ANS Nuclear Cafe Matinee: Will and Norm Visit the Reed Research Reactor

September 7, 2012, 6:00AMANS Nuclear Cafe

Running a nuclear reactor is so easy that undergraduates can do it. And they do, at the research reactor at Reed College in Portland, Oregon (by the way, that's where Steve Jobs went to school).

In this *very* cool video, starring Reed College students working with the reactor, you will learn what SCRAM really stands for-and watch one in action! A people's history of the first reactor ever built. How fission works. Why you shouldn't swim in a reactor pool (hint: the water is very clean). Why is that reactor glowing blue? Better art history through irradiation. Prospecting for gold (atoms) in fingernail clippings. And much more! Highly recommended.

Many thanks to the folks at http://www.tested.com/.

 


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