Our own Dutch nuclear industry?

The establishment of RCN prompted vital participation from the Dutch industry. The organisation had 40 members on its board of governors and a management team of eight; a quarter of each was appointed by the sector and the rest by the ministries, the Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter (FOM) and KEMA.

The sector aspired towards its own Dutch nuclear (from the Latin nucleus = core) branch of industry. Ambitions were high. KEMA’s involvement in RCN was due to the fact that orders for nuclear power plants had to come from a power production company. The sector, which included RSV, De Schelde, Philips and engineering firms Comprimo and Neratoom, aimed at developing equipment with a view to possibly establishing their own nuclear power plant. RCN worked hard on a nuclear reactor for ships, known as NERO (Nederlands Eerste Reactor Ontwerp) (Dutch First Reactor Design). Sadly, the development of NERO, funded by Euratom and the Defence Ministry, failed and the design was never realised.

Fuel rods

On a few occasions, it was hoped that RCN’s expertise would lead to a successful Dutch nuclear company. This was the case when, for example, a group of engineers at RCN invented an ingenious method for the manufacturing of fuel rods. There seemed to be a good market for it, but the enterprise was called off when Shell withdrew and the financial risks became too big for the other parties involved.
Fortunately, the development of the separation of uranium isotopes by means of a gas centrifuge was successful. Many Dutch industries and research institutes contributed to the centrifuge activities. The method was patented by RCN. Partly owing to the efforts at RCN, the Urenco uranium enrichment plant in Almelo could get off the ground.

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