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External to the reactor building, and shared with the subsequently constructed HFBR, was the
Reactor Bypass Filter Facility (RBFF). This facility provided improved air cleaning prior to exhaust to the atmosphere in the unlikely event of a fuel element failure at either the BGRR or the HFBR. It also
138:
Several buildings and structures which housed the BGRR and associated facilities remain in safe storage or repurposed for other uses as of 2020. Over its lifetime an estimated 25,000 individual experiments were performed by the reactor and accompanying scientists and engineers. The BGRR was the
77:
The BGRR was an air cooled, graphite moderated, uranium fueled research reactor. The 700 ton reactor core consisted of a graphite cube 25 ft. on a side constructed from over 60,000 individual pieces of graphite. The reactor was cooled by air drawn through the core by three 1,000 hp. fans. The
117:
The reactor facility design included both neutron beam lines for experiments external to the reactor core and also pipe loops which allowed experiments to be conducted as fluids flowed through the operating reactor core.
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After operating for 18 years, BGRR was functionally obsolete. The BGRR was placed in standby mode in June 1968, then permanently shut down in 1969. All fuel was removed from the reactor and shipped to the
66:
for scientific use and to refine nuclear reactor design. The reactor provided a source of neutrons for multidisciplinary scientific research in materials science, chemistry, biology, and physics.
114:
The reactor was designed for 32 megawatts thermal, with a design-operating limit of 28 megawatts thermal for NU fuel. The reactor normally operated at approximately 20 megawatts with HEU.
146:
The red and white, 320-foot-tall exhaust stack constructed for the BGRR in 1949 and later shared with the HFBR was a distinctive landmark for the area until its demolition in 2020.
96:(NU) which utilized aluminum fuel elements that were 11 feet long and contained 33 NU fuel slugs each. During the operation with the NU fuel, there were 28 fuel element failures.
85:. As a research reactor, BGRR never had a power conversion system to generate electricity; heat from the nuclear reactions was exhausted through a tall stack to the atmosphere.
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provided sufficient air cleaning to allow the use of air cooling as a method of combating a graphite fire at the BGRR. The facility was placed into operation in 1965.
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The BGRR fuel elements were charged and discharged through graphite channel openings on the south pile face. Reactor operations were controlled by the position of 16
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by 1972. The BGRR was fully decommissioned in 2012 following a 13-year, $ 148 million process. Contaminated materials were shipped to Nevada and Utah for disposal.
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216:(CP-1), first artificial nuclear reactor, predecessor reactor to BGRR, uranium fueled graphite pile reactor similar in design and era located at the
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that penetrated the reactor horizontally in directions parallel to the diagonals of the reactor base. The initial fuel of the BGRR was natural
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Civiletti, Denise. "Decommissioning of nation’s first peacetime research reactor completed at BNL." Riverhead Local. July 19, 2012.
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Brookhaven
Graphite Research Reactor Complex Description. BNL Environmental Protection Division. Accessed December 19, 2020.
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for exclusively peaceful use. It was the first reactor constructed at BNL. The primary purposes of the BGRR were to produce
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107:. The fissionable material was a uranium-aluminum alloy slab, covered on the top and bottom by aluminum sheets at least 20
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fuel clad with aluminum. Each HEU element was 24 inches long. The fuel elements each contained 15 grams of HEU at 93%
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The Design, Test and Use of the
Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) Reactor Bypass Filter Facility. August 22, 1966.
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Cleanup
Workers Set to Tear Down Iconic Brookhaven Reactor Stack This Year. February 25, 2020. Department of Energy.
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biological shield was constructed of high-density concrete containing steel spheres and the notably dense
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Brookhaven
Graphite Research Reactor. BNL Environmental Protection Division. Accessed December 19, 2020.
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https://www.energy.gov/em/articles/cleanup-workers-set-tear-down-iconic-brookhaven-reactor-stack-year
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Department of Energy Photo of the Week (May 30, 2014): The
Brookhaven Graphite Research Reactor -
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Chernick, Jack. "The
Nuclear Reactor Comes of Age". Brookhaven Lecture Series. November 13, 1963.
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Brookhaven
History: Using Reactors as Research Tools - Brookhaven Graphite Research Reactor
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Construction started on the reactor in 1947 and it became operational in August 1950.
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50:. The BGRR operated from 1950 until 1968 and has been fully decommissioned.
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Brookhaven
National Laboratory. Accessed December 19, 2020
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United States
Department of Energy national laboratory
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Research reactor at Brookhaven National Laboratory, US
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58:The BGRR was the first nuclear reactor built after
201:, third and last reactor to be constructed at BNL
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1254:Regions of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
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1259:Anti-nuclear movement in the United States
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360:https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/4061498
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333:https://www.bnl.gov/bgrr/bgrr-complex.php
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46:, approximately 60 miles east of
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209:Brookhaven National Laboratory
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190:Brookhaven National Laboratory
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101:highly enriched uranium (HEU)
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180:Nuclear technology portal
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195:High Flux Beam Reactor
143:also located at BNL.
141:High Flux Beam Reactor
223:X-10 Graphite Reactor
218:University of Chicago
383:at Wikimedia Commons
139:predecessor for the
133:Savannah River Site
1035:whole plants only)
854:Connecticut Yankee
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1033:(incomplete list,
994:Three Mile Island
379:Media related to
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1236:North Anna-3
1213:Yellow Creek
1113:Forked River
1043:Allens Creek
979:Shippingport
944:Oyster Creek
934:Maine Yankee
919:Indian Point
914:Humboldt Bay
909:Hanford Site
894:Fort Calhoun
650:Enrico Fermi
590:Turkey Point
520:Browns Ferry
485:Peach Bottom
434:NRC Region I
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90:control rods
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60:World War II
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1173:South River
1148:Marble Hill
1143:Levy County
1088:CFPP, Idaho
1014:Yankee Rowe
964:Rancho Seco
750:South Texas
685:Quad Cities
675:Point Beach
640:Davis–Besse
500:Susquehanna
455:FitzPatrick
437:(Northeast)
105:uranium-235
44:Long Island
38:located in
30:located at
1183:Summer-2/3
1178:Stanislaus
1168:Sears Isle
1128:Hartsville
1083:Bodega Bay
1078:Blue Hills
1068:Bellefonte
1004:Vallecitos
969:San Onofre
949:Pathfinder
760:Wolf Creek
745:River Bend
740:Palo Verde
735:Grand Gulf
660:Monticello
555:North Anna
465:Hope Creek
233:References
1188:Sundesert
1073:Black Fox
1063:Bell Bend
1029:Cancelled
929:La Crosse
884:Elk River
769:Converted
755:Waterford
665:Palisades
620:Braidwood
612:(Midwest)
600:Watts Bar
525:Brunswick
475:Millstone
238:Citations
1289:Category
1193:Victoria
1163:Offshore
1158:Montague
1093:Cherokee
1048:Atlantic
984:Shoreham
924:Kewaunee
786:Somerset
715:Columbia
710:Callaway
705:Arkansas
570:Sequoyah
565:Robinson
495:Seabrook
470:Limerick
150:See also
83:limonite
80:iron ore
64:neutrons
26:) was a
1206:3 and 5
1201:1 and 4
954:Pilgrim
889:Fermi 1
781:Midland
655:LaSalle
645:Dresden
630:Clinton
550:McGuire
530:Catawba
512:(South)
94:uranium
54:History
1223:Future
1197:WPPSS
1118:Galena
1058:Barton
1053:Bailly
999:Trojan
974:Saxton
904:Hallam
879:EBR II
800:Closed
791:Zimmer
725:Cooper
697:(West)
595:Vogtle
580:Summer
560:Oconee
540:Harris
535:Farley
73:Design
1133:Haven
959:Piqua
874:EBR I
842:SM-1A
827:PM-3A
812:MH-1A
670:Perry
625:Byron
585:Surry
545:Hatch
490:Salem
460:Ginna
42:, on
1153:MM-1
1108:Erie
1019:Zion
869:DAEC
864:CVTR
837:SM-1
832:SL-1
822:PM-1
817:ML-1
807:ANPP
635:Cook
109:mils
34:, a
24:BGRR
1138:Lee
1291::
352:^
323:^
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264:^
245:^
419:e
412:t
405:v
22:(
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