Page 8 - NUCLEUS: The Ken and Mary Alice Lindquist Department of Nuclear Engineering magazine

A BRIGHT FUTURE
for nuclear science and engineering at Penn State
By Ashley J. WennersHerron
Penn State’s Radiation Science & Engineering Center (RSEC), home to the Penn State Breazeale Reactor—the nation’s first licensed and longest continuously operating nuclear research reactor—is expanding to facilitate more advanced neutron beam research as well as the growth
of nuclear engineering at Penn State. With the support
of the College of Engineering, in partnership with the Ken and Mary Alice Lindquist Department of Nuclear Engineering, RSEC’s expansion will launch a joint initiative to support novel studies in fundamental and applied research for Penn State faculty and students, industry,
and collaborative universities and institutes.
“This is a very exciting time for RSEC, the nuclear engineering department, and many other disciplines at Penn State,” said Kenan Ünlü, director of RSEC and professor of nuclear engineering. “Having access to an operating research reactor is a key strength for Penn
State and allows us to harness research and educational opportunities rarely available in the U.S.”
The Breazeale Reactor was established in 1955 after U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower launched the “Atoms for Peace” initiative to use the relatively new-found control of the atom to benefit human life. An enormous number of neutrons are generated per second via fission reactions in a reactor core. Enabling many different types of research, the Breazeale Reactor has the capability to allow a vast number of these neutrons to pass through a moderator and be carried outside of the reactor’s biological shields through hollow tubes called beam ports.
“The Breazeale Reactor has had several upgrades since its founding,” Ünlü said. “A significant redesign and installation of five new beam ports were completed in 2018, but we needed a new neutron beam laboratory
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