So obviously you guys have seen the huge smoke stack on campus near Mary E Keyes and the Go Station. What is that smoke stack for? I've always been wondering.

It's part of physical plant. Not sure it's purpose.

There's also the nuclear reactor facility: http://mnr.mcmaster.ca/

The central plant for the university. All the hot water and steam for the campus is generated there. Most buildings on campus are heated by steam generated at the plant.

That's the smaller building behind Engineering, he's referring to the tallest structure on campus I believe. Which is the stack.

Thanks for clearing that up Joey!

Setting up a smoke stack of my own today. If you know what I mean.

Yeah as Joey mentioned... I think there is a lot of a confusion about the MNR/Smoke Stack. The Smoke Stack is completely separate from the Reactor.

The reactor is that big (not-quite) round building between JHE and ABB. It's the one which is many-sided, like an octagon but has many more than 8 sides.

I don't know what the Smoke Stack is for though.

Originally Posted by fullsmash26

The central plant for the university. All the hot water and steam for the campus is generated there. Most buildings on campus are heated by steam generated at the plant.

Sounds like the most likely answer. I wonder if any of the steam is generated from the heat of the reactor...

The reactor is shielded by a pool of water, and that water does get heated. The water gets pumped through a cooling system which transfers the heat to a secondary system which includes two massive fans that are outside.

You can see the fans outside when you walk from between ABB/JHE under the bridge into the reactor towards West Quad.

thanks for your insight guys.

Originally Posted by rlevitin

The reactor is shielded by a pool of water, and that water does get heated. The water gets pumped through a cooling system which transfers the heat to a secondary system which includes two massive fans that are outside.

You can see the fans outside when you walk from between ABB/JHE under the bridge into the reactor towards West Quad.

Yep... stuff like that is the bread and butter of my Energy program

I'm just wondering if they use it for heating/steam purposes, or medical purposes, or for funsies (research), etc...

I dunno about heating/energy purposes.

I do know they conduct a lot of research, and also have an industry aspect to it (they can scan parts for aeronautical companies to check for hairline cracks and the like).

They also can produce some medical isotopes, specifically an Iodine isotope used for PET scans, although I think that's mostly for the hospital on campus, but I don't know if they make enough to export it anywhere else.

It isn't a smoke stack, its a cooling tower. The mcmaster utility plant produces steam and cooling water for several buildings on campus for various processes and for heating and cooling.

The reactor is not used for heating/energy purposes - it's not licensed to do so.

its used for medical purposes