What is Nuclear?

Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) hearing for Clinch River Breeder Reactor, 1982 Same for the sentence in the middle of the second paragraph, which states that additional sensitivity analyses have shown that containment temperatures and pressure margins would accommodate a wide range of material releases to containment in excess of those predicted from realistic assessment. Part of that in…

What is a nuclear reactor? By Dr. Nick Touran, Ph.D., P.E., Reading time: 15 minutes A nuclear reactor is a system that contains and controls sustained nuclear chain reactions. Reactors are used for generating electricity, moving aircraft carriers and submarines, producing medical isotopes for imaging and cancer treatment, and for conducting research. Fuel, made up of heavy atoms that split when …

What is a Microreactor? By Dr. Nick Touran, Ph.D., P.E., 2026-01-24, Reading time: 13 minutes Microreactors are small, low-power nuclear fission reactors that make less than 10 megawatts (MW) of electricity (or ~30 MW of heat). Numerous efforts to develop and deploy microreactors are ongoing with hopes to achieve breakthroughs in how nuclear power is utilized by humanity. They are characterized o…

Announcing the publication of 3 nuclear films from the 1980s-90s: one with 90's kids explaining nuclear power, one with the famous rocket-powered trucks and trains hitting test casks, and a fun one about nuclear fusion.

A description of the capabilities and math behind the neutronics scoping tool.

Neutronics Scoping Tool This is a beta version of our new Neutronics Scoping Tool. Dial in your core dimensions and enrichment and see how critical it is and how much the fuel costs and what the normal power would be at that volume (assuming typical power density). The translucent outer area represents typical shielding required. Read more information about the tool here. Still, this is very appr…

I surveyed lots of people in the nuclear industry and made a list of reforms that most people agreed on

In the early 90s, the US bought 6 exotic TOPAZ-II space reactors from the USSR. Many interesting things happened next.

Evaluating a Nuclear Reactor Company By Dr. Nick Touran, Ph.D., P.E., Reading time: 15 minutes It’s an exciting time in the nuclear industry. Public and political support are higher than they’ve been for years. Private sector investment is soaring, and startup companies are appearing at record pace. With so much activity comes a need for better tools to help us all understand the status and diffe…

We found 27 films about the Clinch River Breeder Reactor Plant Project and started digitizing them.

Nuclear reactor coolants By Dr. Nick Touran, Ph.D., P.E., 2025-03-20, Reading time: 21 minutes The objective of most nuclear reactors is to unleash the energy within nuclear bonds and put it to work for some practical purpose. We normally induce a nuclear fission chain reaction in a fuel material, where the recoiling nuclei of fission products deposit their vast energy locally. As the fuel heats,…

An interesting reactor physics and history lesson explaining the origin of molten salt fluid fuel nuclear reactors

The Armour Research Reactor was a small homogeneous-type nuclear reactor with uranyl sulfate fuel dissolved in water. It was installed at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. This film, recorded in February 1958 and digitized in 2025, shows the core construction, reactor controls, shield, and various applications of the reactor.

For the last decade in nuclear, it’s been in vogue to make comparisons to SpaceX. It’s understandable why: In 2008, launch services were a stilted industry, funded almost entirely by governments and dominated by massive companies operating under cost-plus contracts. In short order, they were disrupted by an upstart, leading to radical price cuts and performance improvements. Who wouldn’t want to …

A 1962 film about the US effort to develop natural-uranium heavy water power reactors By Dr. Nick Touran, Ph.D., P.E., 2025-02-10, Reading time: 18 minutes In 1956, the US Atomic Energy Commission commissioned a study on the development of heavy-water moderated natural uranium fueled power reactors with the objective of producing low-cost commercial electricity. Since these reactors do not requir…

In 1980s, veterans of the Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion program got together and recorded nearly 13 hours of presentations and interviews describing the amazing effort to make a nuclear-powered airplane. The content is mostly focused on the Heat Transfer Reactor Experiments (HTREs) which can still be seen sitting out in the parking lot of the EBR-I museum in Idaho. Dr. Jake Hecla, Stanton Postdocto…

A declassified film about nuclear powered flight from 1961 By Dr. Nick Touran, Ph.D., P.E., 2025-02-03, Reading time: 12 minutes This film presents the US effort to build a nuclear-powered long-range bomber. The program history and evolution is discussed, from the 1955 weapons system 125A to the 1956 re-evaluation and CAMAL concept. Work done between 1956 and 1958 is highlighted, including a deta…

A 1969 film about nuclear-powered Agro-Industrial complexes By Dr. Nick Touran, Ph.D., P.E., 2025-01-30, Reading time: 5 minutes This film envisions deploying large nuclear power plants coupled with desalination plants to form 300k-acre scientifically-managed food factories in otherwise arid land. Besides making 1 billion gallons of fresh water per day from the sea, the complexes would also gener…

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 pro…

A 1964 film about an early BWR By Dr. Nick Touran, Ph.D., P.E., 2024-11-23, Reading time: 4 minutes Announcing another digitized film, this time on the operating experience of Dresden, the first commercially financed BWR. This reactor was a very important step in the commercialization of BWRs, as GE put in a lot of their own money to get it built, at considerable risk. Catalog description: This t…