lw MW -, Our Ltte Reactor T'S NOT AN IMPRESSIVE COMPLEX. "It looks like a goddamned swimming pool," remarked one visitor as he viewed the tank housing the Ford Nuclear Reactor in the Phoenix Memorial Laboratory on North Campus. The 27-foot deep, 53,000-gallon reservoir of pure water glows a bright blue when the reactor is operating at full capacity. After all is shut down, the still, clear water takes on a gray-green tint. The small reactor room is far removed from most people's images of atomic facilities, influenced largely by pictures of massive generating stations like Fermi II, Three Mile Island, and Chernobyl, or scenes from The China Syndrome. A rowboat (used for repairs on hard-to-reach parts of the reactor) hangs on a wall, as does a life preserver reminiscent of those seen on Gilligan's Island. The Ford's two megawatt output is dwarfed by the 1,100 megawatts generated by the Fermi II reactor in Monroe. The plant can't even run the lights in its own control room because it doesn't generate electricity. But it is one of the most powerful research reactors in the United States. Although Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials could not be specific, they estimated that the Ford was one of the five most powerful research reactors in operation. In 30 years of operation, accidents - and worries about them - have been few. Ford officials say they don't have to worry about their complex because it's not used to produce power. "Back in the '50s, when this was designed, nobody was thinking about power," explained Gary Cook, the assistant reactor manager. What they were thinking about was research. The Michigan Memorial Phoenix Project was conceived soon after the end of World War II. Dedicated to University students and alumni who died in the war, the "atoms-for- peace program" was intended assist scientific and medical researchers with tools usually unavailable to them. On the wall of the building's lobby hangs a strange tapestry depicting the Phoenix, a legendary bird that rises from its own ashes after consuming itself in flames, a reminder of the combined destructive potential and peaceful application of the atom. The Phoenix Memorial Laboratory and reactor building are contiguous three-story buildings surrounded by the Cooley Memorial Laboratory, the G.G. Brown building, the Crysler Center, and Bonisteel Blvd. The reactor was built with a $1 million grant from the Ford Motor Co. and went on line in the fall of 1957. In the nearly 30 years since, thousands of projects have been done on the reactor site. Priority use of the Ford, one of about 40 university reactors in the country, is given to students and faculty from several different University departments.As a condition of a federal grant, faculty and students from other colleges and universities may also use the facility. Finally, private companies also use the reactor for research or training purposes. According to Cook, utility companies like Consumer's Power, Detroit Edison, and Indiana and Michigan and Electric use the Ford for one week of their two-year training programs for commercial nuclear plant operators. On the first floor of the reactor building, eight holes allow neutron beams to escape for use in research. This week, using a method called neutron radiography, Earle is The Daily's Editor in Chief; Schreiber is Photo Editor. Even after 30 years of operation, few know of the University's atomic station on North Campus By Rob Earle Photos by Andi Schreiber " ,._ __.w AW researchers will study the injection of fuel into a diesel engine and watch the inside of the engine at work. Past projects have included synthesizing radiopharmaceuticals for medical use and the development of a process called"x-ray flourescence,"a means of looking at objects more precisely than with conventional x-ray techniques. The reactor also produces Iodine 131, a tracer substance used to track down a treat some previously untreatable cancerous tumors of the adrenal glands. Concrete blocks are stacked around the reactor wall to shield against radiation. At each of the beam ports, signs warn of the radiation level of each station. The three triangles within a circle, familiar to most from signs designating fallout shelters, indicate the radiation level in the direct path of the neutron beam. A station is considered a radiation area if the beam emits two-and-one-half to 100 millirems a minute. Normal background radiation is about .2 millirems a minute. Cook said the signs "forewarn of possible negative areas." He added that exposure to large doses of radiation are unheard of at the Ford. "It's been a long time since anyone has got as much as 20 percent of the NRC's maximum safe radiation dose," Cook said. Each employee wears a radiation-sensitive badge which is checked every month to determine the level of radiation each worker has been exposed-o. Visitors are not allowed on the floor level closest to the reactor while fuel elements are being handled. Leaded glass, thick double doors, the badges, and a strict policy of fobidding visitors to wander unattended are among the precautions employed to keep radiation contained. In running the reactor, operators follow strict procedures mandated by the NRC. "Everything we do is by procedure," Cook said. Some of the more important procedures, like reactor start up and use of the emergency generator, are triple-checked. The reactor currently shuts down on weekends, though an operator is always on hand in case of trouble. During down-time, technicians perform maintenance and calibration procedures on the reactor to keep the operation up to NRC standards. The complex is inspected by the NRC at least once every two years for adherence to operating procedures, responsible health-care methods, fuel accountability, security, and emergency planning. The NRC also makes a general licensing inspection every ten years. "Inspectors go through the plant records to verify that the licensee is following the the conditions of their license," said Russ Marabito, an official in the NRC's, regional office in Chicago. The Ford's latest license inspection, conducted last year, passed without problems. "They have a very quiet and smooth-running operation," Marabito said. Operators must have their license renewed every year and that license is only good for the reactor they work at. To obtain an operators license, a candidate must pass a six hour written exam, followed by a four-hour oral section and a two-hour demonstration section. The yearly follow-up exams are six-hour written tests. The ten operators currently working at the Ford are all University students, though students from other schools and non-students have worked there in the past. According to Senior reactor operator Mike Bersuder records calorimeter (heat) data. Safety equipment in the control room. Bursley North Campus Commons NOR CAME TH P U S EECS Phoenix Lab Bently Lib. Cooley Crysler Ctr. Mem. Lab BONISTEEL Cook, more than half are nuclear background. The University has placf nuclear engineering field, e: plant construction compan about two students leave t NRC each year. Reactor personnel wor students or not. "We don't hi Cook said. "We want to n reactor operation." "Imagine working 40 h( about classes," said Eng Birdsall, a Navy veteran bachelors degree in Industria Cook and Birdsall (so Electrical Engineering a Theodore Birdsall), with the humor, are a far cry from I manager portrayed by Ja Syndrome. ASFAR AWAY as Chernobyl and Three Mi plaguing Fermi II and the bear little relation to the the reactor." Because the plant is no explode and there are no dan the reactions, according to re reactor core isn't hot enoug See REA( Art and Architecture 'We don't have part-time people anymore. We want to make sure their loyalties are in reactor operation.' I IST Ford Ubrary WEEKEND / BILL MARSH -Assistant Reactor Manager Gary Cook PAGE 6 WEEKEND/FEBRUARY 6, 1987 WEEKEND/FEBRUARY b, 1987