The National Institute of Standards and Technology Reactor (NBSR) is a 20 MW research reactor located at the Gaithersburg, MD site, and has been in operation since 1969. In the reactor hall, there are 26 experimental facilities which are used for materials science, chemical analysis, nondestructive evaluation, neutron standards work, and irradiations. It is used by other divisions within the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), by other government agencies and laboratories, and by researchers from universities and industry. In 1988, over 350 scientists and engineers participated in research using the reactor facilities.