MIT Nuclear Research Reactor

The MIT Nuclear Research Reactor (MITR) serves the research purposes of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It is a tank-type 5 MW reactor that is moderated and cooled by light water and uses heavy water as a reflector. It is the second largest university based research reactor in the U.S. (after the University of Missouri Research Reactor Center) and has been in operation since 1958. It is the fourth-oldest operating reactor in the country.

Technical Specifications

The MITR-II design uses finned plate-type fuel arranged in a hexagonal pattern of rhomboid fuel assemblies. Power is controlled by 6 manual boron-stainless steel blade-type control rods and one cadmium control rod which can be placed on automatic control. Light water flows upwards through the core and a tank of heavy water surrounds the core. A wall of dense concrete that serves as shielding surrounds the tank of heavy water. The maximum coolant temperature is 55 degrees Celsius. The light water and heavy water are cooled through forced circulation through heat exchangers; secondary coolant is cooled in two cooling towers.

The reactor uses highly enriched uranium fuel, in the form of uranium-aluminum cermet with aluminum cladding.

Refueling takes place 3 to 4 times every year. A single refueling consists of rearranging the assemblies in the core or a combination of rearranging and replacement of old assemblies with new ones. This is more frequent than both nuclear power plants, which may go 12 to 16 months between refueling outages when they rearrange almost the entire core and replace 1/3 to 1/2 of the core, and most research reactors (particularly university reactors), many of which go decades without refueling due to the high energy density of nuclear fuel and infrequent use at high power levels.

Uses

The MITR research program encompasses most aspects of neutron science and engineering including nuclear medicine. Some of these activities are:

• Boron neutron capture therapy
• Radiation synovectomy
• Neutron activation analysis for the identification of air pollutants and isotope ratios in geological specimens
• Fission engineering
• Materials testing
• Training
• Neutron transmutation doping of silicon

The MITR is one of only six facilities in the world to be engaged in patient trials for the use of boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) to treat both brain tumors and skin cancer. The MITR fission converter beam is the first to be designed for BNCT.

References

• Perez, Pedro B. (2000). "University Research Reactors: Contributing to the National Scientific and Engineering Infrastructure from 1953 to 2000 and Beyond". National Organization of Test, Research and Training Reactors
• K J Riley; P J Binns; O K Harling (2003). "Performance characteristics of the MIT fission converter based epithermal neutron beam". Physics in Medicine and Biology 48 943.
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• MITR Staff, Safety Analysis Report for the MIT Research Reactor (MITR-II), MITNE-15, Nuclear Engineering Department, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Oct. 1970.

External links

• Official Site
• 2004-5 Report to the MIT President
• ABC's Radioactive Roadtrip Security Review
• Refuting of ABC's claims about reactor by Cambridge Mayor