PLUTO reactor

DIDO was a materials testing nuclear reactor at the Atomic Energy Research Establishment at Harwell, Oxfordshire in the United Kingdom. It used enriched uranium metal fuel, and heavy water as both neutron moderator and primary coolant. There was also a graphite neutron reflector surrounding the core. In the design phase, DIDO was known as AE334 after its engineering design number. DIDO was designed to have a high neutron flux, largely to reduce the time required for testing of materials intended for use in nuclear power reactors. This also allowed for the production of intense beams of neutrons for use in neutron diffraction. DIDO was shut down in 1990 and is under planning for decommissioning. In all, six DIDO class reactors were constructed based on this design: DIDO, first criticality 1956. PLUTO, also at Harwell, first criticality 1957. HIFAR (Australia), first criticality January 1958. Dounreay Materials Testing Reactor (DMTR) at Dounreay Nuclear Power Development Establishment in Scotland, first criticality May 1958. DR-3 at Risø National Laboratory (Denmark), first criticality January 1960. FRJ-II at Jülich Research Centre (Germany), first criticality 1962.HIFAR was the last to shut down, in 2007.

KARMEN (KArlsruhe Rutherford Medium Energy Neutrino experiment), a detector associated with the ISIS synchrotron at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. Neutrinos for study are supplied via the decay of pions produced when a proton beam strikes a target. It operated from 1990 until March 2001, observing the appearance and disappearance of electron neutrinos. KARMEN searched for neutrino oscillations, with implications for the existence of sterile neutrinos.

ENGIN-X is the dedicated materials engineering beamline at the ISIS Neutron and Muon Source in the UK. The beamline uses neutron diffraction to determine the spacing between layers of atoms in order to measure elastic strain, and thus residual stress deep within crystalline materials. In other words, it uses the atomic lattice planes as an 'atomic strain gauge'. Internal and residual stress in materials have a considerable effect on material properties, including fatigue resistance, fracture toughness and strength.

The ISIS Neutron and Muon Source is a pulsed neutron and muon source, established 1984 at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory of the Science and Technology Facilities Council, on the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire, United Kingdom. It uses the techniques of muon spectroscopy and neutron scattering to probe the structure and dynamics of condensed matter on a microscopic scale ranging from the subatomic to the macromolecular. Hundreds of experiments are performed every year at the facility by researchers from around the world, in diverse science areas such as physics, chemistry, materials engineering, earth sciences, biology and archaeology.

Central Laser Facility (CLF) is a research facility in the UK. It is part of the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. The facility is dedicated to studying the applications of high energy lasers. It was opened in 1976. As of 2013 there are 5 active laser laboratories at the CLF: Vulcan, Astra Gemini, Artemis, ULTRA, and OCTOPUS. The facility provides both high-power and high-sensitivity lasers for study across broad fields of science from atomic and plasma physics to medical diagnostics, biochemistry and environmental science. Also through the Centre for Advanced Laser Technology and Application (CALTA), CLF is responsible for laser development. DiPOLE is the brainchild of that project.

The Mammalian Genetics Unit was a genetics and genomics research institute in Oxfordshire.

The Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) is one of the national scientific research laboratories in the UK operated by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). It began as the Rutherford High Energy Laboratory, merged with the Atlas Computer Laboratory in 1975 to create the Rutherford Lab; then in 1979 with the Appleton Laboratory to form the current laboratory. It is located on the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus at Chilton near Didcot in Oxfordshire, United Kingdom. It has a staff of approximately 1,200 people who support the work of over 10,000 scientists and engineers, chiefly from the university research community. The laboratory's programme is designed to deliver trained manpower and economic growth for the UK as the result of achievements in science.

Nimrod (National Institute Machine Radiating on Downs, "the Mighty Hunter" Nimrod; name attributed to W. Galbraith) was a 7 GeV proton synchrotron operating in the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in the United Kingdom between 1964 and 1978. Nimrod delivered its last particles at 17:00 hrs on 6 June 1978. Although roughly contemporary with the CERN PS its conservative design used the "weak focussing" principle instead of the much more cost-effective "strong-focussing" technique, which would have enabled a machine of the same cost to reach much higher energies. The design and construction of Nimrod was carried out at a capital cost of approximately £11 million. It was used for studies of nuclear and sub-nuclear phenomena. Nimrod was dismantled and the space it occupied reused for the synchrotron of the ISIS neutron source.

The Atlas Computer Laboratory on the Harwell, Oxfordshire campus shared by the Harwell Laboratory was one of the major computer laboratories in the world, which operated between 1961 and 1975 to provide a service to British scientists at a time when powerful computers were not usually available. The main user population was the UK universities and some government agencies. Now called the Atlas centre, it is home to European Space Agency's (ESA) Business Incubation Centre (ESA BIC), the Space Applications and Telecommunications (ESA ESCAT), and the Science and Technology Facilities Council's (STFC) Innovations Technology Access Centre (I-TAC).

Scutchamer Knob, also known as Cuckhamsley Hill and occasionally as Scotsman's Knob or Beacon Hill, is an early Iron Age round barrow on the Ridgeway National Trail at East Hendred Down in the English county of Oxfordshire (formerly in Berkshire). Originally called Cwichelmeshlaew or Cwichelm's Barrow, it is recorded as having been the place where King Edwin of Northumbria killed Cwichelm of Wessex in AD 636 and, in the Middle Ages, became the meeting point of the shire moot (or market) which was abolished in 1620. It was long thought to be the actual burial place of Cwichelm but the mound has been excavated several times without serious finds. In 1006, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states that the Danes marched to Cuckhamsley Hill as they believed that if they reached the Hill, they would never return to the sea. The knob appears to have once been a round barrow, but now is a semi-circular bank with a round front. Its appearance may have changed in part due to vandalism based on the belief it was used to hoard treasure. The name "Scutchamer" may have derived from "Cwichelmeshlaew". An alternate explanation is that the name is based on the word "scutcher", someone who "scutched" or beat out flax to loosen its fibres, and the knob was a location of local fairs trading in local products deriving from this practice.

Royal Air Force Harwell or more simply RAF Harwell is a former Royal Air Force station, near the village of Harwell, located 4.8 miles (7.7 km) south east of Wantage, Oxfordshire and 17 miles (27 km) north west of Reading, Berkshire, England. The site is now the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus which includes the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory.

Diamond Light Source (or Diamond) is the UK's national synchrotron light source science facility located at the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus in Oxfordshire. Its purpose is to produce intense beams of light whose special characteristics are useful in many areas of scientific research. In particular it can be used to investigate the structure and properties of a wide range of materials from proteins (to provide information for designing new and better drugs), and engineering components (such as a fan blade from an aero-engine) to conservation of archeological artifacts (for example Henry VIII's flagship the Mary Rose). There are more than 50 light sources across the world. With an energy of 3 GeV, Diamond is a medium energy synchrotron currently operating with 32 beamlines.