CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has begun the process of decommissioning its nuclear research reactor. The process will take several years to complete and will be carried out under the scrutiny of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the U.S. Department of Energy.
Built in 1959, the research reactor was placed in safe storage mode in 1998, when its 30-year operating license expired. Congress recently authorized funding to assist with the start of the decommissioning process of selected inactive reactors, including the one at Illinois.
The 1.5 megawatt reactor was used for research, instruction for undergraduate and graduate students, and service to the industry. It produced no electricity, but was used in a wide variety of research applications, such as engineering, physics, biophysics, earth science and environmental monitoring, and medical and manufacturing technology.
“In the future, our nuclear engineering students and faculty will make use of a virtual nuclear reactor laboratory on campus and research reactors at affiliated universities and national laboratories,” said James F. Stubbins, the head of the nuclear, plasma and radiological engineering department at Illinois.
The Big Ten Innovations in Nuclear Engineering Infrastructure and Education Consortium also will support research and instruction through its mission of enhancing the use of existing university research reactors and designing the next generation of university research reactors, Stubbins said. The consortium is supported by the DOE and includes Illinois, the University of Michigan, Ohio State University, Pennsylvania State University, Purdue University and the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
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