0
This was part of the Manhattan Project to develop the atom bomb. There were two routes, both followed: 1. to enrich uranium in U235, 2. to produce plutonium by irradiating uranium. The first 1942 reactor demonstrated that the chain reaction would work, this led to the much larger Hanford reactors which produced the plutonium for the 'fat-boy' bombs.
Wiki User
∙ 15y ago
Wiki User
∙ 15y agoIn 1942 the first reactor was demonstrated in Chicago, Enrico Fermi was in charge. This was part of the Manhattan Project to develop the A-bomb. It was a simple arrangement of graphite and uranium - they called it a 'pile' which name stuck to graphite reactors for many years. The Hanford plutonium producing reactors were built from this experience. The 1942 reactor did not produce any useable output, it was solely to show how reality compared with theory, a test-bed.
Wiki User
∙ 11y agoIn 1942, on the racket courts under the west stands of the Alonzo Stagg Field in the University of Chicago; Scientist gather to build the Chicago Pile-1. Among them Enrico Fermi, Leó Szilárd, Martin Whittaker, and Walter Zinn. The rector was little more then a pile of uranium pellet separated by graphite blocks. Cadmium-coated control rod, built by the school's metallurgical labs, mediated the reaction.
On December 2, dignitaries stared at the brick and wood monstrosity as George Weil placed the final control rod and Fermi watched the neutrons activity caefuly. At 3:25 pm the reaction reached critically (self-stastibility) 28 minutes later Fermi ended the test. One scientist, Arthur Compton, called the chairman of the National Defense Research Committee, James Conant. He spoke a cryptic message:
Compton: The Italian navigator has landed in the New World.
Conant: How were the natives?
Compton: Very friendly.
That was mankind's first step in nuclear energy. The site is now a National Historic Landmark.
Add your answer:
Earn +20 pts
What is artificial nuclear reactor?
An artificial nuclear reactor is a nuclear reactor that is created by man to utilize a nuclear reaction for energy, as opposed to natural nuclear reactors.
What is a Nuclear reactor moisture separator?
This is used in the nuclear reactor that is known as Boiling Water Reactor (BWR) in which heat produced by the nuclear fission in the nuclear fuel allows the light water reactor coolant to boil. Then, the nuclear reactor moisture separator is used to increase the dryness of the produced steam before it goes to the reactor steam turbines.
What is a reactor used for in welders?
Not a nuclear reactor!
What does fission happen in?
Nuclear reactor
How much uranium is need to power a nuclear power plant for eighteen months?
Depending on: - the type of the nuclear reactor - the electrical power of the nuclear reactor - the type of the nuclear fuel - the enrichment of uranium - the estimated burnup of the nuclear fuel etc.
When was the first nuclear reactor made?
1942, the first demonstration reactor as part of the Manhattan Project
When was the first small nuclear reactor invented?
In 1942, Chicago
Who discovered the nuclear power?
The first reactor in 1942 was supervised by Enrico Fermi
In 1950 where was the first nuclear reactor?
The first nuclear reactor was in former Soviet Union that operated in year 1954 at obninisk.
How did nuclear reactor change the world in 1942?
The first reactor in 1942 showed that it would work, and larger ones were built at Hanford Wa to produce plutonium for the A-bomb
Who discover the nuclear energy power?
The first reactor in 1942 was supervised by Enrico Fermi
When was the first nuclear reactor built?
The first demonstration nuclear reactor was built in USA by Enrico Fermi in Chicago Stadium. Fermi was an Italian Physicist, best known for his work on Chicago Pile-1 (the first nuclear reactor). on 26 June 1954, in the town of Obninsk, near Moscow in the former USSR, the first nuclear power plant was connected to an electricity grid to provide power to residences and businesses. Nuclear energy had crossed the divide from military uses to civilian applications.
What year was nuclear power developed?
The first ever reactor was in 1942, but not power producing. The first electric power producing reactor was in the UK in 1956
Where was nuclear energy first invented?
This was part of the WW2 Manhattan Project to develop the A-bomb. The first nuclear reactor was demonstrated in Chicago in 1942
Who first invented nuclear reactors?
The nuclear reactor was invented in 1933 by Leo Szilard, in London, but he did not try to build one. The first functioning nuclear reactor, CP-1, was designed and built in 1942 by Enrico Fermi, in Chicago, IL.
What is the Japanese Nuclear Reactor?
A Nuclear Reactor.
Who was the inventor of first nuclear plant?
Leo Szilard invented the nuclear reactor in 1933, but did not build it.Enrico Fermi built first nuclear reactor, CP-1 in 1942.Walter Zinn built the first nuclear power plant, EBR-1 in 1951.
