This nuclear reactor is run by students
At Reed College in Portland, Oregon, there’s a TRIGA nuclear reactor, used for research. You can stand next to it and watch the blue glow from the bottom of a deep swimming pool. I had to visit.
More about the reactor and about Reed College: https://reactor.reed.edu/
Edited by Michelle Martin https://www.youtube.com/@OnTheCrux
Post audio by Emi Paternostro (http://proximitysound.com)
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@okaminess
April 26, 2026 at 3:10 am
My friend operated this reactor at one time as a Reed student.
@entity9742
April 26, 2026 at 3:10 am
3:03 id love to get a geiger reading in that room cause if you look carefully you can see particles hitting the camera sensor
@Dodge69420
April 26, 2026 at 3:10 am
I live in the neighborhood of reed college and the fact tom scott was here and I didnt know sucks
@HourOfTheWolf
April 26, 2026 at 3:10 am
I’ve been to commercial nuclear reactors and the control room systems are always run on very old, but reliable technology. It’s good to see the students training in Windows 7. It feels like the right amount of legacy for a nuclear reactor operated with the use of fishing rods, sticks and buckets 😂
@EATSLEEPDRIVE2002
April 26, 2026 at 3:10 am
Fishing Rod✖️
Fission Rod✔️
@EATSLEEPDRIVE2002
April 26, 2026 at 3:10 am
Her delivery of "With a… …. …a fishing rod" was nothing short of hysterical
@EATSLEEPDRIVE2002
April 26, 2026 at 3:10 am
Anyone else have a MASSIVE crush on Mitzi?
@zumahyena
April 26, 2026 at 3:10 am
Surely it'd be a no brainer to use some of the energy to offset the amount the uni has to buy. Or for district heating for the campus. Missed opportunity there.
@travismoore7849
April 26, 2026 at 3:10 am
Would that work With a Rankine cycle turbine using super critical R-1234ze(E)?
@aintshin1
April 26, 2026 at 3:10 am
The glow are chernekov radiation
@Skywest25
April 26, 2026 at 3:10 am
Nuclear Energy is like the great white shark. Greatly misunderstood
@SB7-r9i
April 26, 2026 at 3:10 am
4:02 hold up, have they just cassually made a fusion reactor? what if you flipped that switch?
@theweb3182
April 26, 2026 at 3:10 am
In this moment I rethinked about nuclear energy to be banned
@KarldorisLambley
April 26, 2026 at 3:10 am
i wish i had one to play with. that negative temp coefficient makes them utterly foolproof.
@sydhenderson6753
April 26, 2026 at 3:10 am
I used to work maybe 100 yards from where a nuclear reactor was housed. It was about like this, but I think even lower wattage.
@MOS_6502_CPU
April 26, 2026 at 3:10 am
i need to come to this place one day
@bigpharmasports9120
April 26, 2026 at 3:10 am
Tom you are not allowed to be in the Portland area without visiting me ever again
@SimpleGunner
April 26, 2026 at 3:10 am
im only finding out about this video now?
@kentslocum
April 26, 2026 at 3:10 am
I'm so glad this exists! The more people who understand the physics of nuclear fission and can operate a reactor, the less people will be scared of the technology. Nuclear power is so much safer and healthier than burning fossil fuels.
@My-ku3yu
April 26, 2026 at 3:10 am
I love the way that the one student is like:"I don't know what an atom is, but I think it's cool so I did it" what a vibe
@Wondersoy
April 26, 2026 at 3:10 am
the last one 1:07
@squishvr174
April 26, 2026 at 3:10 am
its so radioactive that you can literally see the white specks of gamma and high energy beta radiation through all the water
@hexxt_
April 26, 2026 at 3:10 am
50 years running a nuclear reactor and they can't graduate
@johnpotter8039
April 26, 2026 at 3:10 am
I had seen photos of Cherenkov Radiation, but nothing compared to actually seeing it at the University of Missouri Research Reactor.
@hawks9142
April 26, 2026 at 3:10 am
If this was the kind of stuff happening in all colleges id understand why tuition was so expensive
@jenrosejenrose7417
April 26, 2026 at 3:10 am
Hey, I was there in 1991! In that building!
@MABfan11
April 26, 2026 at 3:10 am
this is where they should've sent the Nuclear Boy Scout
@luddite333
April 26, 2026 at 3:10 am
if someone drops phone into the pool ? gee that sure inspires confidence
@Walker_96365
April 26, 2026 at 3:10 am
Don’t stick a screwdriver in it and we’ll be fine…
@descendant0fdragons
April 26, 2026 at 3:10 am
I really hope our future generation kids can play operate reactors in elementary schools already!
@xnopyt13
April 26, 2026 at 3:10 am
I wonder how the fuel gets delivered to these reactors, must be a very secure convoy or something.
@KatyaFirehair
April 26, 2026 at 3:10 am
I went to Reed (a long time ago) – I knew the reactor was there…but never saw it, sadly. Thank you!
@just_dudegaming5853
April 26, 2026 at 3:10 am
that glow looks like special effects from a really old movie
@supernenechi
April 26, 2026 at 3:10 am
It's important to note that even though it's called "liberal arts" that actually often includes all of the natural sciences and stuff like that. It's named to contrast against "fine arts". I'll be worried when fine arts students run a nuclear reactor xD
@tonoysysestem
April 26, 2026 at 3:10 am
color changes inside the reactor ???????????????????????????????????????????
@zacharytaylor190
April 26, 2026 at 3:10 am
I love how the normal operating procedures at a functional nuclear reactor involves a fishing rod, a bucket on a string, and a really long stick!
@barrylow6860
April 26, 2026 at 3:10 am
Fishing rod…. looks like a typical russian state of the Art procedure
@DoubleCTech
April 26, 2026 at 3:10 am
That’s awesome and I wish I went to a school that had one. What is the fission/ fusion switch for? That can’t possibly control what type of reaction is happening right? It doesn’t make sense to me that the reactor could both split or fuse atoms.
@TheWrendre
April 26, 2026 at 3:10 am
"It doesn't explode" …. last time someone said that… it exploded
@simpilotadamt1012
April 26, 2026 at 3:10 am
What if the control rods are fully released without being dropped back in, but some frat guys?
@DitzyClouds
April 26, 2026 at 3:10 am
"… it doesnt exlpode"
where did i hear that before? mhh
@racecarrik
April 26, 2026 at 3:10 am
The grad students run the nuclear reactor at UC Irvine
@DukeOfOverslaw
April 26, 2026 at 3:10 am
Toured this during my sophomore year, fantastic tour and cool facility. We got to go up quite one to the edge of the pool.
@Hi_Buddy-cw6pl
April 26, 2026 at 3:10 am
I just realized that at some points in the video, you can see the white spots from radiation making it to the camera
@MarkStillPlays
April 26, 2026 at 3:10 am
this is fr how okuu (utsuho) from touhou turned into a living nuclear reactor more powerful than the sun
@livingglowstick1337
April 26, 2026 at 3:10 am
the blue glow is light traveling faster than it should be through water creating the glow in the most simple of explanations
@patmathew5757
April 26, 2026 at 3:10 am
So cool very impressed by these awsome undergrads and their supervisors
@koharumi1
April 26, 2026 at 3:10 am
You don't get a certificate about operating the reactor but you get bragging rights.
@greenpearot
April 26, 2026 at 3:10 am
My school probably thinks this is what a microwave is.
Comments are closed.