---
title: Glowing ‘Gem of the University’
date: 2024-09-10T05:30:00-04:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/glowing-gem-of-the-university"
section: Articles
---
# Glowing ‘Gem of the University’

*September 10, 2024* — by [Chris Carroll](/author/chris-carroll)


> Maryland’s Little-Known Nuclear Reactor Observes a Half-Century of Fission

*MT feature template 1920x1080 2 — Ghostly blue radiation emerges from the UMD reactor core as charged particles move faster than light through water that cools it.*

Tech-minded Terps can reel off some marquee research facilities that dot the campus—the historic Glenn L. Martin Wind Tunnel, the 367,000-gallon Neutral Buoyancy Research Facility built to support NASA operations, the quantum labs buried deep beneath several campus buildings. But one important site almost certainly *not* on those lists is UMD’s nuclear reactor, which this past summer quietly marked its 50th anniversary.

It has trained hundreds of students in reactor operations and provided radiation for countless experiments and tests. And, just maybe, it inspired America’s most famous fictional nuclear technician, Homer Simpson. (The late engineering Professor Joseph Silverman, who helped develop the reactor, is the father of a longtime animator/director of “The Simpsons,” David Silverman.)

But don’t have a cow. If the [Maryland University Training Reactor](https://radiation.umd.edu/reactor/) (MUTR) resembled the TV series’ mishap-prone nuclear plant, federal nuclear safety officials wouldn’t have recently used it—the closest reactor to the U.S. Capitol—as a showcase and tour site for visiting international dignitaries.

“This is a gem of the university, and really, it’s a national resource,” said Timothy Koeth, assistant professor of materials science and engineering and MUTR director from 2013-19.


*operator mans controls of nuclear reactor — An operator mans the controls in MUTR’s early days. (Photo via University Archives)*




**Topics:** [Research](https://today.umd.edu/tags/research)


**Tags:** [Materials Science and Engineering](https://today.umd.edu/topic/materials-science-and-engineering), [Research](https://today.umd.edu/topic/research)


**Units:** [A. James Clark School of Engineering](https://today.umd.edu/topic/james-clark-school-engineering)