Kodak Had A Secret Weapons-Grade Nuclear Reactor Hidden In A Basement

[Brocke]

Kodak Had A Secret Weapons-Grade Nuclear Reactor Hidden In A Basement

Jesus Diaz
May 14, 2012 4:00 PM

http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2012/05/kodak-had-a-secret-weapons-grade-nuclear-reactor-hidden-in-a-basement/

Kodak may be going under, but apparently they could have started their own nuclear war if they wanted, just six years ago. Down in a basement in Rochester, NY, they had a nuclear reactor loaded with 3.5 pounds of enriched uranium — the same kind they use in atomic warheads.

But why did Kodak have a hidden nuclear reactor loaded with weapons-grade uranium then? And how did they get permission to own it, let alone have it in a basement in the middle of a densely populated city?

Nobody really knows. Kodak officials now admit that they never made any public announcement about it. In fact, nobody in the city — officials, police or firemen — or in the state of New York or anywhere else knew about it until it was recently leaked by an ex-employee. Its existence and whereabouts was purposely kept vague and only a few engineers and Federal employees really knew about it.

It’s extremely strange that Kodak managed to get this. According to Miles Pomper, from the centre for Nonproliferation Studies in Washington. it’s “such an odd situation because private companies just don’t have this material.”

Kodak didn’t use it or anything sinister (although the red in those Kodak moments was suspiciously radioactive looking). They used it to check materials for impurities as well as neutron radiography testing. The reactor, a Californium Neutron Flux multiplier (CFX) was acquired in 1974 and loaded with three and a half pounds of enriched uranium plates placed around a californium-252 core.

The reactor was installed in a closely guarded, two-foot-thick concrete walled underground bunker in the company’s headquarters, where it was fed tests using a pneumatic system. According to the company, no regular employees were ever in contact with the reactor.

It wasn’t until 2006, well after the terrorist attacks of 9/11, that it was decided to dismantle it.

[TahoeBlue]

Interesting they acquired the CFX in 1974/5 ...  I assume they were doing work for the governement...

http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ac50029a022
Determination of halogens by activation analysis with a californium-252 neutron multiplier
Publication Date: June 1978


http://www.democratandchronicle.com/assets/pdf/A2189207511.pdf
DECOMMISSIONING PLAN
Californium Neutron Flux Multiplier (CFX)

EASTMAN KODAK COMPANY
Submitted: May 2008

NRC License: SNM-1513
...

Since the CFX itself, related shielding materials, and the nuclear fuel have already been removed under the terms of License Amendment 3, this document will focus on final release of the CFX underground cavity from the restrictions of Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) License SNM-1513. The objective is to terminate the license and to release the facility for unrestricted use.
...
LICENSEE IDENTIFICATION
1.2.1 EKC, whose principal address is 343 State Street, Rochester, New York 14650, holds NRC Special Nuclear Material License SNM-1513 issued in 1975 for the operation of the CFX.
The license is assigned NRC docket number 7001703. The license was amended in 1989 (Amendment 1), in 2002 (Amendment 2), and in 2007 (Amendment 3). Amendment 3 was issued to permit the disassembly of the CFX and removal and disposition of the fissile
material. The expiration date of the current license is September 30, 2008.
...
A Californium-252 (Cf-252) source supplied additional neutrons which drove the CFX assembly to a sub-critical Keff' of 0.99 and supplied a steady stream of high energy and thermal neutrons for research purposes. The Californium source was licensed by the State
of New York under Kodak's license number 1347-0255. It was permanently removed on July 12, 2006 and the license inventory has been altered to reflect the change.
...