Missouri S&T is home to the state’s first nuclear reactor. Operational since 1961 and one of only three nuclear reactors in Missouri, the S&T reactor is used for research, onsite tours, education, including distance courses for universities that have no reactor, and practical training. S&T nuclear engineering students can obtain their operator’s license by operating the reactor through the university’s training program. At full power (200 kilowatts), the pool reactor’s core produces some 5.4 trillion fissions per second. The resulting energy creates a blue glow in the pool. The greater the number of fissions, the more intense the glow.