It is day 14 of our trip and we are visiting the Rhode Island Nuclear Science Center. We are meeting with Jeff Davis, Assistant Director of the facility. This facility is home to a
2-megawatt, light water cooled, pool type reactor. To start off, we learned about the nuclear science and condensed matter physics used here to create nuclear energy.
The physicists at this facility are interested in what's going on inside the nucleus. Isotopes are used to keep track of the different types of hydrogen atoms. A handful of isotopes undergo a reaction to become the reactor fuel used in this facility. The reactor fuel used most often in this facility is Uranium-235. Basically, they are creating fission. They use Boron to control the fission reaction and make sure it is not our of control. There are three types of "neutron generations" possible during this fission reaction; 1) sub-critical, ) critical and 3) super-critical. The reactor fuel used in this process is put into the form of plates. The plates are put into an arrangement of 14 control rods and by raising or lowering them, the physicists can control the entire nuclear reaction. The begin the process at the sub-critical level, then move to critical, and finish with super-critical. Going in this order allows for the neutron population to go up and power is created.
Every year, the Center checks the Boron levels in the reactor, but they have not changed since the 1960's. The water used in the reactor is cleaned thoroughly before being used, so that it does not become radioactive. The water used is also not dumped anywhere but rather dissipated into the air. This reactor has multiple uses such as neutron capture therapy, which focuses radioactivity on the alpha neutrons that are causing cancer in someones tissue. This is a relatively new method of treatment and more research must be done on it. They are having trouble with keeping the radioactivity concentrated on only the cancerous tissue. Neuron scattering is another way this reactor is used and provides material structure information. This third use of the reactor is neutron activation analysis. It is used for determining the types and concentration amounts of elements present in solid, liquid, or gaseous samples. This is used in commonly in atmospheric chemistry when trying to identify chemicals found in the air. This reactor can also be used for biomedical cell tracking, kidney failure diagnostics, and stem cell research. All of this is very probabilistic because there is a set number of reactions that can occur in all of these processes. The physicists just manipulate the process as much as they can to get the outcome they want.
The Center has an incredibly small staff of eight people, but there are multiple areas of focus between them. Some study engineering, physics, or even oceanography. The nuclear development field is not doing very well, almost everyone within the field is within five years of retirement. There is a need for people to enter this field and money available to help people do so. The University of Rhode Island actually has pretty up and coming nuclear engineering program. This facility does not use fuel very much or very often. The Federal government lends them fuel. The facility does not use all of the valuable components of fuel so when they are finished with it they return it to the government. This facility seems to not produce much waste or use anything wastefully.
Getting to see the actual reactor (pictured above) was really spectacular. To me, it seems like a generally safe operation that is used mostly for beneficial research in the medical field. This facility, and surely other ones alike, face a lot of negative accusations because they are nuclear. People can only seem to focus on what has happened at other nuclear facilities and the negative impacts they have had. It seemed as though Jeff was frustrated by this and is trying to educate people on the safe and effectiveness of nuclear reactors. This is a very small nuclear facility so it is not really expected to have a huge environmental impact.
2-megawatt, light water cooled, pool type reactor. To start off, we learned about the nuclear science and condensed matter physics used here to create nuclear energy.
The physicists at this facility are interested in what's going on inside the nucleus. Isotopes are used to keep track of the different types of hydrogen atoms. A handful of isotopes undergo a reaction to become the reactor fuel used in this facility. The reactor fuel used most often in this facility is Uranium-235. Basically, they are creating fission. They use Boron to control the fission reaction and make sure it is not our of control. There are three types of "neutron generations" possible during this fission reaction; 1) sub-critical, ) critical and 3) super-critical. The reactor fuel used in this process is put into the form of plates. The plates are put into an arrangement of 14 control rods and by raising or lowering them, the physicists can control the entire nuclear reaction. The begin the process at the sub-critical level, then move to critical, and finish with super-critical. Going in this order allows for the neutron population to go up and power is created.
Every year, the Center checks the Boron levels in the reactor, but they have not changed since the 1960's. The water used in the reactor is cleaned thoroughly before being used, so that it does not become radioactive. The water used is also not dumped anywhere but rather dissipated into the air. This reactor has multiple uses such as neutron capture therapy, which focuses radioactivity on the alpha neutrons that are causing cancer in someones tissue. This is a relatively new method of treatment and more research must be done on it. They are having trouble with keeping the radioactivity concentrated on only the cancerous tissue. Neuron scattering is another way this reactor is used and provides material structure information. This third use of the reactor is neutron activation analysis. It is used for determining the types and concentration amounts of elements present in solid, liquid, or gaseous samples. This is used in commonly in atmospheric chemistry when trying to identify chemicals found in the air. This reactor can also be used for biomedical cell tracking, kidney failure diagnostics, and stem cell research. All of this is very probabilistic because there is a set number of reactions that can occur in all of these processes. The physicists just manipulate the process as much as they can to get the outcome they want.
The Center has an incredibly small staff of eight people, but there are multiple areas of focus between them. Some study engineering, physics, or even oceanography. The nuclear development field is not doing very well, almost everyone within the field is within five years of retirement. There is a need for people to enter this field and money available to help people do so. The University of Rhode Island actually has pretty up and coming nuclear engineering program. This facility does not use fuel very much or very often. The Federal government lends them fuel. The facility does not use all of the valuable components of fuel so when they are finished with it they return it to the government. This facility seems to not produce much waste or use anything wastefully.
Getting to see the actual reactor (pictured above) was really spectacular. To me, it seems like a generally safe operation that is used mostly for beneficial research in the medical field. This facility, and surely other ones alike, face a lot of negative accusations because they are nuclear. People can only seem to focus on what has happened at other nuclear facilities and the negative impacts they have had. It seemed as though Jeff was frustrated by this and is trying to educate people on the safe and effectiveness of nuclear reactors. This is a very small nuclear facility so it is not really expected to have a huge environmental impact.
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