Status of the MINERVA cryomodules and associated cryogenic system (MYRRHA phase 1)

International audienceMYRRHA at SCK CEN in Mol/Belgium will be a pre-industrial large-scale Accelerator Driven System for unparalleled research opportunities in spent nuclear fuel, nuclear medicine, and fundamental and applied physics. In 2018 the Belgian government released funding for MYRRHA’s first phase, MINERVA, for a staged implementation and operation. It covers the design, construction, and commissioning of the continuous-wave superconducting RF proton linac up to 100 MeV, as well as dedicated user target stations. The MINERVA proton linac will accommodate 30 identical cryomodules to boost the beam energy delivered by the normal-conducting frontend from 16.6 MeV to 100 MeV. Each cryomodule will contain two superconducting RF single-spoke cavities immersed in a superfluid Helium bath at 2 K. The design and architecture of the associated cryogenic system is derived from the stringent linac reliability requirements imposed by the future subcritical nuclear reactor. We present the architecture, design, and development status of the MINERVA cryomodules and associated cryogenic system towards the implementation phase of the project as part of a collaboration between ACS, CEA/DSBT, IJCLab, and SCK CEN. We also provide an overview of the initial outcomes of cryogenic and RF tests for the prototype MINERVA cryomodule, which are still ongoing at IJCLab

Mothers, Fathers, or Parents: Same-Gendered Families in South Africa

Advances and changes in globalised culture compel psychologists to take cognisance of the wide variety of ways in which families are formed and in which children grow up. Although members of the gay community have in the past usually been associated with a childless lifestyle, gay people are increasingly opting for motherhood and fatherhood by creating families of their own or by continuing to live with their children from former heterosexual relationships. This article addresses the concept of same-gendered families as an example of the changing face of families, relating it to the heteronormativity that is embedded in Westernised societies. The dichotomies of sexuality are confronted and used to illuminate the cultural assumptions embedded in the concept ‘family’ from a postmodern perspective. An overview is given of available research from a South African perspective. Trends evident in local research are related to international perspectives to provide a brief synopsis of available knowledge on same-gendered families. Special attention is given to a postmodern and social constructionist perspective on the concept of family, by examining the gendered and sexualised perceptions that underlie same-gendered families. The interfaces between parenting, gender, sexuality, and reproduction are examined and critically scrutinised. Implications of this for the profession of psychology are briefly discussed. The same-gendered couple as a family challenges the normative conceptions of the traditional model of the two-parent (hetero-gender) family because the latter is socially and legally constructed from a biological model of reproduction. The article concludes that structural variables, such as the gender composition of families and the division of parental performances, are less important than process variables such as the quality of relationships and the quality of care given to the children