CROCUS
Experimental nuclear reactor
title: "CROCUS" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["école-polytechnique-fédérale-de-lausanne", "nuclear-research-reactors"] description: "Experimental nuclear reactor" topic_path: "arts/film" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CROCUS" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Experimental nuclear reactor ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox reactor"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | CROCUS |
| image | Crocus-p1020484.jpg |
| alt | CROCUS' core |
| caption | CROCUS' core |
| institution | École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne |
| coordinates | |
| power | |
| power_therm_elec | thermal |
| construct_start | January 1, 1970 |
| construct_length | |
| first_crit | July 13, 1983 |
| shutdown | |
| decommission | |
| upkeep_cost | |
| #_of_staff | 8 |
| #_of_operators | 2 |
| refuel_time | |
| max_thermal_flux | |
| max_fast_flux | |
| cooling | light water |
| moderator | light water |
| reflector | light water |
| control_rods | 2 |
| fuel_per_assembly | |
| :: |
| name = CROCUS | image = Crocus-p1020484.jpg | image_size = | alt = CROCUS' core | caption = CROCUS' core | location_map = | location_map_width = | location_map_text = | institution = École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne | location = | coordinates = | coordinates_ref = | type = | power = | power_therm_elec = thermal
| construct_cost = | construct_start = January 1, 1970 | construct_length = | first_crit = July 13, 1983 | shutdown = | decommission = | upkeep_cost = | #_of_staff = 8 | #_of_operators = 2 | refuel_time =
| max_thermal_flux =
| max_fast_flux =
| fuel_type =
| cooling = light water
| moderator = light water
| reflector = light water
| control_rods = 2
| cladding_material =
| #_fuel_assemblies =
| fuel_per_assembly =
| rods_per_element =
| source =
CROCUS is a research reactor at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, a research institute and university in Lausanne, Switzerland.
The uranium nuclear reactor core is in an aluminium container that measures 130 cm across with 1.2 cm-thick walls. The aluminum vessel is filled with demineralized light water to serve as both a neutron moderator and a neutron reflector.
Power output is controlled either by adjusting the water level in the reactor—with a ±0.1 mm level of control, or with the adjustment of two boron carbide (BC) control rods—with a ±1 mm level of finesse. The reactor has six separate safety systems: two cadmium shields and four storage tanks, any of which can shut down the reaction in less than a second.
CROCUS has a license to produce 100 W or a neutron flux of ~2.5 × 10 cms at the core's center.
References
References
- "CROCUS Reactor — LRS". [[École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne]].
- "IAEA Research Reactors Database (RRDB)".
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::