron accelerator

Researchers from the Radiation Chemistry Department of the Energy and Environmental Safety Institute at the ELKH Centre for Energy Research (EK-CER), in collaboration with their Chinese partner, have developed a highly efficient technology for wastewater treatment using an electron accelerator. The new process involves irradiating the effluent from sewage treatment plants with a low dose of accelerated electrons, which effectively breaks down drug residues, inactivates bacteria and genes, and reduces the toxicity of the wastewater. …

ESA JUICE mission to explore Jupiter’s icy moons with Hungarian participation launched today at 14:15

On April 14th, 2023 at 14:15 Hungarian time, the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) mission’s spacecraft was launched on an Ariane 5 launcher from the European Spaceport located near Kourou, French Guiana. The power supply of the JUICE PEP, one of the spacecraft’s main instruments, was developed by the Space Technology Group of the ELKH Centre for Energy Research (EK-CER) in collaboration with SGF Kft., which manufactures the Electrical Ground Support …

Da Vinci’s impossible “Tokamak drawing”

The exploration of the now-digitized Leonardo Da Vinci notebooks continues to amaze the worldwide scientific community. A few weeks ago, engineers at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) analyzed a series of drawings that clearly indicated that, two centuries before Newton, the Renaissance artist and polymath had devised experiments to investigate the nature of gravity. Today, a researcher at the Fusion Plasma Physics Department of the Hungarian Centre for Energy Research, Daniel Dunai, has dug …

IAEA Director General visit at EK-CER

Rafael Grossi, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), visited the Centre for Energy Research. During the visit, Ákos Horváth, Director General of EK-CER, presented the activities of the Centre, highlighting the results achieved in the framework of Nuclear Forensic Analytical cooperation. In 2016 and 2021, the Agency chose our Research Center as a Collaborating Centre in Nuclear Forensics. The staff of the Radiation Safety Laboratory support the Agency’s activities in various training …

The French Ambassador visited the Centre for Energy Research

Claire Legras, Ambassador of France and her delegation paid a visit to the Centre for Energy Research on 16 February on the invitation of Dr. Ákos Horváth, Director General of EK-CER. At the meeting, the Director General presented the strategic directions of the Research Centre. Special attention was given to the existing and planned collaborations with French institutes and companies in the field of nuclear energy. EK-CER has long-standing cooperations with CEA and IRSN institutes …