Operating Institution Power 1 kW (thermal) Construction Began 1961 (1961) | Type Pool Construction Cost $125,000 | |
 | ||
Location West Lafayette, Indiana, USA | ||
The Purdue University Reactor Number One (PUR-1) is a research reactor in West Lafayette, Indiana, United States. It is used primarily for teaching purposes in Purdue University's School of Nuclear Engineering. Built in 1962, the PUR-1 is the first and only nuclear reactor operating in the US state of Indiana.
Contents
Design
In April 1961, Purdue University selected Lockheed Corporation to build its research reactor after twelve companies submitted bids. It was installed underground, three stories beneath the Duncan Annex of Purdue's Electrical Engineering Building. The reactor first achieved criticality on August 30, 1962, and a dedication ceremony was held on September 27 of that year. The construction cost was $125,000.
The PUR-1 was the first nuclear reactor in Indiana. Another reactor was later installed at the planned Marble Hill Nuclear Power Plant in Jefferson County but was removed when construction of the plant halted in 1984. As a result, the PUR-1 is currently the only reactor in the state.
The Purdue reactor was among the first to be designed mainly for student use. It is licensed to produce up to one kilowatt of thermal power, comparable to the energy demand of a hair dryer or a toaster. This low power makes it safer and less expensive than reactors designed for research or electricity generation. The reactor's core is two cubic feet (0.057 m3) in volume and sits at the bottom of a seventeen-foot-deep (5.2 m) cooling pool of water that measures eight feet (2.4 m) in diameter. This allows the core to be safely viewed while it is operating.
Use
The reactor's primary purpose is for training students in the principles of reactor physics. The university also uses it as a source for neutrons for research in nuclear engineering, health science, chemistry, pharmacy, agriculture, biology, and nanotechnology.
Purdue's reactor is also used for outreach. The School of Nuclear Engineering regularly gives tours of its facilities to local high school students and the general public. As of 2012, it was estimated that between 1,600 and 1,800 visitors see the reactor facilities annually.
Safety
In 2005, journalism interns produced a report for ABC News about the possibility of terrorist attacks on research reactors in the United States. When they arrived at Purdue University, the interns were surprised at how easy it was for the general public to obtain a tour of the reactor facilities. They also noted a lack of background checks, guards, and metal detectors.
In response, the university said that the ABC report had misrepresented the nature of research reactors and that the interns were not qualified to make such safety evaluations. Unlike power plants, that produce electricity by running steam turbines, research reactors operate well below boiling conditions. Because of its low power range and its underground location, Purdue says that any attack on its reactor facilities would be unlikely to affect anything outside of that room. The way in which the reactor is installed means that theft of its fuel would require "a major construction project" that "could not be done covertly."
The PUR-1 originally used highly enriched, or "weapons-grade", uranium as fuel. In 1982, the government announced plans to convert civilian reactors to low-enriched uranium. Conversion of the Purdue reactor was completed in September 2007.