RMTC3YJR–Johnny Miller and Earl Boitel at the reactor control room, examining the experiment data logging and alarm system of the Plum Brook reactor, 1964. Image courtesy National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). ()

RME063F1–Plum Brook reactor control room

RM2AMH3BF–The area just outside the containment vessel airlock, with the reactor control room on the second floor visible to the left, Plum Brook Reactor Facility, Sandusky, Ohio, United States, 1961. Image courtesy NASA. ()

RMGE4H4E–A cutaway drawing of the Plum Brook reactor assembly within the pressure tank. The drawing reveals an array of test holes, the core, sub-pile room, control rods,water lines, etc. The tank was surrounded by four shielding quadrants, three containing water. Quadrant B was constructed with extra concrete shielding so that water was not necessary. This construction provided unique capabilities for handling experimental packages. Despite the significance of this feature, the artist erroneously depicts Quadrant B as being filled with water. Image # : CS-30642

RMW4P3AR–Bill Fecych and Don Johnson work in the reactor control room at the Plum Brook Station, John H. Glenn Research Center at Lewis Field, Cleveland, Ohio, 1959. Image courtesy National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). ()

RM2A59EGB–Donald Rhodes, left, and Clyde Greer, right, monitor the operation of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Plum Brook Reactor Facility from the control room.

RMW4P2F2–Area outside the containment vessel airlock and the reactor control room on the second floor, Plum Brook Station at the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, 1961. Image courtesy National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). ()

RMCWCEMA–Technicians in a nuclear reactor control room at NASA's Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio. 1959.

RMGE4H93–This close-up of the right side of the control panel in the reactor control room shows the controls for the manual operation of the shim rods. Each rod has its own speed dial, meter, indicator lights, control buttons, and scram button. The buttons within the square on the left-hand side controlled the regulating rod that could activate a junior "scram" (a partial scram using only one regulating rod). It was designated within the box so that operators could quickly locate the rod's control buttons in case of emergency. The full scram buttons, which dropped all the control rods simulta

RMGE4F8R–Bill Fecych shut down the reactor for the last time on 5 January 1973, as Dale McCutheon, Dan Gardner, George Gowan, and others looked on. Employees had gathered in the Plum Brook auditorium for an announcement by Lewis Center Director Bruce Lundin, little expecting to hear the news that Plum Brook would be closed. Two hours later, stunned employees crowded into the reactor control room and just after 2 p.m., witnessed the final shutdown of the Plum Brook reactor. Image # : C-2003-847

RM2B83435–Area outside the containment vessel airlock and the reactor control room on the second floor, Plum Brook Station at the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio, 1961. Image courtesy National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Note: Image has been digitally colorized using a modern process. Colors may not be period-accurate. ()

RMGE4GRW–The control room for the Mock-Up Reactor was perched directly above its core. The large windows allowed the operators to view the controls and monitors, as well as the activity in the core below. Image #: PS63-0008