Polytechnique restarts nuclear studies: Slowpoke turns 50 and a new research chair is funded
Polytechnique Montréal received CA$1 million over five years from AtkinsRéalis to establish a nuclear engineering research chair. The Slowpoke research reactor marks its 50th year and will remain available for training, scientific work and industrial and medical analyses. The school plans to hire five professors to expand capacity.
The donation is intended to fund a research chair that helps rebuild nuclear expertise at Polytechnique Montréal. Slowpoke is a low‑power in‑pool research reactor used for hands‑on training, research projects and neutron activation analysis to quantify elements in samples for industry and medicine. Polytechnique says it will recruit five faculty members to expand teaching and research capacity. Reactor managers note about 25 years of fuel remain, supporting continued operations and services that connect students with applied nuclear techniques and industry collaborations.