A 1958 film about a weird reactor By Dr. Nick Touran, Ph.D., P.E., 2024-12-13, Reading time: 5 minutes In 1958 the Organic Moderated Reactor Experiment (OMRE) was put into operation at the National Reactor Testing Station (now Idaho National Lab). Its objective was to determine the feasibility of using hydrocarbons as a moderator, reflector, and coolant in a nuclear power reactor. Such fluids promised a low-pressure, non-corrosive, medium-temperature, material that did not become significantly..