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1st Controlled Nuclear Reaction
Enrico Fermi and his team at the University of Chicago conduct the first controlled nuclear reaction under the West stands of Stagg Field, the former football field for the university. The experiment was part of the Manhattan Project, which was the project that developed Fat Man and Little Boy, the nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. -
Atomic Bombs Dropped
The United States, at the order of President Harry S. Truman, drops two atomic bombs on Japan. The first is dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, a second is dropped three days later on Nagasaki. Together, the two bombs kill over 130,000 people and kill thousands more from radiation poisoning over the subsequent months. Japan surrendered to the U.S. on August 14. -
Atomic Energy Commission is created
President Harry S. Truman signs The Atomic Energy Act of 1946. The act places the newly devised nuclear energy industry under civilian control. The Joint Congressional Committee on Atomic Energy is also established at this time to monitor the growth and actions of the industry. -
Shippingport Atomic Power Station Opened
The Shippingport Atomic Power Station is opened exactly 15 years to the day from the first controlled nuclear reaction in Shippingport, Pennsylvania. -
First Privately Funded Nuclear Power Plant Opened
The first nuclear power plant in the U.S. to be built without any government funding -- the Dresden 1 Nuclear Power Station in Illinois -- achieves a self-sustaining nuclear reaction. -
Energy Crisis in the United States
Saudi Arabia cuts oil production and imposes an embargo of shipping oil to the United States creating an energy crisis in the US. This crisis results in long lines at gas stations. -
Chernobyl Plant Goes Online
Reactor 1 of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant goes online. -
Three Mile Island Accident
Wikipedia Link Equipment failures and human error contribute to an accident at the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor at Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. A series of events led to the worst nuclear accident in U.S. history. -
Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster
Reactor #4 explodes following a maintenance check of the plant. The resulting incident forces the residents of the town Prypiat to evacuate. -
Fukushima Daiichi Plant Accident
Following an earthquake and a tsunami, the Fukushima-Dai-ichi plant melts down.
