The SRE accident occurred in July 1959 when there was an accidental blockage of sodium coolant in some of the reactor coolant channels.

The ETEC used their capabilities to support the DOE in a variety of energy-related projects. A sample of those projects is presented here.

Throughout its existence, Area IV supported non-nuclear research and development programs. Primarily, these programs focused on testing liquid metal processes and developing liquid metal components (e.g., pumps, sodium water heat exchangers).

The Former Sodium Disposal Facility (FSDF), formerly known as the "Sodium Burn Pit" operated from 1956 to 1978.

Building 4011 was constructed in 1958 and was used to support various non-nuclear programs until 1984

Building 4055 was constructed in 1967 specifically for development work involving plutonium, and incorporated all of the safety systems and safeguards required for such work.

The Uranium Carbide (UC) fuel manufacturing pilot plant was a small scale production facility built to study the operations associated with manufacturing reactor fuel assemblies out of uranium carbide.

Building 4023 was constructed in 1962 and housed a small sodium loop to conduct studies of radioactive contamination transport.

The RMHF was constructed in 1959 and consists of a group of ten buildings which were built to safely handle new and irradiated nuclear fuel. RMHF was later used to support the remediation activities and for temporary storage of radioactive and mixed waste

One way is to bombard a target material with atomic particles which have been accelerated to high speeds by means of a particle accelerator. A common form of particle accelerator is a "van de Graaff accelerator".