Hungarian-born physicist Leo Szilard conceived of the idea of the nuclear chain reaction while waiting for a traffic light on Southampton Row in Bloomsbury, London on September 12, 1933.
German chemist Otto Hahn discovered the nuclear fission of the heavy element uranium, the scientific and technological basis of nuclear energy on December 17, 1938. The decisive experiment was named "radium-barium-mesothorium-fractionation."
On December 2, 1942 a group of scientists achieved the first self-sustaining chain reaction and thereby initiated the controlled release of nuclear energy. Leo Szilard, who had emigrated to America was among the observers.
The nuclear reactor that achieved this was known as Chicago Pile-1. It was built by the Manhattan Project's Metallurgical Laboratory on a squash court at the University of Chicago. Many reactors were built in the U.S. during World War II for the Manhattan Project.
The Manhattan project was so secret, vice president Truman wasn't even debriefed on it until he assumed office after Roosevelt's death.
The first European artificial, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction was initiated within Soviet nuclear reactor F-1 in 1946.
The EBR-1 at Argonne National Laboratory-West in Arco, Idaho was the first nuclear power plant to generate electricity. The electricity powered four light bulbs on December 20, 1951.
U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivered his "Atoms for Peace" speech on December 8, 1953, which led to an American program to supply equipment and information on nuclear power to schools, hospitals, and research institutions around the world.
The world's first nuclear power station was opened at Obninsk near Moscow. It began producing electricity on June 27, 1954. The plant remained in operation between 1954 and 2002, although its production of electricity for the grid ceased in 1959; thereafter it functioned as a research and isotope production plant only.
On July 17, 1955, the town of Arco, Idaho became the first town in the world to be powered entirely by nuclear power energy. The power plant was a 3,500-watt experimental reactor called the BORAX-III, and it was operated by the Argonne National Laboratory. The reactor was only turned on for an hour, but it was a major milestone in the development of nuclear power.
Karen Silkwood worked at The Cimarron Fuel Fabrication Site, a nuclear fuel production facility located near Cimarron City, Oklahoma, where she made plutonium pellets. On November 13, 1974, she set out to meet a reporter to go public with evidence of extensive safety violations. Silkwood was later found dead; her car appeared to have been run off the road and the documents she had with her were missing.
After visiting the Three Mile Island nuclear plant's accident in 1979, Jimmy Carter, who was trained in nuclear power from the US Navy, told his cabinet that the incident was minor. The president did not say so in public, however, to avoid offending fellow Democrats who opposed nuclear power.
An explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the Ukraine on April 26, 1986, released large amounts of radioactive particles into the atmosphere in what was then the worst nuclear disaster in history.
The Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant in Japan was much closer to the epicenter of the 2011 Earthquake than the Fukushima Power Plant, yet it sustained only minor damage and even housed tsunami evacuees. It's safety is credited to engineer Hirai Yanosuke who insisted it have a 14m (46FT) tall sea wall.
Despite not having a nuclear engineering program (no engineering programs at all) Reed College in Portland, Oregon is the only liberal-arts school to have a nuclear reactor. Manned by a staff of 40 undergraduate students, the Reed College Research Reactor has more female reactor operators than all other nuclear reactors in the world combined.
11 per cent of the world’s energy requirements are now produced by nuclear power.
France is the country most reliant on nuclear power generating 71.6% of the country's total electricity, a larger percent than any other nation. It turned to nuclear in response to the 1973 oil crisis. The situation was summarized in a slogan, "In France, we do not have oil, but we have ideas."
France produces so much nuclear energy that it actually exports energy and makes a profit.
Canada's nuclear reactors are designed to use decommissioned nuclear weapons as fuel and can be refueled while running at full power. They're considered among the safest and the most cost effective reactors in the world.
There are "nuclear divers", people who dive into nuclear power plant cooling systems to perform maintenance on them.
Nuclear reactors have caused the lowest number of fatalities per unit of energy generated when compared to the other major energy producing methods.
Since modern civilizations and languages likely won't exist 10,000 years from now, signs warning about nuclear waste (which will still be dangerous then) have to be designed to be understood by anyone, without the use of language. These tools include pictographs and hostile architecture.
To solve the problem of communicating to humans 10,000 years from now about nuclear waste sites one solution proposed was to form an atomic priesthood like the Catholic Church to preserve information of locations and danger of nuclear waste using rituals and myths.
Source Daily Express
German chemist Otto Hahn discovered the nuclear fission of the heavy element uranium, the scientific and technological basis of nuclear energy on December 17, 1938. The decisive experiment was named "radium-barium-mesothorium-fractionation."
 |
| Nuclear fission experimental setup By J Brew - originally posted to Flickr |
On December 2, 1942 a group of scientists achieved the first self-sustaining chain reaction and thereby initiated the controlled release of nuclear energy. Leo Szilard, who had emigrated to America was among the observers.
The nuclear reactor that achieved this was known as Chicago Pile-1. It was built by the Manhattan Project's Metallurgical Laboratory on a squash court at the University of Chicago. Many reactors were built in the U.S. during World War II for the Manhattan Project.
 |
| Drawing of the reactor |
The first European artificial, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction was initiated within Soviet nuclear reactor F-1 in 1946.
The EBR-1 at Argonne National Laboratory-West in Arco, Idaho was the first nuclear power plant to generate electricity. The electricity powered four light bulbs on December 20, 1951.
 |
| The first light bulbs ever lit by electricity generated by nuclear power at EBR-1 |
U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivered his "Atoms for Peace" speech on December 8, 1953, which led to an American program to supply equipment and information on nuclear power to schools, hospitals, and research institutions around the world.
 |
| Obninsk Nuclear Power Plant Museum. By RIA Novosti Wikipedia |
On July 17, 1955, the town of Arco, Idaho became the first town in the world to be powered entirely by nuclear power energy. The power plant was a 3,500-watt experimental reactor called the BORAX-III, and it was operated by the Argonne National Laboratory. The reactor was only turned on for an hour, but it was a major milestone in the development of nuclear power.
USS Nautilus, the first nuclear-powered submarine, put to sea for the first time in 1955. It travel led from Groton, Connecticut, with the message, "Underway on nuclear power."
The world's first commercial nuclear power plant opened at Calder Hall, near Sellafield in Cumbria, England in 1956. The first power station to generate electricity on an industrial scale (four 60 MWe reactors) from nuclear energy, it was first connected to the national power grid on August 27, 1956 and officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on October 17, 1956.
In its early years, the main task of Calder Hall was to produce weapons-grade plutonium. Generating electricity was a secondary task.
Calder Hall was closed on March 31, 2003 after 47 years in use.
The Shippingport Atomic Power Station in Shippingport, Pennsylvania was the first commercial reactor in the USA and was opened in 1957.
The Windscale fire in Cumbria, England, the world's first major nuclear accident, took place on October 10, 1957. John Cockcroft, the director of the Atomic Energy Research Establishment had insisted that the chimney stacks of the Windscale reactors be fitted with high performance filters. His caution had been mocked as Cockcroft's Folly until the core of one of the reactors ignited and released radionuclides during the Windscale fire. The filters trapped about 95% of the radioactive dust and arguably saved much of norther England from becoming a nuclear wasteland..
The world's first commercial nuclear power plant opened at Calder Hall, near Sellafield in Cumbria, England in 1956. The first power station to generate electricity on an industrial scale (four 60 MWe reactors) from nuclear energy, it was first connected to the national power grid on August 27, 1956 and officially opened by Queen Elizabeth II on October 17, 1956.
In its early years, the main task of Calder Hall was to produce weapons-grade plutonium. Generating electricity was a secondary task.
Calder Hall was closed on March 31, 2003 after 47 years in use.
 |
| Calder Hall, United Kingdom - The world's first commercial nuclear power station. |
The Shippingport Atomic Power Station in Shippingport, Pennsylvania was the first commercial reactor in the USA and was opened in 1957.
The Windscale fire in Cumbria, England, the world's first major nuclear accident, took place on October 10, 1957. John Cockcroft, the director of the Atomic Energy Research Establishment had insisted that the chimney stacks of the Windscale reactors be fitted with high performance filters. His caution had been mocked as Cockcroft's Folly until the core of one of the reactors ignited and released radionuclides during the Windscale fire. The filters trapped about 95% of the radioactive dust and arguably saved much of norther England from becoming a nuclear wasteland..
Karen Silkwood worked at The Cimarron Fuel Fabrication Site, a nuclear fuel production facility located near Cimarron City, Oklahoma, where she made plutonium pellets. On November 13, 1974, she set out to meet a reporter to go public with evidence of extensive safety violations. Silkwood was later found dead; her car appeared to have been run off the road and the documents she had with her were missing.
The China Syndrome was a 1979 American film that explored the potential dangers of nuclear power. The movie tells the story of a television reporter and her cameraman who witness a near-meltdown at a nuclear power plant in California. The film was released on March 16, 1979, and just 12 days later, on March 28, 1979, a real-life nuclear accident occurred at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania.
The Three Mile Island accident was a partial nuclear meltdown that occurred in the Unit 2 reactor at the plant. The incident led to the release of radioactive gases and raised concerns about the safety of nuclear power plants. The timing of the accident, which happened so soon after the release of The China Syndrome, added to the public's fear and interest in the movie, and it became a box-office success.
After visiting the Three Mile Island nuclear plant's accident in 1979, Jimmy Carter, who was trained in nuclear power from the US Navy, told his cabinet that the incident was minor. The president did not say so in public, however, to avoid offending fellow Democrats who opposed nuclear power.
An explosion at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the Ukraine on April 26, 1986, released large amounts of radioactive particles into the atmosphere in what was then the worst nuclear disaster in history.
 |
| The abandoned city of Pripyat with Chernobyl plant in the distance. |
The Onagawa Nuclear Power Plant in Japan was much closer to the epicenter of the 2011 Earthquake than the Fukushima Power Plant, yet it sustained only minor damage and even housed tsunami evacuees. It's safety is credited to engineer Hirai Yanosuke who insisted it have a 14m (46FT) tall sea wall.
Despite not having a nuclear engineering program (no engineering programs at all) Reed College in Portland, Oregon is the only liberal-arts school to have a nuclear reactor. Manned by a staff of 40 undergraduate students, the Reed College Research Reactor has more female reactor operators than all other nuclear reactors in the world combined.
11 per cent of the world’s energy requirements are now produced by nuclear power.
France is the country most reliant on nuclear power generating 71.6% of the country's total electricity, a larger percent than any other nation. It turned to nuclear in response to the 1973 oil crisis. The situation was summarized in a slogan, "In France, we do not have oil, but we have ideas."
France produces so much nuclear energy that it actually exports energy and makes a profit.
Canada's nuclear reactors are designed to use decommissioned nuclear weapons as fuel and can be refueled while running at full power. They're considered among the safest and the most cost effective reactors in the world.
The Palo Verde nuclear plant in Arizona is the only nuclear plant in the world not near a major body of water. Instead its 20,000 gallons/ minute of cooling water comes from local wastewater.
Oklo in Gabon is the only known location in the world capable of experiencing self-sustaining nuclear fission reactions. A natural nuclear fission reactor is a uranium deposit where self-sustaining nuclear chain reactions have occurred.
Oklo consists of 16 sites at which self-sustaining nuclear fission reactions took place two billion years ago, and ran for a few hundred thousand years, averaging probably less than 100 kW of thermal power during that time.
Oklo in Gabon is the only known location in the world capable of experiencing self-sustaining nuclear fission reactions. A natural nuclear fission reactor is a uranium deposit where self-sustaining nuclear chain reactions have occurred.
Oklo consists of 16 sites at which self-sustaining nuclear fission reactions took place two billion years ago, and ran for a few hundred thousand years, averaging probably less than 100 kW of thermal power during that time.
There are "nuclear divers", people who dive into nuclear power plant cooling systems to perform maintenance on them.
Nuclear reactors have caused the lowest number of fatalities per unit of energy generated when compared to the other major energy producing methods.
Since modern civilizations and languages likely won't exist 10,000 years from now, signs warning about nuclear waste (which will still be dangerous then) have to be designed to be understood by anyone, without the use of language. These tools include pictographs and hostile architecture.
To solve the problem of communicating to humans 10,000 years from now about nuclear waste sites one solution proposed was to form an atomic priesthood like the Catholic Church to preserve information of locations and danger of nuclear waste using rituals and myths.
Source Daily Express
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