Photos courtesy of the Bentley Historical Library.

  • Four technicians in white lab coats above Ford Nuclear Reactor pool
    The Michigan Memorial Phoenix project started in 1948 to find peacetime applications for atomic energy. Originally, it included a laboratory, greenhouse, and the Ford Nuclear Reactor. The Michigan Memorial Phoenix Project building was completed in 1955 and designed by Cornelius Gabler. The greenhouse was replaced by an addition in 2013. The Ford Nuclear Reactor was built between 1955-1956 as an addition to the laboratory by architect Smith, Hinchman & Grylls Associates and deactivated in July 2003.

“The Phoenix Project: A Continuing Investigation Into Peacetime Implications and Applications of Atomic Energy”

Courtesy of the Bentley Historical Library, Published 1960

A compilation intended to provide both detailed background on the Michigan Memorial Phoenix Project and an interpretation of this data as it reflections the historical development.

“Renovated nuclear reactor building opens as world-class labs”

Michigan News, April 3, 2017

More than a decade after the Ford Nuclear Reactor shut down for the last time, the building comes back to life today as the Nuclear Engineering Laboratory.

Ford Nuclear Reactor Red Book

Published April 1962

The Ford Nuclear Reactor Description and Operation