Neutron Research Resumes at the Research Reactor HANARO

Abstract

HANARO, the only large-scale multipurpose research reactor in Korea, houses the neutron research facility with a diverse set of scientific instrumentation. After a long hiatus marred by trips and the following lengthy shutdowns, HANARO is now back on track. With the addition of the cold neutron source, new cold-neutron instruments are available with the previously operating thermal-neutron beam lines, making the total available neutron scattering instruments to users 9. While there is a plan to add an in-beam Mossbauer instrument and a Positron-annihilation spectrometer in the future, the focus is on recovering the user base at the moment. Achieving stable operation in the currently not-so-favorable regulatory environment remains a big challenge for the research facility.