Nuclear Pictures

The decommissioned Boiling Nuclear Superheater
(BONUS) reactor, located northwest of Rinc�n, Puerto
Rico, was developed as a prototype nuclear power
plant to investigate the technical and economic feasibility
of the integral boiling-superheating concept. This
small-scale nuclear reactor produced saturated steam
in the central portion of the reactor core, superheated it
in four surrounding �superheater� sections of the same
core, and then used the superheated steam in a direct
loop to drive a turbine generator.
It was one of only two boiling-water superheater
reactors ever developed in the United States. The
reactor was designed to be large enough to evaluate
the major features of the integral boiling-superheating
concept realistically without the high construction and
operating costs associated with a large plant.
Construction of the began in 1960 through a
combined effort of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission
and Puerto Rico Water Resources Authority.