UC Berkeley Will Shut Down Reactor
University of California officials have decided to shut down a 20-year-old nuclear reactor on the Berkeley campus, saying the “political hassling” it sparked outweighed its usefulness.
The official primary reason for closing down the reactor, Vice Chancellor Roderick Park said Wednesday, was that its use for research was diminishing and that the university could use the space it occupies for other uses.
A secondary reason, Park said, was to “get rid of all the political hassling that goes along with it.”
The federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission must approve the shutdown.
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