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NC State Intense Positron Beam – one of the most intense in the world!

NRP Highlights

Jan 12, 2012

Successful Initial Cool Down of UCNS

After nearly 6 years of design and fabrication work, the initial cool down of the PULSTAR Ultra Cold Neutron Source cryostat took place on January 6, 2012. This first round of cryogenic testing used liquid nitrogen to cool each of the cooling loops to 70K. All cryogenic, instrumentation, and vacuum system components were checked, and…

Aug 1, 2016

Nuclear Reactor Program Awarded a 2016 NEUP Reactor Upgrade Grant

The Nuclear Reactor Program was recently awarded an FY16 DOE Nuclear Energy University Program Reactor Upgrade grant. The nearly half million dollar award will be utilized to upgrade components of the PULSTAR reactor control console instrumentation and monitoring equipment. The upgrade will increase the reliability of critical monitoring channels by replacing obsolete electronics with new…

Jul 6, 2016

NRC Issues Amendment to PULSTAR License Allowing Use of 6% Enriched Fuel

In June 2016, the NRC issued Amendment 18 to Facility License No. R-120 for the North Carolina State University PULSTAR Research Reactor.  The amended license authorizes the utilization of 6% enriched UO2 fuel assemblies in the reactor core in addition to existing 4% enriched assemblies.  6% unirradiated fuel pins were transferred to NC State from…

Jun 15, 2016

NC State Student Reactor Operators

Every year, The Nuclear Reactor Program trains select N.C. State students to take the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission examination to become federally licensed PULSTAR Nuclear Reactor Operators. As of Summer 2016, the NRP has seven licensed student operators, and one student officially in training to take the NRC Reactor Operator Examination scheduled for Fall 2016.…

Mar 18, 2014

Antimatter Probe to Study Matter

The Positron – the antimatter of an electron – has been used as a probe to study defect properties for many years. Because positrons are naturally trapped in vacancies of normal materials, from the e+-e– annihilation photons, specific void information can be extracted of the target. Being non-destructive and quantitative, positron spectroscopy has unique advantages…

Nov 1, 2012

International Workshop on Secure Operations and Applications at Research Reactors

During the week of October 29th, 2012, the “International Workshop on Secure Operations and Applications at Research Reactors” was held at the Nuclear Reactor Program of North Carolina State University (NCSU). The event was sponsored by the “Partnership for Nuclear Security” program under the auspices of the U.S. Department of State, and in coordination with…

Aug 13, 2016

Nuclear Reactor Program Awarded Contract for International Training using the PULSTAR Internet Reactor Laboratory

In May 2016 the United States and Vietnam entered into an ‘Administrative Arrangement’ under Section 123 of the Atomic Energy Act.  This arrangement between the two countries has several goals including enhancing nuclear training and education.  In service of this goal, the NC State Nuclear Reactor Program has been selected by the US DOE to…

Aug 22, 2010

PULSTAR Reactor Power Upgrade

In July 2010, the US Department of Energy announced that it was funding a $1.38 million NC State Univ. proposal to “Upgrade of the Power of the PULSTAR Reactor from 1-MWth in Support of Nuclear Engineering Education and Research.” The 1-MW PULSTAR Research Reactor is the fourth nuclear fission reactor at NC State, going critical…

Jan 7, 2008

NC State Intense Positron Beam – one of the most intense in the world!

In 2007, the NC State Intense Positron Beam facility broke a record for having the world’s most intense positron source. Since that time, the facility has continued work on the development of two positron lifetime spectrometers. See the Oct. 2007 Science Daily story.