Penn State's research reactor celebrates 50 years

University Park, Pa. -- Fifty years ago, Penn State's Breazeale Reactor was issued the first U.S. Atomic Energy Commission license for a reactor -- license R-2. Today (Aug. 15), exactly 50 years after achieving initial criticality, Penn State celebrates the golden anniversary of a reactor that has provided education, research and service for faculty, students, industry and the public with a full day of celebration.

Over the course of the past 50 years, Penn State's Breazeale Reactor has been host to more than 100,000 visitors. Educational opportunities on the peaceful uses of nuclear technology are provided not only for Penn State students, but also for grade-school and high-school students and other college students throughout Pennsylvania and the surrounding states. The Breazeale Reactor has been a center for many Boy Scout and Girl Scout merit badge efforts, and supports research from high schools and other colleges.

Penn State's Breazeale Reactor provides a source of neutrons for basic and applied research including neutron activation analysis, neutron radiography, basic material research and radiation effects studies. Archaeologists look at the composition of pottery or bones, geoscientists look at trace elements to understand the Earth's history and environmental scientists look for minute quantities of pollutants.

Penn State participates in the Department of Energy's reactor sharing program along with other U.S. universities with operating reactors so that researchers at other institutions can have access to research reactor facilities.

Named for its designer, William Breazeale, the reactor was initially licensed on July 8, 1955, as a 100-kilowatt reactor and later upgraded to 200 kilowatts. The reactor began operations on Aug. 15. The first reactor operator license issued by the AEC was awarded to Breazeale. The reactor itself received the first actual reactor license from the AEC, but received Reactor License R-2 because license R-1 was reserved for North Carolina's NCSCR-1 which was never restarted and the license was never actually issued.

In 1965, the Breazeale Reactor became the first to convert to a TRIGA -- Training, Research and Isotope Production reactor by General Atomics -- reactor core with 1000 kilowatts steady state capacity and 2000 megawatt pulsing capability. In the 1950s and early 1960s, the major emphasis was on understanding nuclear reactors. The basis for the textbooks and handbooks widely used came out of these studies. At the same time, spurred by President Eisenhower's "Atoms for Peace Program," emphasis was placed educating personnel for future research and power reactors and developing scientific applications of nuclear technology.

In 1991 the Breazeale Reactor was upgraded with a microprocessor-based digital reactor control and safety system. Also in 1991, the reactor was designated a Nuclear Historic Landmark by the American Nuclear Society. Enhancements and improvements continue to be incorporated into the reactors control systems and peripheral apparatus.

The Breazeale Reactor is not a commercial reactor and does not produce electricity. The neutrons generated by the core are used for a variety of analytical methods and to create radioactive isotopes. The reactor, its controls and safety system are used to train reactor operators, undergraduate and graduate students in nuclear engineering.

The TRIGA reactor is an inherently safe reactor. The core is cooled by natural convection in a water pool. Without this cooling water, the reactor would self-moderate. If the reaction in the core increases, more heat is produced. As more heat is produced, the neutrons produced by the reaction miss their mark, slowing down the reaction and cooling the core.

C. Frederick Sears is director of Penn State's Breazeale Reactor. He oversees the entire range of research and teaching surrounding the center, as well as making certain that the center satisfies all operating and safety regulations set up by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Jack Brenizer, professor and chair of the nuclear engineering program, oversees the undergraduate and graduate programs in nuclear engineering.

In 2002, Penn State, along with Purdue University, University of Illinois and University of Wisconsin, formed the Consortium of Big Ten University Research and Training Reactors. The Ohio State University and the University of Michigan since have joined the consortium, which now includes all of the Big Ten institutions with nuclear engineering programs.

All of the consortium members have robust nuclear engineering programs. About 30 percent of all nuclear engineering degrees granted each year in the U.S. come from Big Ten Consortium institutions. Many of the consortium's research and educational activities are funded through the U.S. Department of Energy's Innovations in Nuclear Infrastructure and Education program.

The goal of the consortium was to establish itself as the leading organization for reactor-based research, outreach and next-generation University Research and Training Reactors (URTR) design in the United States. This goal is being accomplished through strategic investments in the consortium URTR infrastructure combined with innovative programs and initiatives that advance research and education through focused collaboration and natural synergisms between the consortium's reactors, departments and institutions.