Materials Testing Reactor

The materials testing reactor, designed to produce a flow of intense neutron radiation, is now in operation at the National Reactor Testing Station, according to L. E. Johnston, manager of the Idaho Operations Office of the Atomic Energy Commission. While the reactor operates primarily on thermal neutrons, it also can produce neutrons of higher energies, thus providing a means for determining the effects of radiation of different intensities on materials considered for use in the structures, cooling systems, and shields of new reactors. An enriched uranium reactor, it uses water circulating at high velocity as a coolant. Excavation for the reactor was started at the station in May 1950 and on March 31st of this year it became critical.