The SLOWPOKE (acronym for Safe LOW-POwer Kritical Experiment) is a family of low-energy, tank-in-pool type nuclear research reactors designed by Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) beginning in the late 1960s.

[2] They are beryllium-reflected with a very low critical mass, but provide neutron fluxes higher than available from a small particle accelerator or other radioactive sources.

These characteristics are so dominant, in fact, that the SLOWPOKE-2 reactor is licensed to operate unattended overnight (but monitored remotely).

It was primarily intended for Canadian universities, providing a higher neutron flux than available from small commercial accelerators, while avoiding the complexity and high operating costs of existing nuclear reactors.

Between 1976 and 1985, further seven SLOWPOKE-2 reactors with Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU) fuel were commissioned in six Canadian cities and in Kingston, Jamaica.

In 1985 the first Low-Enriched Uranium (LEU) fuelled SLOWPOKE-2 reactor was commissioned at the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC) in Kingston, Ontario.

The economics of a district-heating system based on SDR technology were estimated to be competitive with that of conventional fossil fuels.

[4] A good deal of work had been done on potential marine applications of the reactor at Royal Military College of Canada.