The Radiation Laboratory at the US

University of Massachusetts Lowell The University of Massachusetts Lowell (UMass Lowell and UML) is a public research university in Lowell, Massachusetts, with a satellite campus in Haverhill, Massachusetts. It is the northernmost member of the University of Massachusetts public u ...

serves the Department of Applied Physics among others. The laboratory contains a 1 MW pool-type

nuclear research reactor Research reactors are nuclear fission-based nuclear reactors that serve primarily as a neutron source. They are also called non-power reactors, in contrast to power reactors that are used for electricity production, heat generation, or maritim ...

(UMLRR) that has been operating since 1974, a 300 kCi Co-60 gamma ray source, and a 5.5 MV Van de Graaff accelerator.

Reactor

First startup was January 2, 1975. A budget for the reactor is not provided from the university or from the state; funding comes from customer irradiations, grants, and the

United States Department of Energy The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government that oversees U.S. national energy policy and manages the research and development of nuclear power and nuclear weapons in the United Stat ...

Conversion to LEU

The UMass Lowell reactor has been one of the many research reactors to make the conversion from high-enriched

Uranium Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weakly ...

to low-enriched

as a part of anti-terrorism security measures. The used HEU fuel was reportedly shipped to the

Savannah River Site The Savannah River Site (SRS) is a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) reservation in the United States in the state of South Carolina, located on land in Aiken, Allendale, and Barnwell counties adjacent to the Savannah River, southeast of August ...

. The original shipping date was June 2002 but had been postponed many times. As of present-day the shipments have been made and the reactor is in operation with LEU.

Neutron Irradiation Capabilities

Neutron irradiation facilities at the UMLRR include: 1x 8-inch beam port, 2x 6-inch beam ports, in-core radiation baskets & flux trap, thermal column, and fast neutron irradiator (FNI).

References

External links

Applied Physics Departmental SiteABC's Radioactive Roadtrip Security Review
{{authority control Nuclear research reactors R 1975 establishments in Massachusetts