10 intriguing facts you might not know about the world’s first controlled release of nuclear energy.
The world's first self-sustaining controlled nuclear chain reactor took place at the University of Chicago on December 2, 1942.
Chicago Pile-1 was the world’s first nuclear reactor to go critical.
49 scientists led by Enrico Fermi, were present for the event. Leona Marshall was the lone female researcher.
The reactor was built with graphite blocks, some of which contained small disks of uranium.
Scientists monitored the reaction on instruments named after Winnie the Pooh characters—Piglet, Tigger and Pooh.
Scientist George Weil withdrew the cadmium-plated control rod unleashing the first controlled chain reaction.
The reactor had three sets of control rods. One was automatic and could be controlled from the balcony. Another was an emergency safety rod. The third rod (operated by Weil) actually held the reaction in check until it was withdrawn the proper distance.
The group celebrated with a bottle of Chianti that was poured into paper cups. Most of the participants signed the wine bottle’s label. This was the only written record of who had taken part in the experiment.
In the lead up to this experiment, a letter from Albert Einstein to President Franklin D. Roosevelt helped lead to the Manhattan Project—a government research project that produced the first atomic bombs. It was also the seed that grew into the modern U.S. Department of Energy national laboratory system.
The Energy Department’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory is named in honor of Enrico Fermi for his contributions to nuclear physics and scientific success at nearby University of Chicago.
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