The lobby of NRX has recently been turned into an office area for CNL decommissioning teams. As a result, some of the long-neglected models and artifacts that were stored in the lobby have been moved to new homes. Three of the models have made their way to the 51 Poplar facility of the Society for the Preservation of Canada’s Nuclear heritage Inc. (SPCNHI).
One of these artifacts is a large model of NRX, believed to have been built in the early 1950s. Unfortunately, in the transfer to 51 Poplar the model was partially dismantled. It is now being reassembled by Society members and is also receiving badly-needed restoration.
A second model is that of the NRX fuel rod bays. Originally a fairly complex model with many small parts, the model is now in very poor condition with many unidentified small components scattered throughout the bays. It will need a great deal of effort to restore. Neither the Society nor CNL has succeeded in finding drawings of the rod bays as they existed at the time the model was constructed. It is hoped that we can tap into the memory of someone who worked in the facility for assistance.
The third model, which the Society has reassembled with some difficulty is one thought to be a neutron spectrometer which was in operation at the thermal column of NRX. Retired members of the neutron scattering community we have reached out to have been unable to identify the model. The leading suggestion is that it is a model of the original spectrometer built by Don Hurst, who served as a mentor for Bert Brockhouse. Once again, the memories of those in the community will be needed.
A fourth artifact, in this case a “critical” one, is unfortunately missing from the materials the Society received. A card, originally in a plastic case, was found in the debris of the fuel rod bays model. It states that the adjacent glass tube was the original heavy water gauge used when ZEEP first achieved criticality. While the card exists, there is no trace of this artifact. It is hoped that someone may have recognized its significant and has rescued it and stored it safely, perhaps even in their home. Once again, any information on it would be greatly appreciated.
Jim Ungrin, the Society Artifacts Chair, would be happy for any information on these artifacts. at 613-584-3055 or ungrinjr@gmail.com. Anonymous information can be sent to SPCHNI at Box 441, Deep River, K0J 1P0.
