The MARIA reactor turns 50. It is still struggling with the lack of stable financing

Exactly 50 years ago, on December 18, 1974, the MARIA nuclear research reactor was launched for the first time. The device was named after the outstanding radioactivity researcher Maria Skłodowska-Curie. The Institute of Nuclear Research, operating under the name of the National Center for Nuclear Research (NCBJ) since 2011, was responsible for its creation.

The reactor is still used today. NCBJ describes him on its website as “the busiest MARIA in Poland.” Unlike most other reactors, MARIA does not produce electricity, but neutron streams. These serve, among others, for the production of radioactive isotopes and radiation sources used in industry, environmental protection and health. We are talking primarily about isotopes: molybdenum-99, iodine-131, lutetium-177, phosphorus-32, samarium-153, cobalt-60 and holmium-166.

As NCBJ points out, “thanks to her work, MARIA helps hundreds of thousands of people.” The molybdenum-99 produced by the reactor is used in oncological diagnostics and therapy, and the iodine-131 produced by it is widely used in thyroid diagnostics and therapy. MARIA also allows you to create innovative materials for industry, conduct research in the field of physics and train staff in the nuclear and radiological protection industries.

“Even though MARIA is already half a century old, thanks to constant improvements it is still one of the most modern research reactors” – says NCBJ. According to his estimates, the reactor will be able to operate “at least until the 2050s.”

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However, the center's management does not hide the fact that there are certain difficulties associated with its activities. For years, MARIA has remained the only research reactor in the world without stable financing – says NCBJ director Prof. Krzysztof Kurek.

– To my knowledge, we are the only research reactor in the world that does not have stable financing – notes the physicist. He explains that problems with financing the reactor result from, among others, due to the fact that, together with NCBJ, it is formally subordinated to the Department of Nuclear Energy in the Ministry of Industry, but funds for research and maintenance of the device are provided by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education. Prof. Kurek adds that the maintenance of MARIA alone costs about PLN 40 million annually. NCBJ has to bend over backwards to cover this cost. It does this through commercial activities, obtaining grants and targeted subsidies awarded by the Minister of Science. A small subsidy is also provided by the Ministry of Industry, which supervises the Institute. However, this financing model makes reactor management difficult. It also translates into relatively low wages at NCBJ.

– (Even though it is located in the system), NCBJ is not a research institute, but a type of national laboratory that operates in other countries, e.g. USA. Its activities go beyond the scope of one ministry – says the director of NCBJ. In his opinion, the lack of recognition of the multidisciplinary nature of NCBJ generates most of the problems. – Research institutes in Poland are perceived as industrial institutes, i.e. those that provide services to the industry and make a living from it. However, there is no nuclear industry in Poland – adds prof. Cock.

The physicist also referred to the latest announcement of the Ministry of Science regarding work on the project of permanent financing of long-term projects. – Such a solution in the MARIA case would be desirable – says Prof. Cock.

He added, however, that “as far as I know, the Ministry of Science wants to transfer the financing of infrastructure costs to the supervising ministry”, i.e. in this case to the Ministry of Industry, which is currently “prohibited by the Act on Research Institutes”. Among the disadvantages of the new solution, he also sees the potential lack of interest of the Ministry of Industry in the purely scientific activities of the center, i.e. investing in areas other than narrowly understood activities for the benefit of industry.

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