The FIND project just reached an important milestone in the experimental validation of nuclear instrumentation with the launch of its first irradiation campaign, combined with a midterm consortium meeting.
The irradiation campaign is conducted at IRMA, a panoramic cobalt-60 gamma irradiation facility operated by ASNR. The facility enables controlled exposure of materials, components, and systems to gamma radiation in a contamination-free environment, with a high degree of flexibility in experimental configurations. To learn more about irradiation campaigns, read our earlier article “Testing Nuclear Instrumentation for Safety: FIND 2026 Irradiation Campaign”
The main objective of this first campaign is to expose selected sensors developed within the FIND project to irradiation conditions in order to assess their radiation resistance and operational performance. These tests are critical to ensuring the reliability of instrumentation used in nuclear safety applications.
The campaign involves several FIND partners, namely VUEZ, FRAMATOME, IPP, and CEA, and is scheduled to run over a total duration of three weeks inside the ASNR facility.
Campaign activities began on Monday 13 April with the installation of sensors inside the IRMA irradiation cell. The experimental setups were carefully configured and checked to ensure full system readiness prior to irradiation. On Tuesday, the irradiation phase officially started, with selected sensors developed within the FIND project exposed to controlled gamma radiation, with the objective of evaluating their resistance and performance under such conditions.
Upon completion of the campaign, partners will, in real time, begin analyzing the results to assess sensor performance and identify any necessary improvements. These findings will directly inform the preparation and scheduling of the second irradiation campaign, ensuring a continuous and iterative approach to advancing nuclear instrumentation for safety.
In parallel, the midterm consortium meeting held on Wednesday 15 April provided an opportunity to review overall progress across all work packages. Particular attention was given to the preparation of upcoming experiments in the Vuez Viktoria loop. The discussion highlighted the importance of validating loop configuration specifications to meet the specific needs of each partner planning to test sensors. This alignment is essential to guarantee the quality and comparability of future results.
With strong collaboration and a clear roadmap ahead, the FIND project continues to make steady progress toward enhancing the reliability and resilience of sensing technologies in challenging radiation environments.