High Flux Isotope Reactor

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The High Flux Isotope Reactor (or HFIR) is a nuclear research reactor located at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, United States. Operational since 1966, the HFIR is an 85 MW reactor designed for the production of special radioisotopes (it is the only US source of Californium-252) and high thermal neutron fluxes for research purposes.

In November 2007 ORNL officials announced that time-of-flight tests on a newly installed cold source (which uses liquid helium and hydrogen to slow the movement of neutrons) showed better performance than design predictions, equaling or surpassing the previous world record set by the research reactor at the Institut Laue-Langevin in Grenoble, France.^[1]

[edit] References

^ Data suggest world record at Oak Ridge reactor, By Frank Munger, Knoxville News Sentinel, November 26, 2007

[edit] External links

Brackett, Cindy (May 2004). High Flux Isotope Reactor. Oak Ridge National Laboratory Research Reactors Division. United States Department of Energy. Retrieved on April 20, 2006.
Aerial view of HFIR site. Google Maps (2006). Retrieved on April 20, 2006.
The HFIR Facility at Oak Ridge National Lab. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (2007). Retrieved on June 23, 2007.