Nuclear Training Reactor at UF

The UF Training Reactor (UFTR), built in 1959, was one of the first nuclear reactors on a university campus. Today it is one of fewer than 30 such reactors used for education, training, research and testing at colleges and universities around the United States.

The Herbert Wertheim College of Engineering uses the reactor to train students to operate reactors and for laboratory courses in nuclear engineering, physics, chemistry, geology and environmental engineering. The reactor also serves as a radiation/neutron source for various research programs and experiments such as trace element analysis of ocean sediments, soil sediments, plants and biological materials.