Professional Documents
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Reactor
Built 1943
NRHP reference # 66000720
Significant dates
Status Decommissioned
Reactor usage
Under construction
Construction
Although the design of the reactor was not
yet complete, DuPont began construction
of the plutonium semiworks on February 2,
1943,[33] on an isolated 112-acre (45.3 ha)
site in the Bethel Valley about 10 miles
(16 km) southwest of Oak Ridge officially
known as the X-10 area. The site included
research laboratories, a chemical
separation plant, a waste storage area, a
training facility for Hanford staff, and
administrative and support facilities that
included a laundry, cafeteria, first aid
center, and fire station. Because of the
subsequent decision to construct water-
cooled reactors at Hanford, only the
chemical separation plant operated as a
true pilot.[34][35] The semiworks eventually
became known as the Clinton
Laboratories, and was operated by the
University of Chicago as part of the
Metallurgical Project.[36]
Under construction
Operation
Reactor controls
By February 1944, the reactor was
irradiating a ton of uranium every three
days. Over the next five months, the
efficiency of the separation process was
improved, with the percentage of
plutonium recovered increasing from 40 to
90 percent. Modifications over time raised
the reactor's power to 4,000 kW in July
1944.[50] Unfortunately, the effect of the
neutron poison xenon-135, one of many
fission products produced from the
uranium fuel, was not detected during the
early operation of the X-10 Graphite
Reactor. Xenon-135 subsequently caused
problems with the startup of the Hanford B
reactor that nearly halted the plutonium
project.[56]
Peacetime use
Loading face seen on tour in 2011
Similar reactors
The Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL)
Graphite Research Reactor was the first
nuclear reactor to be constructed in the
United States following World War II.[65]
Led by Lyle Benjamin Borst, the reactor
construction began in 1947 and reached
criticality for the first time on August 22,
1950. The reactor consisted of a 700-
short-ton (640 t), 25-foot (7.6 m) cube of
graphite fueled by natural uranium.[66] Its
primary mission was applied nuclear
research in medicine, biology, chemistry,
physics and nuclear engineering.[67] One of
the most significant discoveries at this
facility was the development of production
of molybdenum-99/technetium-99m, used
today in tens of millions of medical
diagnostic procedures annually, making it
the most commonly used medical
radioisotope. The BNL Graphite Research
Reactor was shut down in 1969 and fully
decommissioned in 2012.[68]
When Britain began planning to build
nuclear reactors to produce plutonium for
weapons in 1946, it was decided to build a
pair of air-cooled graphite reactors similar
to the X-10 Graphite Reactor at Windscale.
Natural uranium was used as enriched
was not available, and similarly, graphite
was chosen as a neutron moderator
because beryllia was toxic and hard to
manufacture, while heavy water was
unavailable.[69] Use of water as a coolant
was considered, but there were concerns
about the possibility of a catastrophic
nuclear meltdown in the densely
populated British Isles if the cooling
system failed.[70] Helium was again the
preferred choice as a coolant gas, but the
main source of it was the United States,
and under the 1946 McMahon Act, the
United States would not supply it for
nuclear weapons production,[71] so, in the
end, air cooling was chosen.[72]
Construction began in September 1947,
and the two reactors became operational
in October 1950 and June 1951.[73] Both
were decommissioned after the disastrous
Windscale fire in October 1957.[74] They
would be the last major air-cooled
plutonium-producing reactors; the UK's
follow-on Magnox and AGR designs used
carbon dioxide instead.[75]
As of 2016, another reactor of similar
design to the X-10 Graphite Reactor is still
in operation, the Belgian BR-1 reactor of
the SCK•CEN, located in Mol, Belgium.[76]
Financed through the Belgian uranium
export tax, and built with the help of British
experts,[77] the 4 MW research reactor
went critical for the first time on May 11,
1956.[78][79] It is used for scientific
purposes, such as neutron activation
analysis, neutron physics experiments,
calibration of nuclear measurement
devices and the production of neutron
transmutation doped silicon.[80][81]
Notes
1. Rettig, Polly M. (December 8, 1975).
National Register of Historic Places
Inventory-Nomination: X-10 Reactor,
Graphite Reactor (pdf). National Park
Service. and Accompanying three photos,
interior, undated (32 KB)
2. Rhodes 1986, pp. 251–254.
3. Rhodes 1986, pp. 256–263.
4. Jones 1985, pp. 8–10.
5. The Atomic Heritage Foundation.
"Einstein's Letter to Franklin D. Roosevelt" .
Archived from the original on October 27,
2012. Retrieved May 26, 2007.
6. The Atomic Heritage Foundation. "Pa,
this requires action!" . Archived from the
original on October 29, 2012. Retrieved
May 26, 2007.
7. Jones 1985, pp. 14–15.
8. Hewlett & Anderson 1962, pp. 36–38.
9. Hewlett & Anderson 1962, pp. 46–49.
10. Anderson 1975, p. 82.
11. Salvetti 2001, pp. 192–193.
12. Hewlett & Anderson 1962, pp. 50–51.
13. Jones 1985, p. 91.
14. Hewlett & Anderson 1962, pp. 54–55.
15. Hewlett & Anderson 1962, pp. 180–181.
16. Rhodes 1986, pp. 399–400.
17. Jones 1985, pp. 46–47.
18. Oak Ridge National Laboratory 1963,
pp. 3–4.
19. Jones 1985, pp. 67–72.
20. Jones 1985, p. 69.
21. Fine & Remington 1972, pp. 134–135.
22. Jones 1985, pp. 108–112.
23. Holl, Hewlett & Harris 1997, pp. 20–21.
24. Hewlett & Anderson 1962, pp. 190–193.
25. Compton 1956, p. 172.
26. Holl, Hewlett & Harris 1997, p. 8.
27. Compton 1956, p. 173.
28. Oak Ridge National Laboratory 1963,
pp. 3–4, 18.
29. Jones 1985, pp. 107, 192–193.
30. Weinberg 1994, pp. 22–24.
31. Jones 1985, pp. 191–193.
32. Jones 1985, pp. 204–205.
33. Hewlett & Anderson 1962, p. 207.
34. Jones 1985, pp. 204–206.
35. Manhattan District 1947, pp. 2.4–2.6.
36. Manhattan District 1947, p. S3.
37. Hewlett & Anderson 1962, pp. 207–208.
38. Manhattan District 1947, pp. 2.7–2.8.
39. Hewlett & Anderson 1962, pp. 209–210.
40. Smyth 1945, pp. 146–147.
41. Jones 1985, p. 194.
42. Hewlett & Anderson 1962, p. 185.
43. Hewlett & Anderson 1962, p. 89.
44. Gerber 1996, p. 4-1.
45. Gerber 1996, p. 4-7.
46. Manhattan District 1947, p. S2.
47. "ORNL Metals and Ceramics Division
History, 1946–1996" (PDF). Oak Ridge
National Laboratory. ORNL/M-6589.
Archived from the original (PDF) on January
28, 2015. Retrieved January 25, 2015.
48. Manhattan District 1947, p. S4.
49. Manhattan District 1947, p. S5.
50. Jones 1985, p. 209.
51. Jones 1985, p. 204.
52. Jones 1985, p. 208.
53. Hewlett & Anderson 1962, p. 211.
54. Manhattan District 1947, p. S7.
55. "X-10 Graphite Reactor" . United States
Department of Energy. Retrieved
December 13, 2015.
56. Hewlett & Anderson 1962, pp. 306–307.
57. Hoddeson et al. 1993, p. 228.
58. Hoddeson et al. 1993, pp. 240–244.
59. Creager 2013, p. 68.
60. "Peacetime use of radioisotopes at Oak
Ridge cited as Chemical Landmark" .
American Chemical Society. February 25,
2008. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
61. Oak Ridge National Laboratory 1963,
p. 1.
62. "X-10 Reactor, Oak Ridge National
Laboratory" . National Historic Landmark
Summary Listing. National Park Service.
Archived from the original on May 9, 2015.
Retrieved October 7, 2008.
63. National Park Service (April 15, 2008).
"National Register Information System" .
National Register of Historic Places.
National Park Service.
64. "Public Tours" . Oak Ridge National
Laboratory. Retrieved December 12, 2015.
65. Mann, Martin (April 1, 1949). "U.S. lights
new atomic pile for peace" . Popular
Science. Bonnier Corporation. 154 (4).
ISSN 0161-7370 .
66. Cotsalas, Valerie (February 13, 2000).
"Brookhaven Lab's Old Reactor Is Finally
Being Dismantled" . The New York Times.
ISSN 0362-4331 . Retrieved February 13,
2016.
67. "Brookhaven Graphite Research Reactor
History" . Brookhaven National Laboratory.
Archived from the original on March 14,
2013. Retrieved February 13, 2016.
68. "Brookhaven Lab Completes
Decommissioning of Graphite Research
Reactor: Reactor core and associated
structures successfully removed; waste
shipped offsite for disposal" . Department
of Energy. Retrieved February 13, 2016.
69. Gowing & Arnold 1974, pp. 277–278.
70. Arnold 1992, pp. 9–11.
71. Gowing & Arnold 1974, pp. 285–286.
72. Gowing & Arnold 1974, p. 404.
73. Arnold 1992, p. 15.
74. Arnold 1992, pp. 122–123.
75. Hill 2013, pp. 18–20.
76. "Belgian Reactor 1 – SCK•CEN" .
science.sckcen.be. Retrieved February 12,
2016.
77. Buch & Vandenlinden 1995, p. 120.
78. Helmreich, Jonathan E. (1990). "The
Negotiation of the Belgian Uranium Export
Tax of 1951" . Revue belge de philologie et
d'histoire. 68 (2): 320–351.
doi:10.3406/rbph.1990.3713 .
79. Helmreich, Jonathan E. (1996). "U.S.
Foreign Policy and the Belgian Congo in the
1950s" . Historian. 58 (2): 315–328.
doi:10.1111/j.1540-6563.1996.tb00951.x .
ISSN 1540-6563 .
80. "BR1 – Belgian Reactor 1" . Belgian
Nuclear Research Centre. Archived from the
original on July 4, 2013. Retrieved
October 8, 2008.
81. "BR1 – 50th anniversary" (PDF).
www.sckcen.be. Archived from the original
(PDF) on August 16, 2006. Retrieved
December 17, 2015.
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