August 25, 1965
High Flux Isotope Reactor achieved criticality
ORNL’s unique High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR), designed to produce research quantities of the transuranium elements, achieved criticality at 2:22 p.m. on Wednesday, August 25, 1965.
Eleven transuranium elements had been created since 1940, using cyclotrons, reactors, or nuclear explosions. HFIR was the first reactor in the United States designed specifically to produce new elements—principally americium, curium, berkelium, and californium.
A.L. Boch, director of the reactor project, said HFIR would undergo a series of critical experiments and then gradually increase its power output.
The ORNL News photo – T.E. Cole (standing), associate technical director for HFIR, congratulates B.L. Corbett (Operations Division) who was at the controls when criticality was officially recorded. (Photo Credit: ORNL/U.S. Dept. of Energy)
Source: The ORNL News
