Repository: UIHistories Project: Board of Trustees Minutes - 1968 [PAGE 1124]

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1072

BOARD OF TRUSTEES

[June 19

Nuclear Reactor Addition Estimated total cost $1 447 300 State funds (S 812 300) Non-State funds ($ 635 000) Gross square feet 20 371 Net assignable square feet 12 160 Building efficiency 60% T h e Nuclear Reactor Laboratory is an interdisciplinary facility, administered by an interdepartmental committee, primarily for the training of students in nuclear engineering. The Laboratory is also used by the Departments of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Physiology and Biophysics, Physics, and various other engineering departments. T h e present Nuclear Reactor Laboratory is not adequate for the nuclear engineering p r o g r a m ; yet the demand for reactor use by other departments is increasing steadily. This results in unduly long operating hours and extreme congestion of equipment. With the upgrading of the power level of the reactor by a factor of 10 in 1968 (funded by the National Science Foundation, the Atomic Energy Commission, and the University), these unsatisfactory conditions will become intolerable if additional space is not provided. T h e State of Illinois is vitally involved in the modern nuclear age. This is indicated by the presence in the State of Argonne National Laboratory, the National Accelerator Laboratory at Weston, the Dresden Nuclear Power Plants, and a sizable nuclear industry. The nuclear engineering program at the University of Illinois was developed to nourish this new field. In the ten years since the establishment of the nuclear engineering program, it has grown to the point where it is equaled in prestige only by that at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Michigan, and the University of California (Berkeley). If this program is to maintain a high standard of excellence, it must have adequate research and supporting space. This facility was included in the University's 1967-69 capital request, but was not approved for funding by the Board of Higher Education. Schematic drawings have been completed, and a proposal was submitted to the National Science Foundation ( N S F ) for a matching grant. When State funds were not provided, N S F suggested that the proposal be withdrawn and resubmitted later. In February 1968, therefore, the grant application was reluctantly withdrawn by the University. It will be updated and resubmitted, however, and it is hoped that a grant in the amount of $635,000 would be made. This project is programmed to provide the following types and amounts of space: Type of Net Assignable Space Square Feet Office 2 792 Research laboratories 9 368 Total 12 160 This facility, in addition to the 12,613 net assignable square feet presently assigned, will provide space for the following students in nuclear engineering: FTE Enrollment Capacity Headcount Capacity F-S J-S Grad.I Grad. II Total Grad. I Grad.II Total 1 26 57 84 30 54 84 Research Animal Holding Facility Estimated total cost $787 000 State funds ($487 000) Non-State funds ($300 000) Gross square feet 9 600 Net assignable square feet 6 240 Building efficiency 65% On August 17, 1967, the University of Illinois was registered as a research facility with the U. S. Department of Agriculture in accordance with the