Oregon State University Radiation Center

The OSURC is located on the west side of the OSU campus, across the street from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) offices and about half a mile from Reser Stadium.

[2] The mission statement of the center is To serve as the campus wide teaching, research, and service facility for programs involving the use of ionizing radiation and radioactive materials.

Its purpose is to provide the highest flux possible; however, it is currently not in use at OSTR due to numerous practical and experimental constraints.

The In-Core Irradiation Tube (or ICIT) is located in occupying a fuel slot in one of the outer rings of the core, and is the highest neutron flux facility currently in use at OSTR.

It is identical to the CLICIT but lacks cadmium lining, resulting in unfiltered neutron irradiation.

Its purpose is similar to the CLICIT, however due to its location and the neutron flux profile in the core, equivalent irradiations take 1.8 times longer.

The primary purpose of this facility is to perform neutron activation analysis on isotopes with short half-lives.

The radial piercing beam port (beam port #4) terminates at the inner radius of the graphite neutron reflector annulus, and is connected to the reflector via a bellows to accommodate thermal expansion differences between the reactor tank and reactor core assembly.

The facility features numerous safety mechanisms to ensure the access doors and shutter are never open in conjunction, including an automatic reactor scram system if the shutter and doors are open together.

[2] Additionally, federal guidelines require a rapid, armed response to incidents that may occur at the Radiation Center, which is provided by the on-campus Public Safety force since 2021.

Entrance to the Radiation Center
Exterior of reactor
A diagram of the OSTR reactor core configuration. The grid is a series of circular positions, arranged in six consecutive circles with one central position. Each circle contains a multiple of six positions, increasing as the circles move outwards, i.e. the central "A" ring has 1 position, the "B" ring has 6 positions, the "C" ring has 12 positions, etc.
Current OSTR Core Configuration