The 1950s and 60s were a wild time for

exploring the limits of experimental

technology. Be it running a campaign of

sonic boom tests over city, exploding a

nuclear device above some soldiers,

or crazy contraptions. I'm looking at

you, the atomic landmine.

But one such subject that keeps on

appearing

in this time period was the desire to

stress test to destruction a nuclear

reactor. I mean, I can't blame anyone. I

would like to see a test reactor go boom

in a controlled environment, I must add.

Well, today is just that. The USA

destructive testing a nuclear reactor.

And no, before you comment, this video

isn't a re-upload. I haven't covered

this particular event before, which

means yes, the USA deliberately blew up

multiple reactors for the lols. I mean,

science. So much so that this is my

fourth video on such an experimental

series of tests.

I think I'm going to have to make a

playlist now, aren't I? So this week's

video is about the interestingly named

SPERT reactor destruction experiment. My

name is John, and welcome to Chain

Reaction Difficult. Get it? Like chain

reaction. I know. I'll see myself out.

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below.

SPERT 1.

So the layout of our video today might

be a little bit different, where I'll go

through the SPERT reactor destruction

test, followed by the other

non-destructive ones.

Although different from the norm,

hopefully you guys will enjoy it. Also,

because why not, I'm going to do a SPERT

count, as you're going to hear this a

lot today.

We are already on four.

Our story begins in the probably best

time to be a nuclear research scientist,

the 1950s. And the more explosively

drawn engineers, arguably out of all the

reactor test programs,

our subject today was a peak program

opportunity.

This is the SPURT program, which is

short for Special Power Excursion

Reactor Test Program.

The name kind of gives it away as to

what the project was really about. You

see, a reactor excursion is not

something you normally want to happen to

your reactor.

And it's not an excursion like a nice

family outing. In reactor terms, it's

something like Chernobyl number four

deciding against being not exploded.

That was a power excursion. So, our

subject today was a type of destructive

testing to find out and learn about the

limits of reactor design. The Atomic

Energy Commission in the United States

in the late 1940s established a reactor

safety program. This would result in a

few different experimental programs, one

of which was between Argonne National

Laboratory and the Phillips Petroleum

Company. This began around August 1954,

which would involve

the excursion studies with the emphasis

to be on the general field of reactor

safety.

Now, during this period, another set of

experiments were underway. This was the

BORAX-1 experiments, which, if you

remember in my video about them,

resulted in the destruction of the

reactor. Although on purpose for the

name of science, it was more an

experiment born out of opportunity.

I.E., we have an old reactor, let's blow

it up and see what kind of deal it is.

That was SPURT number one.

The plan was from the start to end up

with the destructive test.

Now, the first reactor was rather

creatively named Spert 1. It was to

influence the following reactors in the

program. It began construction around

February 1955, being started up in July

of the same year.

Following the completion of 1,

2 and 3 would also be constructed over

the following 2 years, but we'll come

back to them in a bit later on in the

video. Now, Spert 1 was an unpressurized

water moderated reactor

with aluminum plate-type fuel using 25

fuel assemblies of 92% enriched uranium

fuel inside a 10-ft diameter by 16-ft

deep carbon steel tank. The water was

kept higher than the core assembly by

around 4 ft, meaning it was fully

submerged when in operation.

The reactor wisely had control rods, of

which it had four assemblies made up of

a pair of rods of boron.

In addition to this, two transient rods

were in the center of the core. These

were also control rods of sorts, but

were used to initiate and stop power

transients by removal or insertion from

the core.

The Spert was located in the National

Reactor Testing Station in Idaho. The

reactor control room was 1/2 mile away

from the open spicy water container.

The reactor was used for power excursion

events

up to the point

just before destruction. These tests

involved rapid removal insertion of the

transient rods in order to create

violent power spikes.

Valuable information was gleaned from

these experiments, which would influence

future reactor designs. They found that

the fuel plates would experience warping

in certain high-temperature conditions,

even during the very short test runs of

just a few milliseconds.

Although valuable, we aren't really here

for that. We're here for the destructive

test.

The SPERT one destruction test.

After torturing the reactor for a few

years, it was finally decided to put it

out of its misery with a destructive

test that would take place in November

1962.

SPERT one had to be modified for

deliberate non-togethering of the

reactor. This was done by installing a

pneumatically operated transient rod

ejector system that could lob the rods

out of the core in just 85 milliseconds.

This could create such a high spike in

power that well, the whole thing would

just destroy itself. The site

was set up ready for the test, but the

scientists would have to wait 2 weeks

until the weather was preferable.

Eventually, the experiment was set and

began on the 5th of November, 1962.

Pre-experiment ground-level dose

measurements on a grid system

extended downwind from the reactor

building.

And in addition to this, cloud tracking

by airplane was done. The destructive

test would begin at 12:25 p.m. with the

transient rods being ejected from the

reactor core.

Instantly, a massive bang rang out from

the site and a plume of reactor coolant

water shot out 80 ft into the sky.

The TV feed from the cameras aimed at

the core suddenly dropped out as the

spicy water splashed them.

The control rod drive system failed,

stopping action of of the reactor

control rods. A spike

of power was observed followed by a

drop-off.

All remaining water from the tank would

have to be pumped out remotely via

remote control operated sump pumps, and

around 4 hours after the big bang, the

first personnel were allowed back on

site.

The reactor's building roof was bent

upwards from the intense heat and

pressure of the water blasting out the

top of the reactor core.

The radiation level, about 10 ft from

the normal core center was around 25

roentgens per hour.

Some other radiation measurements showed

dose levels of up to 1.1 roentgens an

hour at roof level directly above the

vessel.

Further out, 85 milliroentgens an hour

at 5 ft

from the edge of the vessel and approx

two milliroentgens per hour at floor

level about 50 ft in front of the

reactor building.

The reactor was severely damaged with

the core and its fuel elements bent.

They found that the destructive pressure

pulse that destroyed the reactor

originated from the center of the core

in front and to the right of the

transient rods. It would be experimented

on over the following years

with various other types of experiments

with the damaged reactor. It would

eventually be shut down around 1964

and the decontamination and cleanup of

the site would begin in the 1980s after

the area was used for another series of

this time non-destructive reactor

testing.

But what about the other SPURTS?

The other SPURTS.

SPURT two would be built upon the

lessons from SPURT one. But instead of

being an open tank, the reactor would be

more complex and closer to what would be

used in more commercial settings. It was

a closed loop pressure water reactor

that could run on either heavy or light

water.

It would test transients and power

spikes like its predecessor but would

not be tested to destruction. The site

for SPURT two was south and east of that

of SPURT one and it would run from 1960

to 1964.

Next came up the SPURT three. This ran

from 1958 to 1964 and again tested

transient situations. The design was

closer still to commercial reactors and

was designed to test pressures of

extreme amounts up to 2,500

PSI.

And finally came SPERT IV. This ran from

1962 all the way up to 1970 and like its

first predecessor, it was an open pool

designed aimed at testing low water

conditions during low coolant situations

and leaks.

After four, the program was retired.

Now to read more about the subject, I've

included all the reports in the pink

comment below for all the juicy

technical aspects.

So that's my video on the SPERT reactor

test.

I think we've got to around 18 or 19 on

the SPERT count. Oh, actually now it's

going to be 19 or 20 now.

It's going to be a zero on my scale and

this is what I got from my root cause

analysis card. Do you agree? Let me know

in the comments below.

This is a Plain English Production. All

videos on the channel are Creative

Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.

Plain English videos produced by me,

John, in the currently

not so bad corner of South London, UK.

All that's left to say is thank you very

much for watching and now it's the

music. Play us out, please.

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