The Labs That Go Boom: How to Run a Nuclear Reactor

Dark haired chick in the middle is Duck Facing. Ruined the article for me.

You've not looked in the mirror recently, eh?

How is this a lab that goes "boom?" Hope these kids are learning how NOT to make it go boom.

because the energy output while not enough to boil the containment water is still enough to level a small apartment building. it is an explosion only on a relatively geological timescale compared to actual explosions. a gas can exploding would be the human race, this nuclear reactor would be the entire history of the earth.

i laugh at the above posts by the way.

either way it's nice to see that we are still training enterprising individuals to actually run a nuclear reactor. i will always be a proponent for nuclear energy if only because it is the most energy dense fuel that we have next to anti matter and we have just as many reasons not to use anti matter as we do nuclear fuel.

to mars or bust!

I bet they all secretly hate that NY kid that PopSci did the spread on when he built his own reactor in his basement.

That purty blue water sure looks inviting. Are swimming trunks optional in that town? Now to find a standard military grade NBC suit like our ground troops have for the lifeguard...

It will be really cool when we finally get to throw a pocketful of Higgs Bosuns in there to see what will happen.

Uncap the criticality. Time for hot dogs and s'mores.

So that's on public water and sewage, then? What's your monthly rate?

Yeah, yeah. If I had a nickel for every criticality I've played with...

And just look, quasi44, nerds do so have friends that look like they know to get their head out once in a while for stable mental health; it ain't like you said it was at all, man. You suck, dude.

Now usually when I tell someone to get their head out, it's because he did something stupid when I have to work alongside.

Ok then, how's this? Wherever you are, on or off this world, always remember to get your head out in everything you do. I'll like you all better then.

A universe, potentially, for all we know as of today. We've been studying the IC engine for 100 years, but nuclear science with a few thousand curious people applying rigor for half that have yielded so much more. Rock on, Reed.

"The Reed Research Reactor is the only program in the country where undergraduate students oversee the day-to-day operations of a working nuclear reactor."

This is a completely false statement. There are around 30 university research reactors in the US that I know of, some of which operate at up to 40 times the power (10 Megawatt) of the reactor featured in this article.

The 'undergrad' qualifier hardly excuses it. The majority of licensed operators in research reactors are undergraduates. Read this report on university research reactors for some more insight.
http://www.trtr.org/Links/OSTP%20Briefing%202000.pdf

I guess you could argue that it's really the Senior Reactor Operators (SRO) that 'oversee day-to-day operations', but I also know for a fact at least 2 other university reactors that had licensed undergrad SROs (I was one of 2 at my facility, and there were 2 more after I left).

If you want to make Reed's Reactor facility sound special, I believe they are the only liberal arts university with an operating research reactor. They also have more female operators than any other facility (I believe).

They also license undergrads at a much higher rate than most other university reactors, which is fairly neat. They have that luxury with such a low power reactor. It would be almost impossible to cause a severe safety hazard with their core.