Kodak ran uranium-based research device for 31 years beneath Rochester lab

For 31 years, Kodak operated a uranium-based research device beneath its Rochester laboratory, using it to examine materials and detect impurities.

Installed in 1975 and shut down in 2006, the machine attracted public attention in 2012 because it contained highly enriched uranium.

A new Popular Mechanics report explains how the device produced neutrons through nuclear fission but could not sustain a chain reaction independently, making it different from a conventional nuclear reactor.