118-652: Shoreline Fault is a 25 km long vertical strike-slip fault discovered in 2008 that lies less than a mile from the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant in California . It is thought to be able to produce quakes up to 6.8 magnitude. The San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors claims that it (along with the Hosgri fault ) may potentially pose a threat to the nuclear plant despite the plant's operator, Pacific Gas and Electric , claiming that
236-442: A towing tank for testing ship and ocean structure designs, and previously Alcator C-Mod , which was the largest fusion device operated by any university. MIT's campus-wide wireless network was completed in the fall of 2005 and consists of nearly 3,000 access points covering 9.4 × 10 ^ sq ft (870,000 m ) of campus. The campus' primary energy source is natural gas. In connection with capital campaigns to expand
354-401: A "technological" research university and to build more autonomy from private industry. In the 1930s, President Karl Taylor Compton and Vice-President (effectively Provost ) Vannevar Bush emphasized the importance of pure sciences like physics and chemistry and reduced the vocational practice required in shops and drafting studios. The Compton reforms "renewed confidence in the ability of
472-697: A $ 6 billion federal program intended to support the continued operation of nuclear plants facing closure. PG&E asked the NRC in October 2022 to resume consideration of a license renewal application initially submitted in 2009. Regulatory approvals will also be needed from the U.S. Department of Energy, California State Lands Commission , California Energy Commission, California Coastal Commission , and California Public Utilities Commission. The Department of Energy approved $ 1.1 billion in funding in November from
590-619: A Joint Proposal with Friends of the Earth , the Natural Resources Defense Council , Environment California , the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1245, Coalition of California Utility Employees, and Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility to increase investment in energy efficiency, renewables and storage, while phasing out nuclear power. One reason given by PG&E for
708-592: A carbon-free fuel for manufacturing and transportation uses, at half the cost of producing it with wind or solar power, with a smaller land footprint. In October 2021 the California Energy Commission and CAISO stated that the state may have summer blackouts in future years as a result of Diablo's closure coinciding with the shutdown of four natural gas plants of 3.7GW total capacity, and inability to rely on imported electricity during West-wide heat waves. (The reduction of importable electricity
826-528: A decade, according to an analysis of U.S. Census data for msnbc.com. The 2010 U.S. population within 50 miles (80 km) was 465,521, an increase of 22.4% since 2000. Cities within 50 miles include San Luis Obispo (12 miles to city center) and Paso Robles (31 miles to city center). Emergency sirens were installed when the plant initially went operational. Federal law requires an early warning system that radiates out 10 miles from any nuclear facility. The county siren coverage goes farther, extending from Cayucos in
944-600: A dense high-rise transit-oriented development plan. The MIT Museum has moved immediately adjacent to a Kendall Square subway entrance, joining the List Visual Arts Center on the eastern end of the campus. Each building at MIT has a number (possibly preceded by a W , N , E , or NW ) designation, and most have a name as well. Typically, academic and office buildings are referred to primarily by number while residence halls are referred to by name. The organization of building numbers roughly corresponds to
1062-564: A desperate search for a new campus and funding. Eventually, the MIT Corporation approved a formal agreement to merge with Harvard and move to Allston, over the vehement objections of MIT faculty, students, and alumni. The merger plan collapsed in 1905 when the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court rules that MIT could not sell its Back Bay land. In 1912, MIT acquired its current campus by purchasing
1180-676: A first for a non-industrial – much less university – building in the US. Bosworth's design was influenced by the City Beautiful Movement of the early 1900s and features the Pantheon -esque Great Dome housing the Barker Engineering Library. The Great Dome overlooks Killian Court, where graduation ceremonies are held each year. The friezes of the limestone-clad buildings around Killian Court are engraved with
1298-496: A former general manager of the Sacramento Municipal Utility District for four years, criticized the continued operation of Diablo Canyon, calling nuclear power the "most expensive and dangerous source of energy on Earth." According to Freeman, Diablo Canyon and the since-closed San Onofre nuclear plant are both "disasters waiting to happen: aging, unreliable reactors sitting near fault zones on
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#17327825065891416-544: A group of 79 scientists published an open letter highlighting that the plant provides 18 TWh of low-carbon electricity annually and its closure is at odds with decarbonization goals. In response to these concerns, in August 2022 California Governor Gavin Newsom proposed providing PG&E with a $ 1.4 billion loan to support the continued operation of Diablo Canyon for another 5 to 10 years. The California Legislature approved
1534-491: A lesson from this as it relates to Diablo Canyon's scheduled closure. Diablo Canyon was originally designed to withstand a 6.75 magnitude earthquake from four faults, including the nearby San Andreas Fault and Hosgri Fault , but was later upgraded to withstand a 7.5 magnitude quake. It has redundant seismic monitoring and a safety system designed to shut it down promptly in the event of significant ground motion . The Diablo Canyon Independent Safety Committee (DCISC)
1652-534: A mile along the north side of the Charles River basin. The campus is divided roughly in half by Massachusetts Avenue , with most dormitories and student life facilities to the west and most academic buildings to the east. The bridge closest to MIT is the Harvard Bridge , which is known for being marked off in a non-standard unit of length – the smoot . The Kendall/MIT MBTA Red Line station
1770-488: A modest fee. The " edX " online platform supporting MITx was initially developed in partnership with Harvard and its analogous "Harvardx" initiative. The courseware platform is open source, and other universities have already joined and added their own course content. In March 2009 the MIT faculty adopted an open-access policy to make its scholarship publicly accessible online. MIT has its own police force. Three days after
1888-496: A new Schwarzman College of Computing dedicated to the study of artificial intelligence, named after lead donor and The Blackstone Group CEO Stephen Schwarzman . The focus of the new college is to study not just AI, but interdisciplinary AI education, and how AI can be used in fields as diverse as history and biology. The cost of buildings and new faculty for the new college is expected to be $ 1 billion upon completion. The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO)
2006-678: A one-mile (1.6 km) tract of filled lands along the Cambridge side of the Charles River. The neoclassical "New Technology" campus was designed by William W. Bosworth and had been funded largely by anonymous donations from a mysterious "Mr. Smith", starting in 1912. In January 1920, the donor was revealed to be the industrialist George Eastman , an inventor of film production methods and founder of Eastman Kodak . Between 1912 and 1920, Eastman donated $ 20 million ($ 304.2 million in 2024 dollars) in cash and Kodak stock to MIT. In 1916, with
2124-419: A plume exposure pathway zone with a radius of 10 miles (16 km), concerned primarily with exposure to, and inhalation of, airborne radioactive contamination, and an ingestion pathway zone of about 50 miles (80 km), concerned primarily with ingestion of food and liquid contaminated by radioactivity. The 2010 U.S. population within 10 miles (16 km) of Diablo Canyon was 26,123, an increase of 50.2% in
2242-405: A polytechnic school is, as I conceive, the teaching, not of the minute details and manipulations of the arts, which can be done only in the workshop, but the inculcation of those scientific principles which form the basis and explanation of them, and along with this, a full and methodical review of all their leading processes and operations in connection with physical laws. The Rogers Plan reflected
2360-627: A single set of blueprints was used for these structural supports; workers were supposed to have reversed the plans when switching to the second reactor, but did not. Nonetheless, on March 19, 1982, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission decided not to review its 1978 decision approving the plant's safety, despite these and other design errors. In response to concern that ground acceleration , or shaking, could cause spillage of submerged fuel rod assemblies which could ignite upon exposure to air, PG&E and NRC regulators insist that
2478-421: A special type of educational institution which can be defined as a university polarized around science, engineering, and the arts. We might call it a university limited in its objectives but unlimited in the breadth and the thoroughness with which it pursues these objectives. —MIT president James Rhyne Killian These activities affected MIT profoundly. A 1949 report noted the lack of "any great slackening in
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#17327825065892596-537: A study to estimate whether it could be cost-effective to replace Diablo with zero-carbon resources. Their study estimated that California will need less grid electricity in the next two decades, and that expected costs to extend Diablo's licenses would be around $ 17 billion vs. $ 12–15 billion for replacing it with renewables and energy efficiency. Freeman and Moglen then arranged for a meeting with PG&E's vice president of policy and federal affairs to present her with their report. The group invited Ralph Cavanagh from
2714-476: A total of 12,820 acres (5,190 ha) of land at the site. Unit One is a 1138 MWe pressurized water reactor supplied by Westinghouse . It went online on May 7, 1985, and is licensed to operate through November 2, 2024. In 2006, Unit One generated 9,944,983 MW·h of electricity, at a nominal capacity factor of 99.8 percent. Unit Two is a 1118 MWe pressurized water reactor supplied by Westinghouse. It went online on March 3, 1986, and
2832-497: Is a large, highly residential, research university with a majority of enrollments in graduate and professional programs. The university has been accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges since 1929. MIT operates on a 4–1–4 academic calendar with the fall semester beginning after Labor Day and ending in mid-December, a 4-week "Independent Activities Period" in the month of January, and
2950-479: Is due to both the decades-long drought reducing hydroelectric capacity, and the closing of coal plants.) In a November 2021 opinion article, the editorial board of The Washington Post said: "If the state is serious about achieving carbon neutrality over the next few decades — and it should be — it cannot start by shutting down a source of emissions-free energy that accounts for nearly 10 percent of its in-state electricity production. A new report from experts at
3068-624: Is licensed to operate through August 20, 2025. In 2006, Unit Two generated 8,520,000 MW·h of electricity, at a capacity factor of 87.0 percent. The plant's once-through cooling system (OTC) draws water from the Pacific Ocean to condense steam driving its turbines. Unlike evaporative cooling systems used at other plants, Diablo Canyon's OTC is designed so all water can be recycled, and to assure minimal impact on ocean ecosystems. Reactors can be throttled back during heavy storm surges to prevent an excess of kelp from entering
3186-593: Is located on the northeastern edge of the campus, in Kendall Square . The Cambridge neighborhoods surrounding MIT are a mixture of high tech companies occupying both modern office and rehabilitated industrial buildings, as well as socio-economically diverse residential neighborhoods. In early 2016, MIT presented its updated Kendall Square Initiative to the City of Cambridge, with plans for mixed-use educational, retail, residential, startup incubator, and office space in
3304-680: Is one of three private land-grant universities in the United States, the others being Cornell University and Tuskegee University . The institute has an urban campus that extends more than a mile (1.6 km) alongside the Charles River , and operates off-campus facilities including the MIT Lincoln Laboratory , the Bates Center, and the Haystack Observatory , as well as affiliated laboratories such as
3422-459: Is the largest research facility of its kind in the nation. With a cost of US$ 400 million, it is also one of the costliest buildings on campus. The facility also provides state-of-the-art nanoimaging capabilities with vibration damped imaging and metrology suites sitting atop a 5 × 10 ^ lb (2,300,000 kg) slab of concrete underground. Other notable campus facilities include a pressurized wind tunnel for testing aerodynamic research,
3540-470: Is the largest taxpayer in the city, contributing approximately 14% of the city's annual revenues. Holdings include Technology Square , parts of Kendall Square , University Park , and many properties in Cambridgeport and Area 4 neighboring the main campus. The land is held for investment purposes and potential long-term expansion. MIT's School of Architecture , founded in 1865 and now called
3658-403: Is widely conceived as basically a vocational school", a "partly unjustified" perception the committee sought to change. The report comprehensively reviewed the undergraduate curriculum, recommended offering a broader education, and warned against letting engineering and government-sponsored research detract from the sciences and humanities. The School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences and
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3776-580: The Artificial Intelligence Laboratory , and the Tech Model Railroad Club wrote some of the earliest interactive computer video games like Spacewar! and created much of modern hacker slang and culture. Several major computer-related organizations have originated at MIT since the 1980s: Richard Stallman 's GNU Project and the subsequent Free Software Foundation were founded in the mid-1980s at
3894-547: The Boston Marathon bombing of April 2013, MIT Police patrol officer Sean Collier was fatally shot by the suspects Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev , setting off a violent manhunt that shut down the campus and much of the Boston metropolitan area for a day. One week later, Collier's memorial service was attended by more than 10,000 people, in a ceremony hosted by the MIT community with thousands of police officers from
4012-479: The Broad and Whitehead Institutes . As of October 2024 , 105 Nobel laureates , 26 Turing Award winners, and 8 Fields Medalists have been affiliated with MIT as alumni, faculty members, or researchers. In addition, 58 National Medal of Science recipients, 29 National Medals of Technology and Innovation recipients, 50 MacArthur Fellows , 83 Marshall Scholars , 41 astronauts , 16 Chief Scientists of
4130-587: The German research university model , emphasizing an independent faculty engaged in research, as well as instruction oriented around seminars and laboratories. Two days after MIT was chartered, the first battle of the Civil War broke out. After a long delay through the war years, MIT's first classes were held in the Mercantile Building in Boston in 1865. The new institute was founded as part of
4248-508: The MIT Sloan School of Management were formed in 1950 to compete with the powerful Schools of Science and Engineering . Previously marginalized faculties in the areas of economics, management, political science, and linguistics emerged into cohesive and assertive departments by attracting respected professors and launching competitive graduate programs. The School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences continued to develop under
4366-700: The Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act to fund institutions "to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes" and was a land-grant school. In 1863 under the same act, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts founded the Massachusetts Agricultural College , which developed as the University of Massachusetts Amherst . In 1866, the proceeds from land sales went toward new buildings in
4484-539: The Natural Resources Defense Council , as well as other environmental groups. They included the plant's unions in their discussion, who agreed to closing the plant after being offered $ 350 million for retraining programs and retention bonuses. Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom , as a member of the State Lands Commission, was interested in moving the discussion along in part to allow for a slower, greener transition. On June 21, 2016, PG&E announced
4602-601: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for 20-year license renewals for both reactors. In April 2011, in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear incident in Japan, PG&E asked the NRC not to issue license renewals until PG&E could complete new seismic studies, which were expected to take at least three years. On June 24, 2013, at 9:20 PM PDT, Diablo Canyon experienced a loss of offsite power to
4720-759: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a licensing extension. In October 2020, experts at the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) warned that when the plant retires the state will reach a "critical inflection point", which will create a significant challenge to ensure reliability of the grid without resorting to more fossil fuel usage, and could jeopardize California's greenhouse gas reduction targets. According to David G. Victor , professor of innovation and public policy at UC San Diego: "The politics against nuclear power in California are more powerful and organized than
4838-513: The Obama administration , endorsed the study and said: “We are not in a position in the near-term future to go to 100% renewable energy, and there will be times when the wind doesn’t blow, the sun doesn’t shine and we will need some power that we can turn on and dispatch at will, and that leaves two choices: fossil fuel or nuclear" and he noted that countries that have shut down their nuclear plants have ended up using more fossil fuels. He also called
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4956-554: The One Laptop per Child initiative to expand computer education and connectivity to children worldwide was launched in 2005. MIT was named a sea-grant college in 1976 to support its programs in oceanography and marine sciences and was named a space-grant college in 1989 to support its aeronautics and astronautics programs. Despite diminishing government financial support over the past quarter century, MIT launched several successful development campaigns to significantly expand
5074-546: The governor of Massachusetts , on April 10, 1861. Rogers, who was educated at the College of William & Mary and later held professorships at both William & Mary and the University of Virginia , wanted to establish an institution to address rapid scientific and technological advances. He did not wish to found a professional school , but a combination with elements of both professional and liberal education , proposing that: The true and only practicable object of
5192-467: The "Technology Plan" in 1920. As MIT grew under the Tech Plan, it built new postgraduate programs that stressed laboratory work on industry problems, including a new program in electrical engineering. Gerard Swope , MIT's chairman and head of General Electric , believed talented engineers needed scientific research training. In 1930, he recruited Karl Taylor Compton to helm MIT's transformation as
5310-510: The 1980s, there was more controversy at MIT over its involvement in SDI (space weaponry) and CBW (chemical and biological warfare) research. More recently, MIT's research for the military has included work on robots, drones and 'battle suits'. MIT has kept pace with and helped to advance the digital age. In addition to developing the predecessors to modern computing and networking technologies, students, staff, and faculty members at Project MAC ,
5428-742: The AI Lab; the MIT Media Lab was founded in 1985 by Nicholas Negroponte and Jerome Wiesner to promote research into novel uses of computer technology; the World Wide Web Consortium standards organization was founded at the Laboratory for Computer Science in 1994 by Tim Berners-Lee ; the OpenCourseWare project has made course materials for over 2,000 MIT classes available online free of charge since 2002; and
5546-556: The Back Bay. MIT was informally called "Boston Tech". The institute adopted the European polytechnic university model and emphasized laboratory instruction from an early date. Despite chronic financial problems, the institute saw growth in the last two decades of the 19th century under President Francis Amasa Walker . Programs in electrical, chemical, marine, and sanitary engineering were introduced, new buildings were built, and
5664-568: The Boston area's classical architecture and serve as examples of contemporary campus " starchitecture ". These buildings have not always been well received; in 2010, The Princeton Review included MIT in a list of twenty schools whose campuses are "tiny, unsightly, or both". Undergraduates are guaranteed four-year housing in one of MIT's 11 undergraduate dormitories. Those living on campus can receive support and mentoring from live-in graduate student tutors, resident advisors, and faculty housemasters. Because housing assignments are made based on
5782-725: The Civil Nuclear Credit program which was included in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act . In 2011, Angela Merkel announced that Germany would shut down all its nuclear plants (which at the time generated 25% of the country's electricity) by 2022 and replace that lost generation with renewables. The nuclear reductions that have taken place have resulted in 27% of the country's electricity coming from coal, and increased usage of natural gas, with 40% of that coming from Russia. David Frum states that Americans, particularly Californians, should take
5900-505: The Commission conducted a nationwide review of nuclear power plants for their capacity to respond to earthquakes, power outages and other catastrophic events, and Diablo was found to have "a high level of preparedness and strong capability in terms of equipment and procedures to respond to severe events." On June 2, 2011, the NRC announced that it would delay the environmental part of the re-licensing application but that it had completed
6018-635: The Diablo Canyon site. Several unions represent the workforce at Diablo, among them the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) and the International Association of Machinists. The routine outages for maintenance, and the complex process of refueling, create more than 1,000 temporary jobs, according to PG&E. The staff uses generative artificial intelligence to find and organize data from
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#17327825065896136-564: The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster , concerns have continued over the ongoing operations of Diablo Canyon which, like the reactors at Fukushima, is in an area prone to earthquakes and tsunami. The elevation of the Fukushima site is approximately 20 feet (6.1 m) above sea level, while Diablo Canyon sits on a bluff 85 feet (26 m) above sea level. According to Victor Dricks, senior public affairs officer for NRC Region IV,
6254-611: The Institute to develop leadership in science as well as in engineering". Unlike Ivy League schools, MIT catered more to middle-class families, and depended more on tuition than on endowments or grants for its funding. The school was elected to the Association of American Universities in 1934. Still, as late as 1949, the Lewis Committee lamented in its report on the state of education at MIT that "the Institute
6372-514: The LIGO detector and the observation of gravitational waves, two Caltech physicists, Kip Thorne and Barry Barish , and MIT physicist Rainer Weiss won the Nobel Prize in physics in 2017. Weiss, who is also an MIT graduate, designed the laser interferometric technique, which served as the essential blueprint for the LIGO. In April of 2024, MIT students joined other campuses across
6490-528: The MIT Investment Management Company (MITIMCo), a subsidiary of the MIT Corporation created in 2004. A minor revenue source for much of the Institute's history, the endowment's role in MIT operations has grown due to strong investment returns since the 1990s, making it one the largest endowments held by American universities . Among its holdings are a majority of shares in the audio equipment manufacturer Bose Corporation . MIT
6608-537: The Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University has made that point clearly: Closing down Diablo Canyon would be the definition of climate incoherence." and "The report finds that without Diablo Canyon, the state’s electricity shortage would have been three times as severe during last year’s [2020] massive blackouts." and "Closing Diablo Canyon would make the state’s energy transition costlier, longer and more chaotic." In February 2022
6726-552: The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Acts of 1861, Chapter 183 In 1859, a proposal was submitted to the Massachusetts General Court to use newly filled lands in Back Bay , Boston for a " Conservatory of Art and Science ", but the proposal failed. A charter for the incorporation of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, proposed by William Barton Rogers , was signed by John Albion Andrew ,
6844-638: The Media Lab, the Sloan School's eastern campus, and graduate residences in the northwest. In 2006, President Hockfield launched the MIT Energy Research Council to investigate the interdisciplinary challenges posed by increasing global energy consumption . In 2001, inspired by the open source and open access movements , MIT launched OpenCourseWare to make the lecture notes, problem sets , syllabi, exams, and lectures from
6962-535: The New England region and Canada. On November 25, 2013, MIT announced the creation of the Collier Medal, to be awarded annually to "an individual or group that embodies the character and qualities that Officer Collier exhibited as a member of the MIT community and in all aspects of his life". The announcement further stated that "Future recipients of the award will include those whose contributions exceed
7080-523: The School of Architecture and Planning, was the first formal architecture program in the United States, and it has a history of commissioning progressive buildings. The first buildings constructed on the Cambridge campus, completed in 1916, are sometimes called the "Maclaurin buildings" after Institute president Richard Maclaurin who oversaw their construction. Designed by William Welles Bosworth , these imposing buildings were built of reinforced concrete ,
7198-538: The US Air Force , and 1 foreign head of state have been affiliated with MIT. The institute also has a strong entrepreneurial culture and MIT alumni have founded or co-founded many notable companies. MIT is a member of the Association of American Universities . [...] a school of industrial science aiding the advancement, development and practical application of science in connection with arts, agriculture, manufactures, and commerce [...] Act to Incorporate
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#17327825065897316-643: The United States in protests and setting up encampments against the Israel–Hamas war . Student likened their actions to the historic protests against the American invasion of Vietnam and MIT investment’s in South African apartheid ; they called for ending ties to the Israeli Ministry of Defense . MIT's 166-acre (67.2 ha) campus in the city of Cambridge spans approximately
7434-408: The arts and sciences. In 2010, it was dubbed "most selective" by U.S. News , admitting few transfer students and 4.1% of its applicants in the 2020–2021 admissions cycle. It is need-blind for both domestic and international applicants. MIT offers 44 undergraduate degrees across its five schools. In the 2017–2018 academic year, 1,045 Bachelor of Science degrees (abbreviated " SB ") were granted,
7552-540: The boundaries of their profession, those who have contributed to building bridges across the community, and those who consistently and selflessly perform acts of kindness". In September 2017, the school announced the creation of an artificial intelligence research lab called the MIT-IBM Watson AI Lab. IBM will spend $ 240 million over the next decade, and the lab will be staffed by MIT and IBM scientists. In October 2018 MIT announced that it would open
7670-734: The budget, new programs, degrees and faculty appointments, and elects a president to manage the university and preside over the Institute's faculty. The current president is Sally Kornbluth , a cell biologist and former provost at Duke University , who became MIT's eighteenth president in January 2023. MIT has five schools ( Science , Engineering , Architecture and Planning , Management , and Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences ) and one college ( Schwarzman College of Computing ), but no schools of law or medicine. While faculty committees assert substantial control over many areas of MIT's curriculum, research, student life, and administrative affairs,
7788-636: The campus, the Institute has also extensively renovated existing buildings to improve their energy efficiency. MIT has also taken steps to reduce its environmental impact by running alternative fuel campus shuttles, subsidizing public transportation passes , constructing solar power offsets , and building a cogeneration plant to power campus electricity, heating, and cooling requirements. MIT has substantial commercial real estate holdings in Cambridge on which it pays property taxes , plus an additional voluntary payment in lieu of taxes (PILOT) on academic buildings which are legally tax-exempt. As of 2017 , it
7906-549: The campus: new dormitories and athletics buildings on west campus; the Tang Center for Management Education ; several buildings in the northeast corner of campus supporting research into biology , brain and cognitive sciences , genomics , biotechnology , and cancer research ; and a number of new "backlot" buildings on Vassar Street including the Stata Center . Construction on campus in the 2000s included expansions of
8024-551: The chair of each of MIT's 32 academic departments reports to the dean of that department's school, who in turn reports to the Provost under the President. Academic departments are also evaluated by "Visiting Committees," specialized bodies of Corporation members and outside experts who review the performance, activities, and needs of each department. MIT's endowment , real estate, and other financial assets are managed through by
8142-496: The closure is that under California's electricity regulations, renewables are given priority over nuclear and fossil-fuel generation, which would likely have resulted in Diablo only running half-time, and because nuclear plants have large fixed costs , this would essentially double its per-kWh generation costs. PG&E's CEO stated: “I am sorry to see it go, because from a national energy policy standpoint, we need greenhouse gas-free electricity,” Earley said. “But we are regulated by
8260-413: The completion of independent, peer reviewed, advanced seismic studies of all faults in the area." The Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility began circulating a petition to similar effect, going further and calling for an outright halt to relicensing. An array of San Luis Obispo-based anti-nuclear groups including Mothers for Peace also called for closure of the plant. Due to international reactions to
8378-447: The cooling water intake, and power is limited during operation so that water returned to the ocean is no more than 20 °F (11 °C) warmer than ambient temperature. All thermal power stations in California using OTC systems for cooling employ various filtering capabilities to prevent larvae and other aquatic objects from being drawn into impacts with the grids on the intake tubes, known as entrainment . The Diablo Canyon facility
8496-491: The country gathered at MIT's Radiation Laboratory , established in 1940 to assist the British military in developing microwave radar . The work done there significantly affected both the war and subsequent research in the area. Other defense projects included gyroscope -based and other complex control systems for gunsight , bombsight , and inertial navigation under Charles Stark Draper 's Instrumentation Laboratory ;
8614-465: The decision to shutdown the plant "distressing" and said “Nuclear power is something we should reconsider, and we should ask PG&E to reconsider.” Some of the continued generation from the plant could be used for relieving the drought-caused water shortages by powering a desalination plant (costing half as much as the Carlsbad desalination plant for the same capacity), or to generate hydrogen as
8732-691: The development of a digital computer for flight simulations under Project Whirlwind ; and high-speed and high-altitude photography under Harold Edgerton . By the end of the war, MIT became the nation's largest wartime R&D contractor (attracting some criticism of Bush), employing nearly 4000 in the Radiation Laboratory alone and receiving in excess of $ 100 million ($ 1.2 billion in 2015 dollars) before 1946. Work on defense projects continued even after then. Post-war government-sponsored research at MIT included SAGE and guidance systems for ballistic missiles and Project Apollo . ...
8850-553: The dormitory system starting in 2002. Because FSILGs had previously housed as many as 300 freshmen off-campus, the new policy could not be implemented until Simmons Hall opened in that year. In 2013–2014, MIT abruptly closed and then demolished undergrad dorm Bexley Hall, citing extensive water damage that made repairs infeasible. In 2017, MIT shut down Senior House after a century of service as an undergrad dorm. That year, MIT administrators released data showing just 60% of Senior House residents had graduated in four years. Campus-wide,
8968-560: The expanding university. By the 1950s, MIT no longer simply benefited the industries with which it had worked for three decades, and it had developed closer working relationships with new patrons, philanthropic foundations and the federal government. In late 1960s and early 1970s, student and faculty activists protested against the Vietnam War and MIT's defense research. In this period MIT's various departments were researching helicopters, smart bombs and counterinsurgency techniques for
9086-524: The facility is able to withstand a 7.5 magnitude quake. This article about a specific stratigraphic formation in California is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This seismology article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant The Diablo Canyon Power Plant is a nuclear power plant near Avila Beach in San Luis Obispo County, California . Following
9204-474: The first academic buildings complete, the MIT administration and the MIT charter crossed the Charles River on the ceremonial barge Bucentaur built for the occasion. Institute faculty continued to debate whether the Institute education should continue to emphasize "hands on" industrial training or scientific research. Needing funds to match Eastman's gift and cover retreating state support, President Richard MacLaurin launched an industry funding model known as
9322-485: The foregoing scenario is anticipated and controlled for, and that there is no basis to anticipate spillage. The launch of additional seismic studies did not delay re-issuance of the operating licenses for the two onsite units. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's estimate of the risk each year of an earthquake intense enough to cause core damage to the reactor at Diablo Canyon was 1 in 23,810, according to an NRC study published in August 2010. In 2009, PG&E applied to
9440-548: The four-year graduation rate is 84% (the cumulative graduation rate is significantly higher). MIT is a publicly-chartered nonprofit corporation governed by a privately appointed board known as the MIT Corporation . A large board since MIT's founding, the Corporation has 60–80 members at any time, some with fixed terms, some with life appointments, and eight who serve ex officio . The Corporation approves
9558-419: The fragile Pacific Coast, with millions or hundreds of thousands of Californians living nearby." In January 2016, several authors of An Ecomodernist Manifesto (including Robert Stone , David Keith , Stewart Brand , Michael Shellenberger , Mark Lynas ) signed an open letter to California Governor Jerry Brown , Tony Earley, CEO of Pacific Gas & Electric , and California state officials, urging that
9676-641: The great majority of its courses available online for no charge, though without any formal accreditation for coursework completed. While the cost of supporting and hosting the project is high, OCW expanded in 2005 to include other universities as a part of the OpenCourseWare Consortium, which currently includes more than 250 academic institutions with content available in at least six languages. In 2011, MIT announced it would offer formal certification (but not credits or degrees) to online participants completing coursework in its "MITx" program, for
9794-563: The highways. MIT The Massachusetts Institute of Technology ( MIT ) is a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts , United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of modern technology and science . Founded in response to the increasing industrialization of the United States , MIT adopted a European polytechnic university model and stressed laboratory instruction in applied science and engineering . MIT
9912-400: The large documentation. Pacific Gas & Electric Company went through six years of hearings, referendums and litigation to have the Diablo Canyon plant approved. A principal concern about the plant is whether it can be sufficiently earthquake-proof; the site was deemed safe when construction began in 1968, but a seismic fault (the Hosgri fault ) had been discovered several miles offshore by
10030-508: The loan on September 1 with the passage of Senate Bill 846. The bill also charged the California Public Utilities Commission with monitoring cost increases that might make the plant uneconomical to operate and to close the plant if its operations “prove to be economically disadvantageous, or even financially catastrophic, for California electricity consumers”. PG&E is also expected to seek funding from
10148-548: The men participated in fraternities and 20% of the women were involved in sororities. Most FSILGs are located across the river in Back Bay near where MIT was founded, and there is also a cluster of fraternities on MIT's West Campus that face the Charles River Basin. After the 1997 alcohol-related death of Scott Krueger, a new pledge at the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, MIT required all freshmen to live in
10266-446: The most popular department, collectively identify themselves as "Course 6". MIT students use a combination of the department's course number and the number assigned to the class to identify their subjects; for instance, the introductory calculus-based classical mechanics course is simply "8.01" (pronounced eight-oh-one ) at MIT. The four-year, full-time undergraduate program maintains a balance between professional majors and those in
10384-439: The most powerful university-based nuclear reactors in the United States. The prominence of the reactor's containment building in a densely populated area has been controversial, but MIT maintains that it is well-secured. MIT Nano, also known as Building 12, is an interdisciplinary facility for nanoscale research. Its 100,000 sq ft (9,300 m ) cleanroom and research space, visible through expansive glass facades,
10502-702: The names of important scientists and philosophers. The spacious Building 7 atrium at 77 Massachusetts Avenue is regarded as the entrance to the Infinite Corridor and the rest of the campus. Alvar Aalto 's Baker House (1947), Eero Saarinen 's MIT Chapel and Kresge Auditorium (1955), and I.M. Pei 's Green , Dreyfus, Landau, and Wiesner buildings represent high forms of post-war modernist architecture . More recent buildings like Frank Gehry 's Stata Center (2004), Steven Holl 's Simmons Hall (2002), Charles Correa 's Building 46 (2005), and Fumihiko Maki 's Media Lab Extension (2009) stand out among
10620-400: The north to upper Nipomo to the south. All businesses are required to have a siren information sticker in their business generally located within the restrooms. Schools, government offices, and any other public building will have a PAZ card (Protective Action Zone). These cards show the 12 zones of evacuation with zone one being the plant itself. The cards also show the direction of evacuation on
10738-399: The order in which the buildings were built and their location relative (north, west, and east) to the original center cluster of Maclaurin buildings. Many of the buildings are connected above ground as well as through an extensive network of tunnels, providing protection from the Cambridge weather as well as a venue for roof and tunnel hacking . MIT's on-campus nuclear reactor is one of
10856-556: The pace of life at the Institute" to match the return to peacetime, remembering the "academic tranquility of the prewar years", though acknowledging the significant contributions of military research to the increased emphasis on graduate education and rapid growth of personnel and facilities. The faculty doubled and the graduate student body quintupled during the presidential terms of Karl Taylor Compton (1930–1948), James Rhyne Killian (1948–1957), and chancellor Julius Adams Stratton (1952–1957), whose institution-building strategies shaped
10974-605: The permanent shutdown of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in 2013, Diablo Canyon is now the only operational nuclear plant in California, as well as the state's largest single power station . It was the subject of controversy and protests during its construction, with nearly two thousand civil disobedience arrests in a two-week period in 1981. The plant has two Westinghouse -designed 4-loop pressurized-water nuclear reactors operated by Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E). Together,
11092-507: The plant closes the state will reach a "critical inflection point", which will create a significant challenge to ensure reliability of the grid without resorting to more fossil fuel usage, and could jeopardize California's greenhouse gas reduction targets. In 2021 the California Energy Commission and CAISO warned that the state may have summer blackouts in future years as a result of Diablo's closure coinciding with
11210-420: The plant not be closed. They argued that Diablo is an asset for California in achieving global warming goals since it does not emit greenhouse gases like a natural gas power plant , which are a major contributor to global warming. S. David Freeman and Damon Moglen from the environmental advocacy group Friends of the Earth , (which was founded in 1969 to oppose Diablo Canyon's construction), commissioned
11328-430: The plant: the state passed a new law (sb100) which requires 100% emissions-free electricity generation by 2045, the whole western US region is in a continuing mega-drought (limiting hydroelectric generation), and demand for electricity has outpaced supply, especially during heatwaves. They also stated that keeping Diablo operating until 2045 would save the state a cumulative $ 21 billion. Steven Chu , energy secretary in
11446-405: The politics in favor of a climate policy." A 2021 report from researchers at MIT and Stanford states that keeping Diablo Canyon running until 2035 would reduce the state's carbon emissions from electricity generation by 11% every year, save the state a cumulative $ 2.6 billion, and improve the reliability of the grid. They state that three factors have changed since the 2018 decision to close
11564-905: The preferences of the students themselves, diverse social atmospheres can be sustained in different living groups; for example, according to the Yale Daily News staff's The Insider's Guide to the Colleges, 2010 , "The split between East Campus and West Campus is a significant characteristic of MIT. East Campus has gained a reputation as a thriving counterculture." MIT also has 5 dormitories for single graduate students and 2 apartment buildings on campus for married student families. MIT has an active Greek and co-op housing system, including thirty-six fraternities , sororities , and independent living groups ( FSILGs ). As of 2015 , 98% of all undergraduates lived in MIT-affiliated housing; 54% of
11682-637: The protests. The student body, faculty, and administration remained comparatively unpolarized during what was a tumultuous time for many other universities. Johnson was seen to be highly successful in leading his institution to "greater strength and unity" after these times of turmoil. However six MIT students were sentenced to prison terms at this time and some former student leaders, such as Michael Albert and George Katsiaficas , are still indignant about MIT's role in military research and its suppression of these protests. ( Richard Leacock 's film, November Actions , records some of these tumultuous events. ) In
11800-527: The safety portion. A few days later, the Atomic Safety Licensing Board (ASLB) indicated that it would defer adjustment of the adjudicatory schedule of the four contentions brought by San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace (SLOMFP), a community-based anti-nuclear organization, accordingly. The ASLB made no findings regarding the merits of the contentions; both PG&E and SLOMFP claimed these developments as victories. S. David Freeman ,
11918-451: The shutdown of four natural gas plants of 3.7GW total capacity, and the inability to rely on imported electricity during West-wide heat waves due to reduced hydroelectric capacity (from the decades-long drought ) and the closure of coal plants. A 2021 report from researchers at MIT and Stanford states that keeping Diablo Canyon running until 2035 would reduce the state's carbon emissions from electricity generation by 11% every year, save
12036-674: The size of the student body increased to more than one thousand. The curriculum drifted to a vocational emphasis, with less focus on theoretical science. The fledgling school still suffered from chronic financial shortages which diverted the attention of the MIT leadership. During these "Boston Tech" years, MIT faculty and alumni rebuffed Harvard University president (and former MIT faculty) Charles W. Eliot 's repeated attempts to merge MIT with Harvard College's Lawrence Scientific School . There would be at least six attempts to absorb MIT into Harvard. In its cramped Back Bay location, MIT could not afford to expand its overcrowded facilities, driving
12154-526: The spring semester commencing in early February and ceasing in late May. MIT students refer to both their majors and classes using numbers or acronyms alone. Departments and their corresponding majors are numbered in the approximate order of their foundation; for example, Civil and Environmental Engineering is Course 1 , while Linguistics and Philosophy is Course 24 . Students majoring in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS),
12272-428: The startup transformers of both units due to a failure on the 230 kV transmission system. At the time, none of the startup transformers were loaded as both units were online and their electrical systems were at the time being powered by the plant's turbine generators. However, the emergency diesel generators were started with no load during the outage as a precaution in case either unit tripped offline while offsite power
12390-446: The state a cumulative $ 2.6 billion (rising to $ 21 billion if kept open until 2045), and improve the reliability of the grid. Full decommissioning of the plant is estimated to take decades and cost nearly $ 4 billion. Diablo Canyon Power Plant is on approximately 750 acres (300 ha) of land located just west of Avila Beach, California . The power-producing portion of the plant occupies around 12 acres (4.9 ha). PG&E owns
12508-598: The state of California, and California’s policies are driving this." Specifically, the operating licenses for Diablo Canyon Units 1 and 2 would not be renewed when they expire on November 2, 2024 and August 26, 2025, respectively. PG&E's application to close Diablo Canyon, including the Joint Proposal, was approved by the California Public Utilities Commission in January 2018. In February, PG&E withdrew its application to
12626-465: The subject of controversy and debate, with some arguing instead for construction of an artificial reef to better offset the environmental impact of diminished larvae spawning. The plant produces electricity for about 6 cents per kWh, less than the average cost of 10.1 cents per kWh that PG&E paid for electricity from other suppliers in 2014. There are approximately 1,200 employees of Pacific Gas & Electric and 200 employees of subcontractors at
12744-427: The successive terms of the more humanistically oriented presidents Howard W. Johnson and Jerome Wiesner between 1966 and 1980. MIT's involvement in military science surged during World War II . In 1941, Vannevar Bush was appointed head of the federal Office of Scientific Research and Development and directed funding to only a select group of universities, including MIT. Engineers and scientists from across
12862-433: The time the plant was completed in 1973. This fault experienced a 7.1 magnitude quake 10 miles offshore on November 4, 1927, and thus is capable of generating forces equivalent to approximately 1 ⁄ 16 of those felt in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake . The company updated its plans and added structural supports designed to reinforce stability in case of earthquake. In September 1981, PG&E discovered that
12980-415: The twin 1100 MWe reactors produce about 18,000 GW·h of electricity annually (8.6% of total California generation and 23% of carbon-free generation), supplying the electrical needs of more than 3 million people. The plant produces electricity for about 6 cents per kWh, less than the average cost of 10.1 cents per kWh that PG&E paid for electricity from other suppliers in 2014. Though it
13098-431: The two Diablo Canyon reactors in 2024 and 2025, stating that because California's energy regulations give renewables priority over nuclear, the plant would likely only run half-time, making it uneconomical. (Nuclear plants are used for base load in order to spread their large fixed costs over as many kWh of generation as possible.) In 2020, experts at the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) warned that when
13216-588: The war in Vietnam as well as guidance systems for nuclear missiles. The Union of Concerned Scientists was founded on March 4, 1969 during a meeting of faculty members and students seeking to shift the emphasis on military research toward environmental and social problems. MIT ultimately divested itself from the Instrumentation Laboratory and moved all classified research off-campus to the MIT Lincoln Laboratory facility in 1973 in response to
13334-649: Was built less than a mile from the Shoreline Fault line, which was not known to exist at the time of construction, and is located less than three miles (4.8 km) from the Hosgri fault , a 2016 NRC probabilistic risk assessment of the plant, taking into account seismic risk, estimated the frequency of core damage at one instance per 7.6 million reactor years. The plant is located in Nuclear Regulatory Commission Region IV . In 2016, PG&E announced that it plans to close
13452-514: Was designed and constructed by a team of scientists from California Institute of Technology , MIT, and industrial contractors, and funded by the National Science Foundation . It was designed to open the field of gravitational-wave astronomy through the detection of gravitational waves predicted by general relativity . Gravitational waves were detected for the first time by the LIGO detector in 2015. For contributions to
13570-967: Was established as a part of a settlement agreement entered into in June 1988 between the Division of Ratepayer Advocates of the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), the Attorney General for the State of California, and Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E). It consists of three members, one each appointed by the Governor, the Attorney General and the Chairperson of the California Energy Commission. They serve staggered three-year terms. The committee has no authority to direct PG&E personnel. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission defines two emergency planning zones around nuclear power plants:
13688-544: Was ranked 13th in estimated power station bio-fouling and egg larvae damage in the state of California in 2013; the less productive fossil gas power units 6 & 7 at Moss Landing Power Plant were ranked as having a far higher impact on fish larvae. In 2014, the California Water Board released a white paper detailing the costs to convert Diablo Canyon to utilize cooling towers instead of the once-through cooling cycle. These upgrade cost estimates have been
13806-485: Was the largest arrest total in the history of the U.S. anti-nuclear movement . In spring of 2011, State Senator Sam Blakeslee and US Representative Lois Capps both expressed concern for a renewed safety review. Speaking before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, Representative Capps stated that she believed the "Nuclear Regulatory Commission should stay the license renewal process until
13924-575: Was unavailable. The electrical output of the plant via the 500 kV transmission system was not interrupted, allowing both units to remain online during the outage. Diablo Canyon was built and entered service in the midst of legal challenges and civil disobedience from the anti-nuclear protesters of the Abalone Alliance . Over a two-week period in 1981, 1,900 activists were arrested and sent to jail for protesting at Diablo Canyon Power Plant, including musician/activist Jackson Browne. It
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