Breaking a Computer in a Nuclear Reactor

This video walks through the components that are going to be tested with radiation and the monitoring device that will measure the voltage and analog to digital converter of the micro electronics while they are dwelling in a neutron and gamma flux.
The Matlab software collects the data points for easy storage. The specific components were selected because the computer that is being tested, requires steady voltages, and the components which produce those voltages are highly susceptible to radiation damage.
#nuclear #computer #science 

[@Muonium1]

Aha! I was right! it is at Purdue! neat. Looking forward to seeing more details on how exactly it works. Very little video on subcritical reactors anywhere on the internet...

[@Yojeeman8]

They are mostly research based. Not useful to utilities as they do not generate thermal power.

[@Muonium1]

@@Yojeeman8 of course. Still very interesting devices all the same. There was one in the basement of Kodak's research lab building for decades, used for neutron activation analysis of trace contaminants in photographic emulsion. They kept it largely secret from the surrounding community for fear of exciting panic at the prospect of there being a nuclear reactor in what otherwise looked like a common office building.