The University of Florida Training Reactor (UFTR) is a training and research reactor at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida. It is a research reactor licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the only research reactor in Florida. It is used by UF's departments of Nuclear and Radiological Engineering (NRE), Physics, Chemistry, Geology, and Environmental Engineering Sciences. The reactor is an Argonaut type reactor. It has a power limit of 100 kW and uses low-enriched uranium (LEU) as fuel.
The reactor was built and began operation in 1959. The core contains a number of pounds of low-enriched uranium. The power level is regulated by cadmium blades that act as a mechanical shim (analogous to control rods in a pressurized water reactor). The UFTR provides neutrons for the Neutron Activation Analysis Laboratory (NAAL), where samples undergo gamma spectroscopy. A flux of about ,thermal, activates the samples. The reactor performs neutron activation services for about $40 to $60 per sample, and is competitive to a number of alternative processes. The UFTR underwent a conversion to low-enriched uranium as a part of anti-terrorism initiatives in 2006.
Teachers, students, or other groups are welcome to visit the reactor with a prior appointment.
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