European Commission Joint Research Centre, Karlsruhe

Snapshot

Country	Germany
City	Karlsruhe
Tier	Extended
Primary ecosystem	High Temperature
Unit	Fuels and Materials Research (FMR) laboratory
Publicly linked people	Konstantinos Boboridis

Why it matters internationally

JRC Karlsruhe is the European Commission’s main site for nuclear safety and security research. Its Fuels and Materials Research laboratory offers radiance spectroscopy of laser-heated samples to determine normal spectral emissivity in the visible and near infrared above 1500 K, combining a 4.5 kW laser, a 256-channel spectro-pyrometer and pressurised controlled atmospheres. The group has published melting points and emissivities of nuclear and ultra-refractory materials such as uranium and plutonium carbides, uranium nitrides and TaC–HfC, and took part in the European metrology project Hi-TRACE on high-temperature thermophysical properties.

Scope of activity

Quantities: normal spectral emissivity of laser-heated solids and liquids (visible–near infrared) · radiance temperature and melting / solidification temperatures · thermal diffusivity at high temperature
Spectral range: 515–980 nm (256-channel spectro-pyrometer); fast pyrometer at 655 nm
Temperature: Spectral emissivity above 1500 K; laser-heating experiments beyond 3000 K
Methodology: Samples heated by a 4.5 kW Nd:YAG laser in a pressurised controlled-atmosphere autoclave; temperature and normal spectral emissivity obtained together from a non-linear fit of the measured thermal-emission spectrum, with PTB-traceable lamp calibration.
Named facilities: Laser heating with radiance spectroscopy (FMR laboratory) · CLASH thermal-diffusivity equipment (1200–3000 K)

Application domains: nuclear fuel safety and severe-accident research · melting behaviour of actinide oxides, carbides and nitrides · ultra-refractory ceramics and high-melting-temperature materials.

IR-EMPOWER contributions

IR-EMPOWER 2026: Konstantinos Boboridis, “Benefits and Limitations of Multi-Wavelength Pyrometry”; scientific committee
IR-EMPOWER 2024: Konstantinos Boboridis, “High melting temperature materials”; international advisory board

External sources

Traceability

Every claim in this profile traces to the external sources listed above. Profile follows the research-map methodology. Added to the directory: 2026-09-25 (verified against the institution’s public pages or peer-reviewed publications).