{"id":13695,"date":"2026-10-06T08:41:44","date_gmt":"2026-10-06T13:41:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/president.missouri.edu\/blog\/?p=13695"},"modified":"2026-10-06T08:45:48","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T13:45:48","slug":"murr-at-60-a-vital-national-resource","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/president.missouri.edu\/blog\/2026\/10\/06\/murr-at-60-a-vital-national-resource\/","title":{"rendered":"MURR at 60: A vital national resource"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"The<\/a>
The blue glow of MURR’s core<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The University of Missouri Research Reactor<\/a> (MURR) was built 60 years ago, rising on the site of a former polo field. Inspired by then-President Elmer Ellis’s vision for nuclear-driven innovation, MURR has grown into the nation’s premier university research reactor, operating every day to power discoveries that save and improve lives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At a special event next week, we\u2019ll celebrate this historic milestone alongside state and university leaders, as well as the researchers and patients who know MURR\u2019s capabilities firsthand. As we mark MURR’s legacy, we also look ahead to expanding its impact for future generations. Six decades later, MURR continues to change the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MURR achieved criticality on Oct. 13, 1966, and was upgraded to 10-megawatts in 1974. To this day, it remains the most powerful university research reactor in the country, ahead of those at MIT, Kansas State and the University of Texas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"MURR<\/a>
MURR under construction in 1964, reactor core in 1966, MURR control room when achieving 10-megawatt criticality following an upgrade<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to MURR\u2019s strength and reliability, it is the country’s sole domestic source of four vital radioisotopes used to fight cancer. It\u202falso\u202fserves as a critical hub for next-generation energy research,\u202fisotopes for industry and strategic applications, archaeology and many other fields where students and faculty make\u202ftransformative\u202fbreakthroughs.\u202fThe reactor is a critical workforce training ground for the nuclear field, with MURR-trained experts making contributions throughout national laboratories and industry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

MURR is a cornerstone of Mizzou’s research enterprise and one of our many world-class facilities. In May, we celebrated the grand opening of the state-of-the-art, 74,000-square-foot Thompson Center for Autism & Neurodevelopment<\/a> building. The Roy Blunt NextGen Precision Health building is celebrating its fifth anniversary<\/a>, after becoming Mizzou’s first new research facility in more than a decade. Earlier this semester, we broke ground on the Payne Energy Innovation Center<\/a>, which will develop groundbreaking energy solutions that strengthen our state’s economy and workforce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"NextGen<\/a>
NextGen MURR<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We’re also building on MURR’s longstanding record of excellence through NextGen MURR,<\/a> a new, twice-as-powerful reactor. This spring, we broke ground on a collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy and the State of Missouri to construct the Radioisotope Science Center<\/a> near the NextGen MURR site, helping expand production of radioisotopes that are strategically important to our country\u2019s security and future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

MURR’s continued value to our university, state and nation is a testament to the foresight and investments of those who recognized its enormous potential six decades ago. With that same spirit of ambition, and with the strong support of our Board of Curators, Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe and Missouri’s federal and state legislative delegations, we are thrilled to celebrate how far we’ve come and the tremendous possibilities that lie ahead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014 Mun<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0University of Missouri Research Reactor\u00a0(MURR) was built 60 years ago, rising on the site of a former polo field. Inspired by then-President Elmer Ellis’s vision for nuclear-driven innovation, MURR has grown into the nation’s premier university research reactor, operating every day to power discoveries that save and improve lives.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/president.missouri.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/president.missouri.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/president.missouri.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/president.missouri.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/president.missouri.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13695"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/president.missouri.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13695\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13707,"href":"https:\/\/president.missouri.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13695\/revisions\/13707"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/president.missouri.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/president.missouri.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/president.missouri.edu\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}