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Kodak Basement Lab Housed Small Nuclear Reactor

Posted by Soulskill on from the could-have-been-quite-the-kodak-moment dept.

McGruber writes "The Rochester (NY) Democrat-Chronicle has the interesting story of the Eastman Kodak Co.'s Californium Neutron Flux Multiplier, which was housed in Building 82 of Kodak Park in Rochester, NY. The multiplier contained 3½ pounds of highly enriched (weapons-grade) uranium. Kodak used it to check chemicals and other materials for impurities, as well as for tests related to neutron radiography, an imaging technique. From the article: 'When Kodak decided six years ago to close down the device, still more scrutiny followed. Federal regulators made them submit detailed plans for removing the substance. When the highly enriched uranium was packaged into protective containers and spirited away in November 2007, armed guards were surely on hand. All of this — construction of a bunker with two-foot-thick concrete walls, decades of research and esoteric quality control work with a neutron beam, the safeguarding and ultimate removal of one of the more feared substances on earth — was done pretty much without anyone in the Rochester community having a clue.'"

7 of 169 comments (clear)

  1. sigh... by Bugler412 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "Cue the irrational fears and misunderstanding of these materials and processes while the coal fired power plant burns down the street" music

    1. Re:sigh... by PPH · · Score: 5, Funny

      But you've deprived the NIMBYs from whining and shrieking. Had they known about the presence of this thing right in their back yard it would have provided meaning and purpose for their otherwise useless lives. But now, some unfeeling corporate giant has deprived them of this by removing that threat.

      These faceless corporations, with no motivation other than profit (well, OK, its Kodak) have taken something that we hold precious away from us. Our right to bitch.

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
  2. Good. by Cold+hard+reality · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This way they were actually able to get it done.

  3. Reminds me about LA's nuclear reactor by GeneralSecretary · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Los Angeles used to have a little experimental reactor in UCLA. It was quite controversial once residents found out about it. http://uclafacultyassociation.blogspot.com/2011/04/ucla-history-nuclear-reactor.html

    1. Re:Reminds me about LA's nuclear reactor by flink · · Score: 5, Interesting

      MIT still does: http://web.mit.edu/nrl/www/

  4. Re:Surprising... by bhcompy · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm not so surprised that some rather alarmingly powerful beam sources would be operated quietly by people with atypical sensor needs. I am a bit surprised that 3.5 lbs of highly enriched Uranium would be available to serve as a beam source.

    I'm sure that in 1985 enriched uranium is available in every corner drugstore, but in 1955 it's a little hard to come by.

  5. Re:Surprising... by Zcar · · Score: 5, Informative

    3.5 lbs? Get another 30 times as much and you'll be close to a critical mass (bare sphere, 85% enriched). 3.5 lbs isn't that dangerous or, by itself, all that interesting from a nuclear weapons proliferation standpoint.

    Fission occurred, but it needed to be pumped by an external neutron source and a runaway chain reaction was pretty much impossible. We're only talking about a ~6 cm sphere of it.