The MIT nuclear reactor trip was very interesting and informative. Frank Warmly was our one of our tour guide who told us a lot about the reactor and its functions. The reactor at MIT started up in 1958 (built before that) and was upgraded in 1975 and again in 2010. The reactor is on 24/7 and operates with up to 6 MW (MegaWatts) of thermal energy. In the years ahead they plan to upgrade up to 10 MW. The nuclear reactor uses no greenhouse gases which is a blessing to our environment.
Every 10-15 years they are required to change the water (D2O) that has become radioactive, they remove the water with a careful procedure and get new D2O from the government. The water they use is highly purified because the dirt from our regular water can cause malfunctions in the reactor. He explained that the water we get from the tap seems to be clean, but when you have a large amount of a few feet deep, you can’t even see the bottom because all the dirt fogs up the water. He showed and explained a typical PWR (Pressurized Water Reactor). H also spoke about the different type of rays, such as the Alpha ray (weakest ray), the Beta ray (which is able to go through are hands), the Gamma Ray ( strongest ray), and that all these rays can be stopped by lead. He showed us the core of the reactor which is a hexagon that glows blue because the speed of light is seen in the water, this is called the Cherenkov Glow.
The reactor only accepts U235 isotopes, so when they get plutonium most of it has nonuse-full isotopes ,very few of it is actually U235. He also mentioned that a lot of maintenance goes toward this reactor, about 500 items a year. I asked Frank what the main objective is for the nuclear reactor and he answered that the main objective is Research (such as therapy research). No power is actually generated, only thermal energy is produced. In the room he was throwing a lot of information on us so it was getting somewhat overwhelming and a little boring, But it was cool when we actually got to go in the show room. The other tour guide showed us around where the reactor was. He showed us where the core was from the second floor and showed us a few other gadgets. Then he took us to the control room which was pretty cool. When we were leaving, each of us had to get checked for radiation in order to leave. Overall it was an interesting and informative tour. Thanks to Dr. Shatz 🙂
I am shocked to hear that our drinking water is dirty if seen in a large quantity. It always looks so clean normally. It is interesting that this reactor does not produce power and is mainly for research. Hopefully the research they are doing will progress the field of nuclear energy. This seems to have been a very interesting and knowledgable trip for you. Great post!