The Berkeley TRIGA Mark III research reactor

The Berkeley Research Reactor went critical on August 10, 1966, and achieved licensed operating power of 1000 kW shortly thereafter. Since then, the reactor has operated, by and large, trouble free on a one-shift basis. The major use of the reactor is in service irradiations, and many scientific programs are accommodated, both on and off campus. The principal off-campus user is the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory at Berkeley. The reactor is also an important instructional tool in the Nuclear Engineering Department reactor experiments laboratory course, and as a source of radioisotopes for two other laboratory courses given by the Department. Finally, the reactor is used in several research programs conducted within the Department, involving studies with neutron beams and in reactor kinetics