Students Tour Nuclear Reactor
Rivers science students stood roughly 20 feet from a five-megawatt nuclear reactor core.
Rivers science students stood roughly 20 feet from a five-megawatt nuclear reactor core. The size of a dormitory refrigerator, it was encased in a tank of pure water inside a tank of "heavy water" inside a container of graphite inside heavy concrete. It made no sound working at full power.
"It was weird how safe it seemed," said senior Meryl Gold, one of 10 students in AP Environmental Science to tour the nuclear reactor facility at Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Jan. 26.
Ed Lau, superintendent of operations at the MIT reactor, gave students an overview of how the reactor works, breaking apart atoms and releasing neutrons and energy. He also outlined safety precautions and the research that the reactor enables. Supervisors Jim Klein and Tim Lucas led tours of the facility.
Built in 1958 and rebuilt in 1978, the MIT reactor is tiny compared with the typical commercial reactor producing 3,000 megawatts of power per day. Its job is not to provide power but to provide neutrons for experiments.
"I'm not sure how I feel about (commercial) nuclear power, but as a scientific tool, the reactor is very useful," said senior Billy Clark. "I was surprised by the medical side of it…and by the many different uses, including archeology."
Researchers test ideas about designing the next generation of nuclear reactors at the MIT facility, and they test ways for material to survive in outer space. They also investigate new cancer therapies. One project has explored the use of neutrons to destroy brain cancer cells.
Lau also noted a research project that used neutrons on fossils to identify an element rare on earth. The research suggested the element was brought to our planet by a meteorite.
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"It was weird how safe it seemed," said senior Meryl Gold, one of 10 students in AP Environmental Science to tour the nuclear reactor facility at Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Jan. 26.
Ed Lau, superintendent of operations at the MIT reactor, gave students an overview of how the reactor works, breaking apart atoms and releasing neutrons and energy. He also outlined safety precautions and the research that the reactor enables. Supervisors Jim Klein and Tim Lucas led tours of the facility.
Built in 1958 and rebuilt in 1978, the MIT reactor is tiny compared with the typical commercial reactor producing 3,000 megawatts of power per day. Its job is not to provide power but to provide neutrons for experiments.
"I'm not sure how I feel about (commercial) nuclear power, but as a scientific tool, the reactor is very useful," said senior Billy Clark. "I was surprised by the medical side of it…and by the many different uses, including archeology."
Researchers test ideas about designing the next generation of nuclear reactors at the MIT facility, and they test ways for material to survive in outer space. They also investigate new cancer therapies. One project has explored the use of neutrons to destroy brain cancer cells.
Lau also noted a research project that used neutrons on fossils to identify an element rare on earth. The research suggested the element was brought to our planet by a meteorite.
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