Editing JASON reactor

{{Short description|Nuclear reactor in Greenwich, London, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2025}}
'''JASON''' was a low-power [[nuclear reactor|nuclear research reactor]] installed by the [[Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)|Ministry of Defence]] at the [[Royal Naval College, Greenwich|Royal Naval College]] in [[Greenwich]], London, now home to the [[University of Greenwich]], to educate and train military and civilian personnel involved in the naval nuclear submarine propulsion.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www2.gre.ac.uk/|publisher=University of Greenwich|access-date=18 June 2014|title=Welcome to the University of Greenwich, London|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140617213753/http://www2.gre.ac.uk/|archive-date=17 June 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== Design ==
It was an [[Argonaut class reactor|Argonaut series]] 10&nbsp;kW [[research reactor]] designed by the US [[Argonne National Laboratory]], and was used by the [[Royal Navy]] for experimental and training purposes.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Decommissioning of research reactors : evolution, state of the art, open issues.|date=2006|publisher=International Atomic Energy Agency|isbn=9201126050|location=Vienna|oclc=71317149}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lockwood |first1=Rick |last2=Beeley |first2=Philip |year=1999 |title=Just another source of neutrons? The removal of the Jason reactor at Greenwich |url=https://www.ingenia.org.uk/Ingenia/Articles/748b2f40-09ab-4b18-9276-dbe4f1b50e69 |journal=Ingenia |volume=10 |pages=29–34 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181110200119/https://www.ingenia.org.uk/Ingenia/Articles/748b2f40-09ab-4b18-9276-dbe4f1b50e69 |archive-date=2018-11-10}}</ref> The actual reactor type used in the Royal Navy's [[nuclear-powered submarines]] is a [[pressurised water reactor]] supplying tens of megawatts of power.

JASON was one of very few reactors operating within a major population centre ([[History of Queen Mary University of London#Nuclear reactor|another was at Queen Mary]] in east London)– and undoubtedly the only one installed in a 17th-century building. The Royal Naval College building was the former [[Greenwich Hospital (London)|Greenwich Hospital]], built between 1696 and 1712 by [[Christopher Wren]], where the reactor was located within the King William Building. The existence of a nuclear reactor so close to central London was largely unknown to the general public, even at the time that "Maritime Greenwich" was named a [[UNESCO]] [[World Heritage Site]] in 1997.

== Operations and decommissioning ==
JASON was operational at the site from 1962 to 1996 (it had previously been operated by the [[Hawker Siddeley]] Nuclear Power Corporation from February 1959 at [[Langley, Slough]]), and fully dismantled by 1999. 270 tonnes (297 U.S. tons; 595,248 lbs) of [[radioactive waste]] was removed.
[[File:JASON fuel rod replica.JPG|thumb|right|A JASON fuel rod replica]]
The [[European Commission]] brought a case (C-61/03 ''Commission v. United Kingdom'') against the UK at the [[European Court of Justice]], for failing to fulfill its obligations under the [[Euratom Treaty]]. The case was dismissed on 12 April 2005, the court confirming<ref>[http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:C:2005:132:0003:0004:EN:PDF Official Journal of the European Union C 132/3] 28 May 2005</ref> that the treaty does not apply to uses of nuclear energy for military purposes.<ref>[http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200506/cmselect/cmeuleg/34-ii/3414.htm International Atomic Energy Agency Conventions on nuclear accidents] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930033044/http://www.parliament.the-stationery-office.co.uk/pa/cm200506/cmselect/cmeuleg/34-ii/3414.htm |date=2007-09-30 }} Select Committee on European Scrutiny Second Report</ref>

== See also ==
*[[List of nuclear reactors]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
*[https://inis.iaea.org/collection/NCLCollectionStore/_Public/32/027/32027391.pdf Decommissioning The Jason Argonaut Research reactor At A World Heritage Site]

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[[Category:Former nuclear research institutes]]
[[Category:History of the Royal Borough of Greenwich]]
[[Category:Military history of London]]
[[Category:Nuclear research institutes in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Argonaut class reactor]]