Radiation Facility Tour

Radiation Facility Tour

University of Maryland has a nuclear reactor!
Corinne Mona and Karina Cooper
A Day in the Life
Physics History

Before this past fall, many of us at the Niels Bohr Library & Archives did not realize that our library is just a few miles away from a nuclear reactor. Thanks to Miriam (Mimi) Hiebert and Tim Koeth of the University of Maryland, this changed when we got the offer to tour the University of Maryland Radiation Facilities.

To backtrack a little bit: first, we offered a tour! Mimi and Tim visited us at the Niels Bohr Library & Archives this past summer for a tour of our collections. Mimi Hiebert, who holds a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering, is an old friend of NBLA; she researched with us in the process of writing her newly released book, The Uranium Club: Unearthing the Lost Relics of the Nazi Nuclear Program, in which she sets the historical narrative of the race to develop nuclear weapons within the fascinating story of how Tim, in College Park, Maryland, ended up with a uranium cube that almost certainly originated in Nazi Germany. For more on this fascinating book, read the Physics Today article and look forward to our upcoming interview post with Mimi Hiebert!  During the tour of our library, Tim offered to take us on a tour of the Radiation Facilities at the University of Maryland, which are home to the Maryland University Training Reactor (MUTR), as well as Tim’s fascinating collection of uranium-related consumer products, Geiger counters from all eras, and other paraphernalia. (You can ask about tours or see a virtual tour here.)

The University of Maryland Radiation Facilities are located in the Chemical and Nuclear Engineering Building of the UMD College Park Campus and have been home to a nuclear reactor since 1957. How did a reactor end up at the University of Maryland (UMD)? In 1954, former Manhattan Project scientist Prof. Dick Duffey and Board of Regents member Clarence Tuttle, spurred by the new offering of nuclear engineering classes at UMD, began advocating for a nuclear reactor facility. By 1957, UMD had gained a subcritical reactor. Through a series of grants, construction permits, operating licenses, and additions, UMD was able to construct a critical reactor, and on December 20, 1960, they were able to achieve criticality of the first nuclear reactor in the state of Maryland. This version of the reactor contributed to student research in nuclear spectroscopy, neutron diffraction, neutron activation analysis, isotope production and radiation effects testing, and contributed to 14 academic degrees by 1966. Significant upgrades to the reactor, including a TRIGA fuel and control system, made the reactor more powerful and expanded possibilities for research. This version, the current version, called the Maryland University Training Reactor (MUTR), achieved initial criticality on June 18, 1974. There have since been significant renovations to the facilities in the decades following, especially in the last two decades, and the reactor is subject to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The MUTR uses uranium zirconium hydride rods as fuel, submerged in a two-story open pool of water, and can output up to a power of 250 kW. Students from a wide range of disciplines use the reactor for research, from nuclear physics and engineering students, to humanities students studying composition of materials. The other main use of the reactor is as a training facility for students of any major interested in becoming certified operators of nuclear reactors. As of 2016, the MUTR is home to a training program for undergraduate student operators, under the auspices of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The rigorous program trains students with interests ranging from scientific policy, nuclear reactor operation, and nuclear engineering. The program has a 100% success rate so far. 

On our tour, we saw an experimental set up next to the reactor that was being used for neutron activation analysis. A byproduct of a nuclear chain reaction is the production of neutrons, particles which are able to pass through the water and exterior of the reactor core and through most materials except plastic (which is used as a barrier to constrain the neutrons). This means that by bombarding an object, such as an archeological fragment, with neutrons from the reactor, radioactive isotopes are formed in the object and the resultant radiation can be measured in the form of spectra which reveal the chemical composition of the object.  Neutron detectors placed behind the object can be used to characterize the flux of neutrons through the object and generate shadow-like projections of objects based on how well they absorb neutrons. On the wall above the UMD neutron detector setup, examples of some of these images were on display of objects observed with this reactor, including an R2-D2 toy! 

On the tour we also  got to go inside the reactor control room, where two students who had completed the training program were operating the reactor. We then got the opportunity to view the reactor core itself. Climbing up a narrow flight of stairs to the top of the reactor platform, we crowded around the open pool containing the reactor, whose core was visible about 15 feet down. Tim assured us that we were perfectly safe as long as we did not touch the water, as the water and lead lined vat absorbed and blocked the ionized radiation from reaching us. Before we entered the reactor facility for our tour, Tim took an initial measurement on his dosimeter which would be with him throughout the tour for our safety. A dosimeter measures the total exposure to radiation one accumulates over time, as opposed to a Geiger counter which measures the level of radiation at a given place and time. 

Tim turned out the lights and issued the order to the students in the control room to turn on the reactor. Slowly a fluorescent blue glow became visible in the water around the core, eerily illuminating the fuel rods. This “blue glow” is more formally known as Cherenkov radiation, named after the 1958 Nobel prize winning Soviet scientist who first experimentally explored the effect in 1934. The effect is the result of highly charged particles produced in the nuclear chain-reaction traveling faster than light is able to travel through water, similar to the way you hear a sonic boom when something is moving faster than the speed of sound. The blue glow is caused by electromagnetic radiation, appearing such a bright blue to the combination of the radiated light's high frequency and high intensity in the blue part of the visible spectrum, and can be used as a visual representation of the radioactivity surrounding the reactor. When the reactor is shut down (or in nuclear reactor speak “scram” is the term used when lead control rods are dropped into the reactor core, immediately interrupting the nuclear chain reaction), the blue glow is still visible, although growing dimmer, until the leftover radiation fully decays. It is hard to describe the effect of seeing the blue glow in real life; there is a sense of inexplicable awe which no picture or explanation can do justice.

While our walkthrough of the MUTR was certainly something that we’ll remember for a long time to come, another aspect of the tour was nearly as striking: the opportunity to view Tim’s collection of Geiger counters and consumer products. Part of Tim’s collection is housed in a room outside of the MUTR and includes Geiger counters of varying styles from different eras. Perhaps one of the most memorable ones is a Geiger counter which is the same model that was used in Chernobyl after the accident. Tim says that he got many of his Geiger counters and other atomic era paraphernalia from Ebay and antique stores.

After examining the Geiger counters, we got to hear one tested on a piece of Fiestaware. Many of us were familiar with  the telltale tick tickttick tickticktick sound of a Geiger counter only through movies and video games (such as  the video game Fallout, which is set in an alternate universe post apocalyptic nuclear disaster Washington DC during the 1950s), so it was quite a treat to hear that sound in real life. Fiestaware is one of many early 20th century consumer products that was produced with uranium; in the case of Fiestaware, uranium added to the glaze gave the products a strong color that endures to the present. Although all colors of Fiestaware produced in the 1930s are radioactive, the red color, the most popular, was (and is) the most radioactive. Uranium glass, sometimes called depression or Vaseline glass, is another category of tableware produced in the early 20th century with uranium - for aesthetic reasons. It glows vibrantly under a blacklight! Although there are no recorded cases of radiation poisoning from eating from Fiestaware or uranium glass, it is still recommended not to eat from radioactive tableware. Modern Fiestaware does not contain uranium.

Tim has a beautiful example of a shoe-fitting fluoroscope. Fluoroscopes were common in the US from the 1930s through the 1950s. Cobblers and shoe sales people would use these to look at the bones of children’s feet through the power of an x-ray. Unfortunately, this meant that the child, the parent looking on, and the shoe-fitter got a blast of radiation every time they were used. While there are no reports of customers developing health conditions because of these machines, it was not uncommon among shoe salespeople. The Oak Ridge Museum of Radiation and Radioactivity cites radiation burn as a recorded injury from the use of shoe-fitting fluoroscopes.

After seeing the Geiger counters and fluoroscope, we were invited to the most radioactive room in the building, which is not the reactor room. Tim’s office is bursting with uranium-related oddities and consumer products from the first half of the 20th century, which give the room a higher level of radioactivity than other rooms, but it is still safe to inhabit.

Tim checked the room with his dosimeter before we entered. A few treasures we encountered were a map of the night sky painted with uranium (so it would glow in the dark for airplane pilots at night), canisters that once held radiated water (sold as a health product), a ring for children that was made with uranium, many pieces of uranium glass, and giveaways from businesses that made references to atomic power.

*For a great resource on atomic-era consumer products, and radiation history in general, please check out the ORAU Museum of Radiation and Radioactivity, which has a wonderful online presence.*

We wanted to end this post with some reflections from some of our staff members who went on the tour!

Caitlin Shaffer, Field Study Intern

I’m not an expert in science, but this field trip excursion was a blast! (Rest assured, there were no explosions.) At first I was a little nervous due to the radiation, but Tim insisted that the extremely low radiation levels would not harm us. My favorite part of the tour was getting to see Tim’s personal collection of instrumentation – especially the Geiger counter tool that he brings to antique shops, flea markets, etc. to detect radiation in everyday items such as plates, cups, and pencils. (He only wants to purchase the items that make noise!)

But nothing tops the bulky, antique wooden foot x-ray machine that used to be used to measure people’s feet in department stores. If you were an operator of one of those, you would be very unlucky indeed. This object was capable of emitting such high amounts of radiation during its functioning days that Tim was only allowed to purchase and keep it on the condition that a safety contraption be permanently affixed to the end of the power cord so that the device can never be turned on. This tour was certainly an experience I will never forget! 

 

Melanie Mueller, Director of the Niels Bohr Library & Archives

Aside from the obvious WOW!-factor of standing on top of a nuclear reactor and seeing that blue glow, my favorite part was seeing Tim’s collection of instrumentation and ephemera. I particularly enjoyed Tim’s collection of dishes, toys, and other household and cultural items that incorporate radioactive materials in some way. It is wild to learn the many ways that the general public was excited by (and exposed to!) the applications of radiation. Tim is a wonderful spokesperson for the facility - his enthusiasm and depth of knowledge made for a great tour. I came away with a better understanding of the work that goes into starting and maintaining a facility like theirs, and with a sparked curiosity about radiation – the science, as well as the public fascination with it. In general, I was surprised that I had no idea (until recently) that the Radiation Facilities at UMD even existed! And I had no idea how many reactors there are, even just in the DC area. I am very interested to watch the construction of the water cooling system/tower in the coming years. I wonder what the student and public attention will be as construction commences. Also, the tour was a reminder of how scientists love the history of their field. There are so many opportunities to visit scientific institutions in our area, and to explore connections between scientists and historians and archives and librarians.

 

Corinne Mona, Assistant Librarian and Chief-Editor of Ex-Libris Universum

I thought the whole tour was fascinating, but I really felt a sense of awe when we looked into the nuclear reactor and saw the glowing blue light. It’s really cool that you can physically see this evidence of radiation. I [also] thought it was fascinating that undergraduates at the University of Maryland in any field can learn to operate a nuclear reactor and use it for their research. We met a student who was on his way to being certified. [In terms of Tim’s collection], everything was pretty extraordinary. It was bizarre to see the variety of consumer products that used uranium, and it was particularly memorable to see the map of the night sky that had been made for pilots using radium paint, which would allow the pilot to see at night. It brought to mind the book in our collection, Radium Girls by Kate Moore, which is about the women in the early 20th century who worked in factories that painted dials with radium paint, and later became horribly ill. [My main takeaway was that] nuclear physics is actually quite interesting and can be somewhat comprehensible to a layperson like myself in the right circumstances!

References/Further Reading

 

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