The 2 m (6.6 ft) long, aluminium and nickel cased fuel rods were produced by AMF Atomics Canada Ltd.[3] Heavy water (deuterium) has a particularly good neutron economy, which in turn makes for good production of high-quality weapons-grade plutonium.

This didn't stop the Swiss Army from thinking of itself as an emerging nuclear power during the Cold War, as historian Jürg Stüssi-Lauterburg found in a study about previously-classified meeting notes.

For example, a major from Solothurn wrote the following in an anniversary publication, in 1957:[5] "... military considerations therefore compel the procurement of nuclear weapons, even for a state whose army limits itself to defence only."

Subsequently, the complete primary heavy water cooling system had to be decontaminated by chemical milling.

During decommissioning of the reactor the following amounts of radioactive waste accrued: 250 t steel, 120 t concrete, 5.4 t aluminium and alloys, as well as 45 t graphite.