The Zero Power Physics Reactor (ZPPR) is a nuclear facility at Idaho National Laboratory's Materials and Fuels Complex. The reactor portion of ZPPR was operated by Argonne National Laboratory-West between 1969 and 1992. In 1992, the ZPPR reactor was placed into nonoperational standby. The ZPPR reactor and auxiliary equipment have since been removed from the facility. The current capabilities of the ZPPR facility include storage, inspection, and repackaging of transuranic elements and enriched uranium. The facility also provides suitable areas and material handling capabilities to support homeland security material detection experiments and the training of military and first responders to deal with nuclear materials.
The ZPPR facility consists of a workroom, cell area, and material storage vault. Current facility activities are material inspections and packaging in the workroom/vault, National and Homeland Security testing and detection training in the cell area, and transuranic and uranium material storage in the vault. This includes routine activities conducted in the ZPPR vault/workroom to monitor and maintain the integrity of the ZPPR fuel plates and other fissile materials in storage.
Planning is underway to modify the cell area to host reactor demonstrations and other nuclear projects.
Transuranic and enriched-uranium materials storage
Transuranic and enriched-uranium material inspection/repackaging
Transuranic and enriched-uranium material handling for experiments and training