At the MIT laboratory, a 6 MW research reactor is used for materials irradiation and testing, research and development. The IRRUR team recommended that the laboratory integrate more fully within MIT. (Photo: MIT)
At the MIT laboratory, a 6 MW research reactor is used for materials irradiation and testing, research and development, as well as education and training. MIT’s nuclear research reactor (MITR) is the second largest university-based research reactor in the USA (after the University of Missouri Research Reactor) and has been in operation since 1958.
“The MITR is the only university research reactor in the USA carrying out irradiations that are complementary to research at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and INL,” said Danas Ridikas, Head of the Physics Section at the IAEA, who participated in the mission. “Its partnership with the MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center also has the potential to enable research into fusion materials and relevant technology components development and engineering scale testing, filling an important research gap in the USA.”
While the MITR is well known among its present users and stakeholders, a more strategic approach is needed to help strengthen the impact of its scientific research, the IRRUR team concluded. The team recommended that the laboratory integrate more fully within MIT. “MIT faculty and students should be encouraged to carry out research at the facility, and there is an opportunity for the lab to engage more productively with the global nuclear science and technology community,” Ridikas said. For example, the MITR could be utilized for research into radioisotopes, which can be produced in research reactors by exposing target materials to neutrons.
The team also found it was important for the MIT lab to revitalize its ageing infrastructure, not only to improve the safe and reliable reactor utilization but also to provide a more attractive environment for outside users, students and staff.
“I believe that MIT’s Nuclear Reactor Laboratory has the potential to become a world-leading facility for the custom irradiation of nuclear fuels and materials,” said Ron Crone, Associate Laboratory Director of Materials and Fuels Complex at INL and a member of the IRRUR team. “With additional infrastructure investment and more external engagement, I believe it will support important research into innovative energy solutions involving nuclear fission, as well as nuclear fusion, for the coming decades.”
