The Homogeneous Reactor Experiment No. 1

This film depicts some of the most important stages in the development, construction, operation, and dismantling of Homogeneous Reactor Experiment No. 1 (HRE-1), which was designed to operate at 1000 kw. Testing of the most important reactor features is shown, along with the most important steps in assembling the reactor. Operation of the reactor is pictured. The film closes with scenes of the reactor being disassembled to make room for HRE-2. This was a predecessor of molten salt nuclear reactors. Construction started in March 1951 and ended in November 1951. Reactor went critical April 1952 First electricity in February 1953 Disassembly: early 1954 A 250 kWe turbogenerator was installed, which generated 120 kWe of electricity from the 1000 kWt of heat. It used 3 lbs of U-235 in uranyl sulfate solution. Surrounded by 10" of heavy water reflector Fuel and reflector were kept pressurized at 1000 psi The reflector was pressurized with high pressure helium gas. It had a flame recombiner to combine oxygen and hydrogen to form water. There were cold traps and adsorbers on activated charcoal. 20 cubic cm of gasses daily in operation at 1 MWt They didn't exceed a 1e-13 Ci/cm^3 limit on the ground. 2000 hours critical 300 hours at or above design power Proved that it can be run and is self-stabilizing It used Westinghouse canned motor pumps Fuel flow rate was 100 gal/minute. Curved control plates of boron carbide in stainless steel provided control. 7 ft. of high density concrete surrounded the core. Barium sulfate was added to increase density. 5 ft. concrete bricks were used on top. Full title: Developing Homogeneous Reactors: Homogeneous Reactor Experiment No. 1 Produced by Oak Ridge National Laboratory Dedication: For the Cambridge Nuclear Energy MPhil class of 2024-2025 Digitized by: whatisnuclear.com Courtesy: US National Archives and Records Administration, film ID: 88135 Contents: 00:00 Credits 00:42 Description of HRE-1 02:38 The 4 Systems of HRE-1 03:00 Reflector system 03:22 Fuel system 04:20 Offgas system 05:38 Steam System 06:28 Full scale hydro model 08:14 Corrosion development/testing 09:20 Dynamic tests 10:10 Canned motor pumps 10:44 Test specimens 12:33 Construction of HRE 15:27 Startup testing and operations 17:45 Dismantling 22:09 Summary