Texas A&M Nuclear Science Center
Encyclopedia
| Thermal Power | 1 MW |
| Type | Pool |
| Construction | January 1, 1959 |
| First Criticality | January 1, 1962 |
| Initial Cost | US$1.5 million |
| Annual Cost | US$0.9 million |
| Technical Aspects | |
| Max thermal flux | 2.0×1013 n Neutron The neutron is a subatomic hadron particle which has the symbol or , no net electric charge and a mass slightly larger than that of a proton. With the exception of hydrogen, nuclei of atoms consist of protons and neutrons, which are therefore collectively referred to as nucleons. The number of... /(cm²·s) |
| Max fast flux | 2.0×1011 n/(cm²·s) |
| Cooling | 100% natural convection |
| Fuel | uranium zirconium hydride |
| Moderator | light water zirconium hydride |
| Cladding | stainless steel Stainless steel In metallurgy, stainless steel, also known as inox steel or inox from French "inoxydable", is defined as a steel alloy with a minimum of 10.5 or 11% chromium content by mass.... |
| Control Rods | 6 rods, B Boron Boron is the chemical element with atomic number 5 and the chemical symbol B. Boron is a metalloid. Because boron is not produced by stellar nucleosynthesis, it is a low-abundance element in both the solar system and the Earth's crust. However, boron is concentrated on Earth by the... 4C Carbon Carbon is the chemical element with symbol C and atomic number 6. As a member of group 14 on the periodic table, it is nonmetallic and tetravalent—making four electrons available to form covalent chemical bonds... |
| Other Data | |
| Utilization | 90 MW·d/yr |
| Staff / Operators | 20 / 11 |
There are two nuclear research reactors
Research reactor
Research reactors are 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 maritime propulsion.-Purpose:...
that serve the Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school...
Nuclear Science Center. The older of the two is the AGN-201M model, a low-power teaching reactor. The newer reactor, the TRIGA
TRIGA
TRIGA is a class of small nuclear reactor designed and manufactured by General Atomics. The design team for TRIGA was led by the physicist Freeman Dyson.TRIGA is the acronym of Training, Research, Isotopes, General Atomics.-Design:...
Mark I, is focused strongly towards research.
AGN-201M
This was the first reactor of the Nuclear EngineeringNuclear engineering
Nuclear engineering is the branch of engineering concerned with the application of the breakdown as well as the fusion of atomic nuclei and/or the application of other sub-atomic physics, based on the principles of nuclear physics...
program at Texas A&M
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school...
, built in the 1950s. It was shut down 5 years ago and was recently started back up. The reactor is of a negligible thermal power of 5 watts but achieves criticality, making it a critical assembly
Critical mass
A critical mass is the smallest amount of fissile material needed for a sustained nuclear chain reaction. The critical mass of a fissionable material depends upon its nuclear properties A critical mass is the smallest amount of fissile material needed for a sustained nuclear chain reaction. The...
.
The AGN-201M type reactor is also employed at University of New Mexico
University of New Mexico
The University of New Mexico at Albuquerque is a public research university located in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in the United States. It is the state's flagship research institution...
and another AGN-201 type is used at Idaho State University
Idaho State University
Idaho State University is a public university located in Pocatello, Idaho. It has outreach programs in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho Falls, Boise, and Twin Falls....
.
TRIGA Mark I
This is the main reactor of the NSC, operation began in 1961. Tours are available to the public and it is reported that around 2,000 students participate in a tour each year. In 1999 there were 2,982 visitors.The reactor is located in a stand-alone facility two and a half miles (4 km) away from the Texas A&M
Texas A&M University
Texas A&M University is a coeducational public research university located in College Station, Texas . It is the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System. The sixth-largest university in the United States, A&M's enrollment for Fall 2011 was over 50,000 for the first time in school...
campus and close to an airfield.
Technical specifications
This reactor was part of the first line of TRIGATRIGA
TRIGA is a class of small nuclear reactor designed and manufactured by General Atomics. The design team for TRIGA was led by the physicist Freeman Dyson.TRIGA is the acronym of Training, Research, Isotopes, General Atomics.-Design:...
reactors but has a number of features that distinguishes it from the other dozens of TRIGA reactors in use today. It is a 1 megawatt pool-type reactor. It is designed for optimal irradiation of samples and is used to produce a number of radioisotopes for medical and industry applications.
The reactor ran on 70% highly enriched uranium (HEU) until early 2006 when the core was refueled with low enriched uranium as a part of the National Nuclear Security Administration
National Nuclear Security Administration
The United States National Nuclear Security Administration is part of the United States Department of Energy. It works to improve national security through the military application of nuclear energy...
's (NNSA) Global Threat Reduction Initiative. This was a part of the Bush administration
George W. Bush administration
The presidency of George W. Bush began on January 20, 2001, when he was inaugurated as the 43rd President of the United States of America. The oldest son of former president George H. W. Bush, George W...
's efforts to minimize the terrorist threat posed by nuclear fuel in civilian applications around the world and constituted the first and only refueling of the reactor ever. In the decades that it had been in operation, the fuel had depleted its U-235
Uranium-235
- References :* .* DOE Fundamentals handbook: Nuclear Physics and Reactor theory , .* A piece of U-235 the size of a grain of rice can produce energy equal to that contained in three tons of coal or fourteen barrels of oil. -External links:* * * one of the earliest articles on U-235 for the...
content from 70% to around 60%. The new fuel is somewhere under 20% enriched since it is classified as LEU.
Safety evaluations and events
In an ABCAmerican Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
primetime special, the Texas A&M reactor was covered as a part of a "Radioactive Roadtrip". Throughout the airing, comments were made that no guards were present and that one could easily sneak sticks of dynamite into the building right next to the pool of the reactor, prompting a reaction from the University. This is an excerpt of the ABC report:
University Reaction: The reactor is not much of a terrorist threat and security measures are adequate, said James Remlinger, manager of operations at the Nuclear Science Center. He stressed that while the uranium in the reactor core is highly-enriched, it would take "a lot of technology" to make a weapon out of it.
The ABC report took place while the core was made of HEU, which is now replaced with LEU.
The following are separate nuclear safety related events reported by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is an independent agency of the United States government that was established by the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 from the United States Atomic Energy Commission, and was first opened January 19, 1975...
(the governmental agency that regulates research reactors) that were connected to the NSC.
- On March 15, 2006, the NSC reported a potential overexposure of a worker, prompting an Nuclear Regulatory CommissionNuclear Regulatory CommissionThe Nuclear Regulatory Commission is an independent agency of the United States government that was established by the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 from the United States Atomic Energy Commission, and was first opened January 19, 1975...
special inspection. Extraordinary doses to the hand of a worker exceeding the 50 rem (0.5 SvSievertThe sievert is the International System of Units SI derived unit of dose equivalent radiation. It attempts to quantitatively evaluate the biological effects of ionizing radiation as opposed to just the absorbed dose of radiation energy, which is measured in gray...
) yearly limit to extremities were predicted prompting further inspection. - During a December 4, 2000 shipment where a 1.0 curie (37 GBq) and other sources were being transported, a source was found on top of a shipping container unshielded. This prompted further inquiry by the NRC resulting in a civil penaltyCivil penaltyA civil penalty or civil fine is a term used to describe when a state entity, government agency, or private party seeks monetary relief against an individual as restitution for wrongdoing by the individual. The wrongdoing is typically defined by a codification of legislation, regulations, and decrees...
being applied.
Research
The following is a very small sample of research projects underway in conjunction with the main reactor. Reference: NSC HomepageStudying fire ant behavior
Working with faculty from the entomologyEntomology
Entomology is the scientific study of insects, a branch of arthropodology...
department, neutron activation analysis
Neutron activation analysis
In chemistry, neutron activation analysis is a nuclear process used for determining the concentrations of elements in a vast amount of materials. NAA allows discrete sampling of elements as it disregards the chemical form of a sample, and focuses solely on its nucleus. The method is based on...
has been underway on a number of samples from an ant colony to ascertain the behavior of sharing food. A sample is lowered into the reactor and irradiated with neutrons, thereby activating certain elements, which can then have their relative quantities accurately determined. With this information, entomologists can develop more effective ant
Ant
Ants are social insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from wasp-like ancestors in the mid-Cretaceous period between 110 and 130 million years ago and diversified after the rise of flowering plants. More than...
poisons and control methods.