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A New Way to Induce Radioactivity
Enrio Fermi, a physicist conducted experiments and found that one can induce artificial radioactivity by bombarding an atom with neutrons from radioactive beryllium. However when bombarding Uranium 92, Fermi produced new substances that could not be identified. -
Identification of the Substances
Otto Hahn, Lise Meitner, and Fritz Strassmann reproduced the substances created in Fermi's experiement and then did a careful chemical analysis of them. It was then discovered that the Uranium atom had actually been split into serveral parts, where parts of the nucleus of the atom had become barium, kypton, and other products. Meitner then concluded that this was nuclear fission and that the conversion of the mass of uranium to energy was consistent with Einstein's equation: E=MC^2. -
Danger of Nuclear Energy
Fermi, Einstein and other scientists became aware ofthe danger of nuclear energy in the hands of the Nazis. In a letter to Franklin D Roosevelt, Einstein warned of this possible and the Manhattan Project was created. -
First Self-Sustaining Chain Reaction of Nuclear Energy
Experimental Physicist, Enrico Fermi(Pictured), supervised the design and assembly of the first nuclear reactor at the University of Chicago as part of the Manhattan Project. A plaque at the site of the site now reads, "On December 2, 1942, man achieved here the first self-sustaining chain reaction and thereby initiated the controlled release of nuclear energy." -
Design of Nuclear Energy for Civillian Purposes
After the ending of World War II with the dropping of the atomic bombs, the US government created the Atomic Energy Commission in 1946, which authorized the construction of an experimental reactor in Idaho. The reactor successfully produced electricity on December 20, 1951. -
First Commerical Reactor
Exactly 15 years after the first sutained nuclear reaction, the first commercial nuclear power plant had begun operation. The Dunquesne Light Company of Pittsburgh constructed and operated the site by the Ohio River and contributed to the cost of developing a government-owned nuclear reactor. -
Modern Reactors
The US nuclear utility consortium and the Advanced Reactor Coporation signed a contract with Westinghouse Electric Corporation to perform engineering work for an advanced standardized 600-megawatt reactor. This contract marked the start of modern reactors. However scientists predict that new reactors in 2020 will become even more efficient.
