Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, SPERT-I & Power Burst Facility Area, Scoville, Butte County, ID

Significance: With the inauguration of nuclear reactor research after World War II, the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) tried to anticipate and prevent possible nuclear accidents. In 1954, it began the Nuclear Safety Program at the National Reactor Testing Station (NRTS) with a series of reactors called Special Power Excursion Reactor Test (SPERT).

The program researched transients, unintended and sudden increases in a rector's power level. Variables under non-destructive and destructive testing included temperature, pressure, voids (bubbles), reactor periods, and others.

The program began with three SPERT reactors and grew to include SPERT-IV and the Power Burst Facility (PBF). The PBF, a pulsed reactor, was the most sophisticated and elaborate of the group, subjecting fuel samples to unprecedented power bursts without damaging the driver fuel. Among aother feats, it predicted the condition of the Three Mile Island reactor fuel before its vessel was opened for inspection after its 1979 accident.

The program ended in 1986, replaced in part by computer code analysis. PERT/PBF programs contributed substantially to the impressive safety record of the nuclear power industry.

Survey number: HAER ID-33-F

Building/structure dates: 1955 Initial Construction

Building/structure dates: 1970 Initial Construction

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1969 - 1980

Library of Congress

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