Canadian Nuclear Laboratories has decommissioned a historic instrument that played a central role in Canada’s nuclear research.
The Student Crystal Spectrometer, installed in the early 1960s in the NRX reactor building at Chalk River Laboratories, was used to study atomic and magnetic structures by measuring the energy, momentum, and velocity of neutrons. Its adjustable design allowed researchers to control the angle and speed at which neutrons struck specimens.
The device trained generations of students at the Chalk River Reactor School and contributed to research supporting CANDU reactor materials, radiation safety, medical isotopes, and other nuclear applications.
The spectrometer had been safely shut down since 1993, following the permanent closure of the NRX reactor.
(Richard Evans)