A 1956 artist's schematic of Plum Brook reactor primary buildings with a cutaway of the containment vessel revealing the quadrants, the reactor pressure tank, and the lily pad. It was called the lily pad becaus More
Congressman Baumhart watched as Lewis Laboratory Director Dr. Edward Sharpe dug the first shovel of dirt at the September 1956 groundbreaking ceremony for the Plum Brook Reactor Facility. The silver pick and sh More
A Plum Brook representative explains a diagram showing the main elements of the Plum Brook reactor core. The numerous test holes and rabbit tubes were what made the Plum Brook reactor unique. Few other test rea More
A cutaway drawing of the Plum Brook reactor assembly within the pressure tank. The drawing reveals an array of test holes, the core, sub-pile room, control rods,water lines, etc. The tank was surrounded by four More
Hap Johnson (left) and Brock Barkley (right) examine test specimens from an experimental run in the Plum Brook Reactor...Image # : C-2004-741
Laboratory technician Allen Larkins (upper right) and engineer David Willinger(lower left) working in the metallurgical laboratory of the Plum Brook Reactor. .For more information browse the Plum Brook Facility More
Jack Crooks (right) and Jerold Hatton work inside the reactor tank in preparation for the initial startup of the Plum Brook Reactor. They are inserting dummy fuel elements into the core as part of the final hyd More
Harold Geisler takes Plum Brook reactor critical for the first time on the evening of 14 June 1961. This first self-sustaining chain reaction was conducted at very low power. It wasn't until the following April More
Control rods for Plum Brook's Mock-Up Reactor, which entered the core from above. In the Plum Brook reactor, the control rods entered from below. Three types of control rods were used in the Plum Brook reactor: More
The experiment control room, located directly below the reactor control room, contained various monitoring equipment. In this photo, Johnny Miller exmines the Experiment Data Logging and Alarm System, which rec More
The Plum Brook reactor complex consisted of numerous research facilities and support buildings. The containment vessel's silver dome was at the center of the main reactor building. The reactor office and lab bu More
Bill Fecych shut down the reactor for the last time on 5 January 1973, as Dale McCutheon, Dan Gardner, George Gowan, and others looked on. Employees had gathered in the Plum Brook auditorium for an announcement More