This page is Ntouran's Work In Progress page for the Ford Nuclear Reactor, not an article, and may be incomplete and/or unreliable.

A photo of the Ford Nuclear Reactor pool floor dated 6-9-1965.

The Ford Nuclear Reactor was a facility at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor dedicated to investigating the peaceful uses of atomic energy. It was a part of the Michigan Memorial Phoenix Project, a living memorial created to honor the casualties of World War II. The reactor operated from September 1957 until July 3, 2003. During its operation, the FNR was used to study medicine, cellular biology, chemistry, physics, mineralogy, archeology, anthropology, and nuclear science.

The reactor was a swimming-pool type reactor, originally operating at 1 MW using 93% enriched U-235 Aluminum-based fuel. It was later upgraded to 2 MW, using 19.5% enriched fuel. The Department of Energy fabricated, transported, and disposed of the fuel at no cost to the University. The reactor had a peak thermal flux of 3 x 10¹³ n/cm²s. It had 10 beam ports. It was constructed by Babcock & Wilcox under a subcontract with Leeds & Northrup.

The decommissioned FNR building still stands on North Campus at the University of Michigan. The building is set to be renovated into a home for the Michigan Memorial Phoenix Energy Institute, a university-wide program tasked with charting the path towards sustainable energy.

The Michigan Memorial Phoenix Project

The Michigan Memorial Phoenix Project (MMPP) was a living World War II memorial pursuing peaceful uses of nuclear energy. It was originally funded by over 25,000 private contributors, including individuals and large corporations, such as the Ford Motor Company, which donated $1 million. The FNR was a major facility at the MMPP, but the project handled the funding of research grants throughout the university. The project eventually led to the Office of the Vice President for Research.

Directors of the Michigan Memorial Phoenix Project

1951-1959 Dr. Ralph A. Sawyer
1959-1961 Henry J. Gomberg
1961-1989 William Kerr
1989-1998 Ronald F. Fleming
1998-2001 John C. Lee (Interim Director)
2001-2003 David Wehe

Beginnings

File:Phoenix daily article.jpg

May 17,1948 article describing the concept of the Phoenix project

Original calls for a war memorial came from University of Michigan students in 1947. Fred Smith, a local alumnus, suggested a project looking into the peaceful uses of nuclear power. A full page poster was printed in the Michigan Daily suggesting that the Phoenix Project will show that Americans can work to benefit the world. The idea stuck, and Ralph Sawyer, the Dean of the Rackham Graduate School at UM began planning.

In February, 1955, the Atomic Energy Comission licensed the FNR. In the summer of 1955, construction began. The reactor was dedicated in October, 1956. On September 18, 1957, the final mechanical manipulations and calculations were taking place. With Ralph Sawyer, Henry Gomberg, and Ardath Emmons standing by, the reactor achieved first criticality around 4 in the morning on September 19, 1957.

Research

Research was performed in many multi-disciplined areas.

The reactor pool
A hydrocarbon cracking experiment
Carbon dating
Thyroid diagnostics
Food irradiation research
Food preservation research
Hot storage
Manipulator practice

Review Committee, 1997

In June 1997, the Ford Nuclear Reactor Review Committee submitted a report to the Vice President for Research (Vince Pecoraro, at the time) on the future of the FNR. The Committee estimated that the reactor was costing the university $1 million / year.

Letters had been sent to various university departments as well as to other institutions that made use of the reactor, asking for input on their use of the facility.

Profs. Alex Halliday and Eric Essene from the department of Geology relied heavily on the reactor for their research in Ar-40 -- Ar-39 aging, and sent strong praise of the reactor. Gary Waas from the department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Science explained that over 15 NERS courses rely on the reactor, as well as nearly every professor's research. The Museum of Anthropology also suggested that the loss of the reactor would have serious adverse impacts on the students and faculty. Several other departments, such as the Chemistry department, said that they had not used the reactor in 30 years and did not plan to in the future.

Outside the University community, the Michigan State University Department of Geological Science, Louisiana State University, the University of Nevada Las Vegas, Buchtel College of Arts and Sciences, the University of California Santa Barbara, the University of Georgia, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, NIST, the NRC, Sandia National Lab, EPRI, Ford, and GM all expressed interest in keeping the reactor operational, while NASA (among others) had no interest.

Ford Nuclear Reactor Facts

Reactor
- Power: 2 MW
- Moderator: Light water
- Core Volume: 6.0 ft³
- Lattice Configuration: Grid, 8 x 6
  - Standard: 41 elements
  - Control: 4 elements
- Normal Average Thermal Power Density: 333.33 KW/ft³
Vessel
- Vessel Pressure: 8.7 psig
- Vessel Temperature: 100F
Fuel
- Configuration: 18 curved fuel plates containing 0.167 kg of U-235.
- Enrichment: 19.5%
- Composition: UAl_x in 5214 Aluminum matrix
- Clad Composition: 6061 Aluminum
- Frequency of refueling: 3 elements and 1 control element every 5 months
- Normal element lifetime: 900 MWd
Thermal Hydraulics
- Flow direction: Vertially down through core
- Pump: 25 HP centrifugal pump and gravity
- Normal flow rate: 1,000 gpm
- Normal inlet temperature: 110F
- Normal temperature rise: 13.5-14.0 F

Operating Experience
- Forced outages in past 5 years (in ___)
  - Equipment Malfunction:39
  - Personnel Error: 7

Past Modifications
- Power increase: From 1 to 2 MW, Aug 5, 1963
- Fuel Conversion From U-Al to U-Al_x, Nov. 1978
- Enrichment change: from 93% to 19.5%, Dec. 1981

Experimental Facilities
- Beamports: 10 horizontal
  - Thermal Neutron Flux: 1.0 x 10⁸ n/cm²/sec
  - Fast Neutron Flux': 1.0 x 10⁶ n/cm²/sec
  - Gamma Dose Rate: 1.0 x 10⁴ rad/hr
- Hot Cells: 2, One connected to reactor pool by waterlock.
- Irradiation Racks: 3 spend fuel racks
  - Gamma dose rate: 4.5 x 10⁴ rad/hr
- Pneumatic Tubes:One on west core face
  - Thermal Neutron Flux: 2.0 x 10¹² n/cm²/sec
  - Fast Neutron Flux': 2.0 x 10¹⁰ n/cm²/sec
- Thermal Column: Inoperative

Principle isotopes produced:Fluorine-18, Chlorine-36, Bromine-80, Bromine-82, Iodine-131, Sodium-24, Lanthanum-140, Cesium-134m.

References

The bulk of this information is from the Bentley Historical Library on North Campus at the University of Michigan. The collection is titled: "Michigan Memorial Phoenix Project Records, 1947-ongoing" and contains over 40 linear feet of relevant material. Call number: 87278 Bimu C530 2. See [1] for more info. The photographs come from a local Ann Arbor resident's local collection.

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