On October 24, 2011, our class went to the MIT Nuclear Reactor Lab located in Kendall. When we first got there, it was not at all what we would have expected such a technologically advanced “experiment” to be located in. It looked just like any other building used for loading and unloading…I would have never thought “that must be where a bunch of nuclear energy experiments are being conducted”!
After our (very friendly) tour guide signed us all in and gave us these little devices that would measure any changes of radiation we may have been exposed to, he gave us a very quick overview of exactly what the reactor was compromised of and what it does. First of all, the reactor is made up of two separate tanks with the inner tank containing “light” water while the outer one was designed to hold “heavy” water. The inner tank’s water chamber’s purpose is meant to absorb the neutrons that are moving really fast during fission while using a simple moderator (coolant). The reactor’s “core” has highly enriched uranium (HEU) and besides this one, there is only one other tank containing HEU that are non-government. Although it is HEU, our tour guide mentioned that they would like to switch it over to low enriched uranium (LEU) but it is a difficult and lengthy process because of the core’s design that would require renovations and redesign. The actual uranium that’s located in the HEU core is stored in a structure at the bottom of the tank. There are also six stainless steel blades as well as an automatic regulating rod that controls the power in the core tank. From how the tour guide explained it, my understanding is that when those steel blades move up, it releases fuel. This leads to boron absorbing the neutrons that are in the core – this is the fission process.
Outside the MIT Nuclear Reactor
Before our guide allowed us to enter the actual restricted area where the nuclear reactor was, I found it very helpful that he explain the whole nuclear fission process with the model of the reactor. He proceeded to explain how the particles arrangement in the uranium’s atom is unstable due to the fact that its nucleus can disintegrate easily. With that, the uranium’s atom can absorb an extra neutron causing the nucleus to split and that’s basically what is happening in the nuclear reactor’s core that is the fission process. Whenever fission happens, neutrons would be released from the nucleus and a chain reaction would occur if this happened to more than one uranium atom at a time. The six stainless steel blades would absorb the extra neutrons being released in order to prevent that chain reaction from happening because that’s when it becomes dangerous.
Due to the fact that this nuclear power plant is used for the sole purpose of research, no heat that has generated through fission is used to produce electricity. Any radiation produced in the core of the reactor is meant for the ongoing experiments MIT students are in charge of. Although the reactor hasn’t reached a critical state, fission could still be happening which is a brief overview of how Fukushima’s disaster occurred according to the tour guide.
Bird's Eye View of the Nuclear Reactor
Once we got to go in and see the actual nuclear reactor, I found myself pleasantly surprised. It’s funny because you always imagine what it would look like in a place such as that but once you see it it’s almost surreal. For example, when we got to go into the main control room I couldn’t believe just how many things one person was expected to monitor and memorize in order to make sure everything ran smoothly. It really put it into perspective just how seriously the MIT students and professors had to train in order to be a part of the research and experiments done there. What I found most interesting was when we went to the basement below the nuclear reactor and the tour guide pointed out this little room that was once used for terminal patients with brain cancer for experimental treatment and such. I was definitely fascinated knowing that there had once been human research going on inside that facility.
Main Control Room
Even though I have a very limited knowledge of nuclear energy, power plants and such, I still found the trip to be very informative. It made the things that we had been discussing in class turn to reality instead of something I was so far removed from. Personally, I never thought that I would get a chance to visit a facility such as that and besides being educational, it was interesting in general!