Ammonia Oxidation Plant at Plum Brook Ordnance Works
An ammonia oxidation plant at the Plum Brook Ordnance Works near Sandusky, Ohio, which later became the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Plum Brook Station. During World War II the ordnanc... More
Edward Sharpe at Plum Brook groundbreaking ceremony
Congressman Baumhart watched as Lewis Laboratory Director Dr. Edward Sharpe dug the first shovel of dirt at the September 1956 groundbreaking ceremony for the Plum Brook Reactor Facility. The silver pick and sh... More
Pressure tank in place. NASA public domain image colelction.
The pressure tank in place inside the containment vessel...Image #: C-2003-836
Atomic Energy Commission, Abe Silverstein
Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) officials with Abe Silverstein (front row, sitting third from left), working out the final reactor licensing issues. It is said that Silverstein told AEC Director Glenn Seaborg th... More
Pressure tank delivered by truck
The pressure tank delivered by truck..Image #: C-2003-834 Public domain photograph of a fuel tank, space launch equipment, NASA, bulldozer, construction vehicle, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - ... More
Pressure tank shipped via railway
The pressure tank was shipped to Plum Brook via railway, and transported to the reactor facility on a flatbed truck. The tank was then rolled to a crane, which lifted it into place at the center of the unfinish... More
Diagram showing numerous facilities of core
This diagram shows the numerous facilities of the Plum Brook reactor core. Each of these was given a unique name (LA-7 or RD-3, for example). The facilities in the fuel area (left side) contained cadmium and be... More
MUR control room. NASA public domain image colelction.
The control room for the Mock-Up Reactor was perched directly above its core. The large windows allowed the operators to view the controls and monitors, as well as the activity in the core below...Image #: PS63-0008
James Webb and Abe Silverstein. NASA public domain image colelction.
NASA Administrator James Webb (left) and Lewis Director Abe Silverstein (center, with glasses) peer into the reactor tank while visiting Plum Brook...Image # : C-1961-58735
Bob Oldrieve using manipulator arms
Bob Oldrieve, a hot laboratory supervisor, uses manipulator arms to inspect radioactive materials within a hot cell. The pliers-type "hand" is visible inside the window. Operators became so skillful in operatin... More
Two Plum Brook employees use crane
Two Plum Brook employees use an overhead crane to lift a lead cask of low- level radioactive waste from Canal F. This was the first canal outside of the containment vessel. Canals G and H are visible behind the... More
Bill Kortier explains reactor to press
Bill Kortier uses a sketch of the reactor facility on the blackboard and an aerial photograph of Plum Brook Station to familiarize reporters attending the March 1961 Media Day with the reactor operations just p... More
Technicians manipulate shim safety control rod
Two technicians clad in anti-contamination clothing manipulate a shim safety control rod in a water canal in the hot laboratory. The twenty- five foot deep water provided shielding from the radiation, yet still... More
Technician washes clothing. NASA public domain image colelction.
A Plum Brook technician wearing protective clothing and a mask washes contaminated clothing. The clothing was worn again after it was decontaminated and laundered. The wash water had to be treated as radioactiv... More
View from inside the hot laboratory
View from inside a hot laboratory looking out. The manipulator arm is in the foreground; the engineer behind the glass, Dan Gardner, is operating it. A fifty-two inch oil-filled glass window protected the opera... More
Hot laboratory safe work area. NASA public domain image colelction.
The hot laboratory's safe work area. Operators are using manipulator arms to work with irradiated experiments in the cells. The hot lab also contained an office, manipulator repair shop, and a decontamination r... More
MUR control room. NASA public domain image colelction.
Interior of the Mock-Up control room..Image #: PS63-0005
View into hot laboratory. NASA public domain image colelction.
View into a hot laboratory. Technician Dan Gardner examines irradiated materials using remotely controlled manipulator arms from behind protective walls and shielded windows...Image # : CS-22201
Plum Brook: J1-Site, NASA Glenn Research Center
Plum Brook J1 - Site test of a 28,000 pound Nuclear Transfer Copper Engine. This facility is located at Plum Brook Station, John H. Glenn Research Center, formerly, Lewis Research Center.
Representative explaining model of reactor
A Plum Brook representative explains the Plum Brook Reactor Facility to high school students. This model of the reactor building and the hot laboratory was intricately designed, down to the smallest detail mova... More
Bill Fecych shutting down reactor
Bill Fecych shut down the reactor for the last time on 5 January 1973, as Dale McCutheon, Dan Gardner, George Gowan, and others looked on. Employees had gathered in the Plum Brook auditorium for an announcement... More
A 100-kilowatt wind turbine. NASA public domain image colelction.
(September 28, 1976) Spurred by the energy crisis, NASA, the Energy Research and Development Administration (ERDA) installed this 100-kilowatt wind turbine for alternative energy research at Plum Brook. The 100... More
NASA PLUM BROOK STATION SOFT TOWER BED AT THE FABRICATION SHOP
The original finding aid described this as: Capture Date: 7/21/1978 Photographer: MARTIN BROWN Keywords: Plum Brook 1978_02664.jpg c1978_02600s Plum Brook Station Plumbrook Plumbrook Station Larsen Scan Geo... More
Plum Brook's Lake Erie pumping station
Plum Brook had two pumping stations to obtain raw water from nearby Lake Erie. The reactor required one million gallons of water daily for cooling, shielding, and dilution of radiation. The main one was at Rye ... More
Remote Area Monitoring System (RAMS) panel
Identical Remote Area Monitoring System (RAMS) detector location panels, found in both the health-safety operations office and the reactor control room, and other monitoring equipment allowed operators to monit... More
Ariane 5 Payload Fairing Test. NASA public domain image colelction.
NASA Glenn conducted a test on the Ariane 5 Payload Fairing at Plum Brook’s Space Power Facility (SPF). The test was to qualify a new horizontal pyrotechnic separation system, which blew the two fairing halves ... More
Mock-Up Reactor. NASA public domain image colelction.
The Mock-Up Reactor (MUR) was a 100-kilowatt reactor installed in the reactor building to test experiments at low power before inserting them into the more powerful sixty-megawatt reactor. This allowed operator... More
Inside the containment vessel. NASA public domain image colelction.
Inside the containment vessel during construction...Image # : C-2003-832 Public domain photograph of theater building, free to use, no copyright restrictions image - Picryl description
MUR core as seen from the control room
The Mock-Up Reactor (MUR) core as seen from the control room. Since the MUR generated a very small amount of radioactivity, the "swimming pool" within which it was located provided sufficient shielding. A movab... More
Technicians with cutie pie radiation detector
A technician emerges from the rear of a hot laboratory cell in full protective gear carrying a cutie pie radiation detector. Another technician wheels open the massive sixty-inch-thick concrete door plug.
Technician checks for contamination with cutie pie
A health-physics technician uses a hand-held cutie pie radiation detector to check equipment for contamination. These detectors allowed technicians to quickly monitor specific areas or equipment. They worked in... More
Board with data from dosimeters
This board in the health-safety operations office was updated by health- physicists with data from daily ionization dosimeters and other monitoring instruments to ensure that no one exceeded the legally permiss... More
Solar Array Test. NASA public domain image colelction.
ATK Solar Array Deployment Test at NASA Plum Brook Station Space Power Facility.
Gamma-Ray Imager. NASA public domain image colelction.
Gamma-Ray Imager/Polarimeter for Solar Flares (GRIPS) Test Hardware at NASA's Plum Brook Station B-2 Facility.
Orion Crew Module Adapter. NASA public domain image colelction.
Offloading of the Orion Crew Module Adapter, CMA, at Plum Brook Station. The adapter will connect Orion’s crew module to a service module provided by ESA (European Space Agency). NASA is preparing for a series ... More
European Service Module Lift and Tilt Operation
European Service Module Lift and Tilt Operation in the Assembly High Bay at Plum Brook Station’s Space Power Facility (SPF).
National Lab Day. NASA public domain image colelction.
Activities at National Lab Day held at NASA Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, OH.
Plum Brook Station Open House - 2016
Astronaut Sunita Williams gives a talk at NASA's Plum Brook Station. In June, NASA Glenn hosted an Open House at Plum Brook Station in Sandusky to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Center. Thousands of peop... More
NASA’s Super Guppy aircraft. Experimental NASA aircraft photograph.
Front view of NASA’s Super Guppy aircraft after it touched down at Mansfield’s Lahm Airport in November, 2015. The crew delivered the crew module adaptor for Orion’s testing at NASA's Plum Brook Station next year.
Morpheus Lander. NASA public domain image colelction.
NASA's Morpheus Project has developed and tested a prototype planetary lander capable of vertical takeoff and landing. This is an image of the lander being installed in the B-2 facility for testing at Plum Brook Station.