EK – Centre for Energy Research was a member of the research network of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences; due to a restructuring of the R&D sector, EK became a member of the new organisation named Roland Eötvös Research Network since September 2019. EK is the legal organisation representing the Budapest Neutron Centre (BNC), which is an assembly of laboratories utilizing the facilities of the 10 MW Budapest Research Reactor (BRR). This infrastructure offers open access to 17 experimental stations including instruments on thermal and cold neutron beams as well as reactor irradiation equipment. BRR will be supplied with fresh fuel, and with the prolongation of its operating license it will remain operational until 2026. The reactor is operated 120 days per year, call for proposals are open twice a year, experimental proposals are evaluated by an international selection panel. BNC governance is helped by an International Scientific Advisory Council. BNC has been involved in many international projects like IAEA technical development tasks, EU FP projects such as NMI3, CHARISMA and BrightnESS. Instrumentation development and technology transfer (industrial applications) have been always in the focus of its activity. BNC runs a yearly training school in neutron scattering. EK has been classified as EU Centre of Excellence. Compact accelerator-based neutrons sources (CANS) have the potential to replace medium power research nuclear reactors for a broad range of activities – this type of neutron source is planned to replace BRR beyond 2026. BNC is intended/continues to serve a wide range of user application both in science and applied research fields for various purposes, such as university training, industry, healthcare, environmental applications as well as to serve as quality control for neutron instrumentation production and industry relevant technologies.
