United States · Gaithersburg, Maryland · 39.132, -77.226

NIST

NIST, a research reactor (heavy water) in Gaithersburg, Maryland, United States, with 20 MW of thermal power, operated by National Institute of Standards & Technology. Operating, first critical in 1967.

It is one of the 48 research reactors operating in the United States. It went critical 25 years after the first research reactor in the United States, CP-1, Chicago Pile 1 (1942). It is one of 10 heavy-water research reactors operating worldwide, spread across 7 countries. Its declared uses include neutron scattering, neutron radiography and activation analysis.

Country

United States

City

Gaithersburg, Maryland

Type

Heavy water

Thermal power

20 MW

Operator

National Institute of Standards & Technology

Status

Operating

First criticality

1967

Purpose

Neutron scattering, neutron radiography, activation analysis

See also: every research reactor in United States · How research reactors work