VUB professor of nuclear energy Peter Baeten will take over as head of Belgium’s nuclear research centre SCK CEN in November. This renowned institute based in Mol, Antwerp province, works on technologies to monitor the safety of existing and future nuclear installations, to develop targeted techniques to combat cancer and to efficiently tackle the decommissioning of nuclear installations. He will continue to teach at VUB.
Peter Baeten: “Contact with students is important. We must continue to pass on our knowledge to the next generation. In addition, it is of course good that a nuclear research centre like ours maintains a strong relationship with the university world.” VUB is a special place for him, as it is where he studied electrical engineering and obtained his doctorate in nuclear engineering. After he finished studying, he went straight to work at SCK CEN in 1999.
He already knows the institute inside out, knowledge that will be needed in this next step, as he will be taking over from his predecessor at a time when the De Croo government has chosen to keep two nuclear plants open. The facility has 900 employees and 100 doctoral students, and a budget of about €250 million.