Kodak Ran a Nuclear Device in Its Basement for Decades

I worked at the main Kodak tower in Rochester for a few years in the early 2000s. Mainly as a paid IT intern of sorts to earn some additional money in college.

I often had to go to the basement there to store equipment, get equipment, etc.

The stuff I'd see down there was WILD. TONS of old movie/film paraphernalia in the form of posters, plaques with celluloid celebrating various movie releases, and tons of unmarked old film canisters. There was also a TON of old tech down there.

I used to joke that I felt like I was in that Hanger 51 warehouse from the end of Indiana Jones and The Ark of the Covenant.

It's a shame things went down as they did for Kodak. I really enjoyed those years I worked there. They used to make killer tuna melt paninis in their cafeteria area near the top of the tower and in the summer months I'd keep my car parked at work and just walk across the street to see the Rochester Red Wings play (AAA minor league baseball team).

When I was at university a lifetime ago, the country had a number of university research reactors. Some of their work could be.. and was.. replaced by computer simulations, but not all. Today there are zero. My impression is that not only is the UK public ignorant and fearful of nuclear, but of "labs" in general. Their view is informed largely by newspaper headlines and Hollywood movies.

The University of Florida (Gainesville, FL), has a small nuclear reactor on campus. My mom always talked about it when I was young as she worked in the nuclear engineering department. I just checked and it's still active. Apparently it's been online since 1959.

https://news.ufl.edu/2025/10/uf-students-join-elite-ranks/

https://neup.inl.gov/infrastructure/university-research-reac...