Atomic Energy Research Establishment

The Atomic Energy Research Establishment near Harwell, Oxfordshire was the main centre for atomic energy research and development in the United Kingdom from the 1940s to the 1990s.

Early reactors

Such was the interest in nuclear power and the resources devoted to it in those days that the first reactor, GLEEP, was operating by 15 August 1947 - an astonishing feat given the resource problems of immediate post-war Britain. GLEEP (Graphite Low Energy Experimental Pile) was a graphite-moderated low energy reactor. The first reactor in Europe, it was remarkably long-lived, continuing in operation until 1990.

Related Topics:
GLEEP - 15 August - 1947 - 1990

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A successor to GLEEP, called BEPO (British Experimental Pile 0) was constructed based on the experience with GLEEP, and commenced operation in 1948. BEPO was shut down in 1968.

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LIDO was an enriched uranium thermal swimming pool reactor which operated from 1956 to 1972 and was mainly used for shielding and nuclear physics experiments. It was fully dismantled and returned to a green field site in 1995.

Related Topics:
LIDO - 1995

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A pair of larger 26 MW reactors, DIDO and PLUTO, which used enriched uranium with a heavy water moderator came online in 1956 and 1957 respectively. These small reactors were used primarily for testing the behaviour different materials under intense neutron irradiation to help decide what materials to build reactor components out of. A sample could be irradiated for a few months to simulate the radiation dose which it would receive over the lifetime of a power reactor. They also took over commercial isotope production from BEPO after that was shut down. DIDO and GLEEP themselves were shut down in 1990 and the fuel, moderator and ancillary buildings removed. The remaining building containing the core will be demolished in 2040 once radioactivity in the core has decayed to a manageable level.

Related Topics:
DIDO - PLUTO - Uranium - Heavy water - Moderator - 1956 - 1957 - Neutron - Isotope - 2040 - Radioactivity

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