Students from Soaring Heights School in State College conducted a field trip to the Breazeale Nuclear Reactor research facility on Tuesday, December 11.
Students were able to observe the reactor in a non-critical and critical phase. They were also able to learn about the history of the research reactor from the “Atoms for Peace” program from the early 1950s. They were taught about the various components, types of reactors and cooling agents and processes. The Penn State research reactor was the first in the nation as an “Atoms for Peace” reactor to reach “criticality” on July 8, 1955.