NASA's only nuclear test reactor was the Plum Brook Reactor Facility, which is affiliated with the NASA Glenn Research Center . The facility, located on land that is now Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio, operated from 1962-1973; but the history of the land stretches back to the 19 th Century when War of 1812 veterans were given the property. The federal government seized 9000 acres of this farmland in 1941 to construct a sprawling Ordnance Works facility that operated throughout World War II.
The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics purchased the land in 1956 to build a test reactor, to support atomic aircraft studies being conducted by the Atomic Energy Commission. Although that concept was shelved before construction of the reactor was completed, President Kennedy breathed new life into the facility by supporting a national nuclear rocket program in May 1961, a month before the Plum Brook reactor was started up (also known as “taken critical”) for the first time.
During its operations, the 60-megawatt Plum Brook Reactor conducted over 70 experiments, most of which studied the effects of radiation on various materials. After the materials were irradiated in the reactor, they were transferred to the Hot Laboratory where they could be remotely examined, using manipulator arms that reached into a series of seven test cells.
The nation's nuclear rocket program was cancelled during the post-Apollo budget cuts. The reactor was closed down in 1973 and was placed into a “safe dry storage” mode, during which it was monitored by NASA until initial decommissioning work began in 1998.
| Construction of the Plum Brook Reactor containment vessel. The steel containment vessel which was more than 100 feet high (fifty-five feet above grade and fifty-six feet below grade), surrounded the reactor tank area and the surrounding quadrants and canals. It was designed to prevent any radioactivity from being released if an accident were to occur in the reactor. This safety precaution was essential because of the nearby communities. In this photo from 1957, the containment vessel is surrounded by staging, while in the foreground, a road has been built for construction vehicles. |  |
Technicians work to install the core in the Plum Brook Reactor. The men are standing on the un-fueled core – which resembles a series of boxes at the center of the photo – in the steel pressure tank, which was sealed when the reactor was running. The 32-foot pressure tank was enclosed by 3 feet of concrete and water filled quadrants. |
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NASA employee, Harold Geisler, standing behind the console in the reactor control room, “takes the Plum Brook Reactor critical” starting it up for the first time on the evening of June 14, 1961. This first self-sustaining chain reaction was conducted at very low power. It wasn't until April 1962 that the reactor reached its full potential of sixty megawatts. By July 1963, the reactor had completed its first experimental cycle while critical. |
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A group tours the Plum Brook Reactor quadrant area in this late 1960's era photo. The group is standing on a catwalk above 25-to-27 foot- deep quadrants that surrounded the reactor's pressure tank and core. The quadrants were normally filled with water to provide shielding as the radioactive test materials were transported along the canal basin. |
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The Hot Laboratory at the Plum Brook Reactor Facility is shown in the late 1960's photo. Operators are shown working in what was termed the “Hot Cell Gallery,” using manipulator arms to handle radioactive test items inside a series of seven test cells. The operators became skilled at remotely operating the arms, shown in this photo as mounted on the right-hand wall, with black tops and light colored bottoms. The cells had fifty-two-inch, oil-filled glass windows and thick concrete walls to protect the operator from the radiation. |
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Employees gather in the control room – in front of the console as the reactor is shut down for the final time at 2PM on January 5, 1973 . Just two hours before, Bruce Lundin – then Director of the NASA Lewis Center (now NASA Glenn) – had informed Plum Brook employees the station would be closed. |
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