NM Daily Lobo 10 24 16

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Monday, O c tober 24, 2016 | Vo l u m e 1 2 1 | I s s u e 2 0

UNM nuclear reactor powers education By Jonathan Natvig @Natvig99 Recently, rumors have circulated regarding the presence of a nuclear reactor on the UNM campus, causing a mixture of interest and concern. As it turns out, a small instructional and research reactor has resided on campus for 50 years, but the potential danger surrounding it seems to be minimal.

UNM has been home to the AGN201M nuclear training reactor since 1966, offering students a unique learning experience in nuclear engineering. Last month, the UNM Nuclear Engineering Department celebrated a half-century of having the reactor on campus. According to UNM Chief Reactor Supervisor Robert Busch, the AGN201M reactor was originally made and assembled in the late 1950s in San Ramon, California, by Aerojet

General Nucleonics. The training reactor was originally used at the University of California, Berkeley, but was moved to UNM in the 1960s after UC Berkeley upgraded to a larger training reactor. Today the reactor is located in the UNM engineering complex on the southwest area of campus. Busch said the reactor uses Uranium-235, and emits only five watts of thermal energy. “The reactor was designed for

training,” Busch said. “If you were to convert it to electricity you might be able to light a small LED.” The reactor, Busch said, produces almost zero fission products, nor does the fuel ever diminish or have to be replaced, because it is operating at such a low power. “Because (the reactor operates at such a low power) and because we don’t operate 24/7, it basically means that we have no fission products or real degradation of

the fuel. Yes, we are burning up Uranium-235 atoms every time we work, but we don’t burn up more than, say, a billion neutrons during operation,” Busch said. Within the last 50 years, Busch estimates that only about a billionth of the fuel inventory has been burned. Not only is the amount of total fuel inside the AGN-201M reactor 330 times smaller than a commercial reactor,

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Diana Cervantes / Daily Lobo / @Dee_Sea_

A lowrider sits in front of the Albuquerque Convention Center in support of Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson’s rally on Saturday, Aug. 20, 2016.

FOOTBALL

Lobos pull together for rout of LMU By Robert Maler @robert_maler The Lobo football team finally got solid play — and scores — in all three phases of the game as the team recorded eight touchdowns from eight different players en route to a 59-17 thumping of Louisiana-Monroe Saturday at University Stadium.

Junior cornerback Jadon Boatright, who has logged limited minutes this season due to a turf toe injury, proved he is back as healthy as ever, and made an immediate impact in the game on defense. He picked off Louisiana-Monroe’s Will Collins on the third play of the game when the quarterback hung the ball in the air just a bit too long. 40 yards later, Boatright

was in the end zone, and the Lobos were up 7-0. But the Lobos were just getting warmed up. The offense scored on its first three series, covering 240 yards on those drives. And before the clock expired, New Mexico was sitting on a 28-0 lead. New Mexico has gotten off to hot starts in every game except the 49-21 Boise State loss a couple of weeks ago. Head coach Bob Davie

said Louisiana-Monroe probably blitzed and came after the team more than any other opposition so far this season, but the offense made some good decisions. “People know what’s coming… but it’s trying to duplicate that speed in practice,” he said. “I think it’s a pretty fun team to watch, I do. There are a lot of explosive things going on out there.” The running game picked up

a staggering 476 yards on the day and accounted for five of the team’s eight touchdowns. McQuarley rumbled into the end zone on a 12-yard score, making it six games out of seven that he has recorded a rushing touchdown. But the star of the game in the backfield was Tyrone Owens. As a team, the Lobos averaged better than nine yards per carry. Owens

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On the Daily Lobo website

Martinez: Marijuana magazine launches in Albuquerque

Cook: Mike Pence holds ABQ rally for Trump

Check out episode 2 of #WolfTracksPodcast where we discuss Bernie Sanders’ recent speech at UNM.

Trujillo: Youth incarceration panel Narvaiz: Rugby — Aggies trample Lobos at home

Follow the @DailyLobo on Twitter and vote in our #PollOfTheDay: “Who is going to win the World Series?”


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