Georgia Tech (Atlanta) had a similar research reactor, until 1996 and the 'games' came to town.
My fraternity's house was less than 1/2 block from the reactor, direct line of sight to the containment structure.
I was frequently tempted to switch the position of the N and U in NUCLEAR on the sign on the side of the building.
On the security side, the containment structure was surrounded by cyclone fence with barbed wire... but they gave tours up to '95 when it was de-fueled in preparation for the summer games.