Photo by Jay Adams
The power of the nuclear research reactor at the University has been increased from one to two million watts, making it the largest pool-type research reactor at any university in the South. Along with this increase, a new gamma-ray irradiation facility of cobalt 60 has been installed at the site. The doubled power will allow researchers to cut the time of many experiments in half. Operated by the department of nuclear engineering in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the reactor is used for research on radiation shielding and scattering-the ways radiation disperses in air, water, and metals-and for analysis of meteorite samples and identification of trace elements in crime detection.