United States · Los Alamos, NM · 35.876, -106.291

OWR Omega West Reactor

OWR Omega West Reactor, a research reactor (tank) in Los Alamos, NM, United States, with 8 MW of thermal power, operated by University of California. Decommissioned, first critical in 1956.

It was one of the 340 research reactors the United States has had; 48 remain in operation today. It went critical 14 years after the first research reactor in the United States, CP-1, Chicago Pile 1 (1942). 36 tank-type reactors remain in operation today across 23 countries. Its declared uses include isotope production, neutron scattering, neutron radiography and activation analysis.

Country

United States

City

Los Alamos, NM

Type

Tank

Thermal power

8 MW

Operator

University of California

Status

Decommissioned

First criticality

1956

Purpose

Isotope production, neutron scattering, neutron radiography, activation analysis, nuclear data, materials testing

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