Award details: ANS’s Nuclear Historic Landmark Award memorializes sites and facilities where outstanding physical accomplishments that advanced the peaceful uses of nuclear energy have taken place. The award recognizes facilities that were in service at least 20 years ago.
The first nine landmarks (which ranged from Chicago Pile-1 to Yankee Nuclear Power Station) were designated in 1985. As of 2025, including these newest recipients, ANS has recognized 101 sites as Nuclear Historic Landmarks.
The Neely Nuclear Research Center, located at the Georgia Institute of Technology, was honored with the designation for advancing nuclear science through its pioneering reactor design, biomedical applications, and training of generations of engineers.
A brief history: In 1957, at a meeting of the Georgia Legislature, the Georgia Nuclear Advisory Commission was created. Frank Neely, a prominent engineer from Georgia who had previously served in roles at Westinghouse and the Georgia State Department of Commerce, was named the chairperson of the commission.
That year, the commission and Neely helped secure a $2.5 million grant for the construction of a 1-MWt research reactor at Georgia Tech. The cost of the entire associated research complex was $4.5 million, which was partially paid for by an additional $750,000 grant from the National Science Foundation. Further funding was provided by the Atomic Energy Commission.
The reactor was designed by the General Nuclear Engineering Corporation, which was formed by Walter Zinn and some of his colleagues after they left Argonne National Laboratory. This design work took place shortly after Zinn completed his term as the first president of the American Nuclear Society.
In 1960, the university’s board of regents officially named the research facility containing the under-construction reactor the Frank H. Neely Nuclear Research Center. Four years later, the Georgia Tech Research Reactor reached initial criticality. In 1974, the reactor was uprated to 5 MWt.
Over the next two decades, the Neely Nuclear Research Center served as a vital training hub for health physicists, nuclear engineers, and researchers. In 1995, Georgia Tech made the decision to shut down and decommission its reactor, in part due to upkeep costs and an overall decline in enrollment in nuclear engineering programs. The Neely building itself was demolished in early 2010, and in 2012, the Radiological Science and Engineering Laboratory became the new home of nuclear at Georgia Tech.
