Powerful US nuclear test reactor getting rare major overhaul

Scientists in Idaho this summer plan to remove the 62,000-pound stainless steel lid on one of the world’s most powerful nuclear test reactors for a rare internal overhaul

BOISE, Idaho -- Scientists in Idaho this summer plan to remove the 62,000-pound (28,100-kilogram) stainless steel lid on one of the world’s most powerful nuclear test reactors for a rare internal overhaul. The Advanced Test Reactor at the Idaho National Laboratory is being refurbished and improved with new components and experimental capacity, the scientists said in interviews this week. The nine-month and $170 million effort, called a core internals changeout, started last month and is scheduled to be finished around the end of the year. An additional $100 million has been spent over the last three years on replacing external equipment to keep the test reactor going.