Performance of Small Reactors at Universities For Teaching, Research, Training And Service (TRTS): Thirty Five Years’ Experience With The Dalhousie University SLOWPOKE-2 Reactor

Abstract

The Dalhousie University SLOWPOKE-2 Reactor (DUSR) facility, operated during 1976-2011, was the only research reactor in Atlantic Canada as well as the only one associated with a chemistry department in a Canadian university. The most outstanding features of the facility included: a rapid (100 ms) cyclic pneumatic sample transfer system, a permanently installed Cd-site, and a Compton-suppression gamma-ray spectrometer. The usage encompassed fundamental as well as applied studies in various fields using neutron activation analysis (NAA). The facility was used for training undergraduate/graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, technicians, and visiting scientists, and for cooperative projects with other universities, research organizations and industries.