Workers remove a fuel element from the High Flux Isotope Reactor during the defueling and refueling activities earlier this month at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory facility. The lab released a series of remarkable photos taken at HFIR during the event. The fuel cycle at the research reactor is about 26 days, depending on how the reactor is loaded for experiments. The blue glow is due to Cherenkov radiation as electrons move through the water faster than the speed of light. (ORNL photos by Jason Richards, above, and Genevieve Martin, below)