Chicago Pile 5
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Chicago Pile-5 (CP-5) was the last of the line of Chicago Pile research reactors which started with CP-1 in 1942. The first reactor built on the
Argonne National Laboratory Argonne National Laboratory is a Federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center in Lemont, Illinois, Lemont, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1946, the laboratory is owned by the United Sta ...
campus in DuPage county, it operated from 1954-1979.Heavy Water and Graphite Reactors: CP-5
Argonne National Laboratory CP-5 was a
thermal-neutron reactor A thermal-neutron reactor is a nuclear reactor that uses slow or thermal neutrons. ("Thermal" does not mean hot in an absolute sense, but means in thermal equilibrium with the medium it is interacting with, the reactor's fuel, moderator and struct ...
using
enriched uranium Enriched uranium is a type of uranium in which the percent composition of uranium-235 (written 235U) has been increased through the process of isotope separation. Naturally occurring uranium is composed of three major isotopes: uranium-238 (23 ...
as fuel and
heavy water Heavy water (deuterium oxide, , ) is a form of water (molecule), water in which hydrogen atoms are all deuterium ( or D, also known as ''heavy hydrogen'') rather than the common hydrogen-1 isotope (, also called ''protium'') that makes up most o ...
as coolant and as a neutron moderator. It produced neutrons for use in research. The reactor had an output rating of 5 megawatts. Cleanup and decommissioning of the site of CP-5 was started in 1991 completed in 2000. The cleanup process included removal of all contaminated equipment and spent fuel, decontamination of the reactor vessel and associated plumbing, and removal of the spent fuel pool, reactor internals and the hot cell liner. The accessible areas of the structure have been certified as having radiation levels equivalent to background radiation.


See also

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Chicago Pile-1 Chicago Pile-1 (CP-1) was the first artificial nuclear reactor. On 2 December 1942, the first human-made self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction was initiated in CP-1 during an experiment led by Enrico Fermi. The secret development of the react ...
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Chicago Pile-3 Chicago Pile-3 (CP-3) was the world's first heavy water reactor. One of the first research reactors, it was constructed in 1943 at Site A, a research facility around ten miles from the University of Chicago campus in the city of Chicago. Joinin ...
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Experimental Breeder Reactor I Experimental Breeder Reactor I (EBR-I) is a decommissioned research reactor and U.S. National Historic Landmark located in the desert about southeast of Arco, Idaho. It was the world's first breeder reactor. At 1:50 p.m. on December 2 ...
(Chicago Pile-4)


References

Nuclear research reactors Nuclear history of the United States Argonne National Laboratory {{nuclear-energy-stub