NPRE students visit Purdue Research Reactor through DOE Outreach Program

As part of the U.S. Department of Energy's University Reactor Sharing and Outreach Program, 38 students from the Department of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Engineering at The Grainger College of Engineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign visited Purdue University's Research Reactor, PUR-1, on April 19. The trip was organized by Illinois Grainger Engineering professor April Novak and Purdue professor Stylianos Chatzidakis.

During the visit, students toured the PUR-1 facility and participated in three hands-on experiments using the reactor and other instructional labs at Purdue. A highlight of the experience was witnessing Cherenkov radiation firsthand—a striking phenomenon seen for the first time by many of the students. “Seeing the Cherenkov radiation with my own eyes was an amazing experience,” said NPRE undergraduate Arnav Goyal.

Students also conducted neutron flux mapping with indium foils in a subcritical pile reminiscent of the historic Chicago Pile-1, the world’s first human-made nuclear chain reaction. For all attendees, this was their first direct experience with a subcritical assembly.

Another experiment focused on predicting the approach to criticality by incrementally loading uranium fuel into a water-moderated tank. “Everyone on the Purdue side was wonderful and very excited to help,” said NPRE senior Joseph Specht. “My favorite experiment was the approach to criticality. It definitely strengthened my intuition about reactors in light water.”

NPRE undergraduate Jake Lehman reflected on the broader value of the trip: “It’s always a valuable experience traveling to other schools to learn about nuclear technology that we may not have here at Illinois.”

Professors Novak and Chatzidakis plan to organize another visit next year for students in NPRE 455 (Neutron  Diffusion and Transport) and are exploring the development of a dedicated reactor lab course for UIUC students in the future.