For nearly 20 years, Rütschi improved its products and strengthened its presence with long-standing partners. The canned motor pump “Perfecta” was developed in two versions, “Acid-Perfecta” and “Chemie-Perfecta”, which proved particularly suitable for transferring aggressive fluids and became highly popular in the chemical industry.
From the 1950s onward, research in the civil nuclear sector expanded across Europe: in Switzerland, France, Germany, and Belgium, research centers were established.
Thus, in 1957, Switzerland built the DIORIT heavy water experimental reactor in Würenlingen
To operate this facility, reliable and robust pumps were required. With its canned motor pump technology, Rütschi was ideally positioned and, in 1965, supplied its first pumps for nuclear applications.
A total of 18 canned motor pumps in nuclear design (“Reaktorausführung”) were manufactured and installed at the DIORIT site for the transfer of radioactive water. These were the first pumps designed for nuclear applications and marked the beginning of a new chapter for the company.
In 1963, the German research center GKSS (Gesellschaft für Kernenergieverwertung in Schiffbau und Schiffahrt GmbH – Society for the Utilization of Nuclear Energy in Shipbuilding and Shipping) studied nuclear propulsion for ships.
As part of this research, the center approached Rütschi to supply circulation pumps for the primary circuit of an experimental loop. Designed for pressurized water at 326°C and 125bars, those semi-axial pumps type SrP, with mechanical seals, were manufactured in 1972.
This time, several mechanically sealed pumps were delivered in 1972: semi-axial pumps of the SrP type were manufactured.
Subsequently, other projects were launched, notably in Belgium with SCK-CEN and in France with the CEA.
In total, Rütschi supplied more than a dozen nuclear research facilities worldwide with custom-designed pumps tailored to the most demanding applications: transfer of hazardous fluids such as heavy water and boric acid, and operation under very high temperature and pressure conditions.
These references enabled Rütschi to develop cutting-edge expertise and establish itself as a recognized supplier of pumps for large-scale nuclear applications in the years that followed.
