Before October 6th, I had no idea what a nuclear reactor was. I had heard of them before but never really understood what they did or why they are important. After visiting MIT’s Nuclear Reactor, I learned a lot and now have a good understanding of what they do there and how helpful the reactor is.
This reactor has been around since 1958 and was upgraded in 1975. On the tour I noticed that it did look somewhat outdated and old. I saw the same keyboard I had used many years ago with my first PC being used with one of the machines.
The reactor runs 24/7 and operates on highly enriched Uranium 235. There are 24 different fuel element positions in the core and each have 15 plates. There are 15 plates of Uranium 235 and Boron blades around the outside. Water is used for cooling and slowing neutron energy down.
The purpose of this reactor unlike many others, is that it isn’t focused on energy production but on research. Within the reactor is Silicon doping which they produce and sell to companies. It also used to be a part in Cancer Therapy With Boron. Boron would be put into cancerous cells and neutrons would destroy them. However, on the terminal patients they tested on, some of the Boron got into healthy cells and tissue and the rate was not high enough for them to continue the research and get funding.