ANS Friday Nuclear Matinee: The First Nuclear Chain Reaction

July 13, 2012, 6:00AMANS Nuclear Cafe

Very highly recommended. On December 2, 1942, 49 scientists, led by Enrico Fermi, made history when Chicago Pile 1 (CP-1) went "critical" and produced the world's first self-sustaining, controlled nuclear chain reaction.

Seventy years later, two of the last surviving CP-1 pioneers, Harold Agnew and Warren Nyer, recall and explain the events of that historic day.

Of course, nuclear chain reactions power the Sun and stars, and Earth had its own nuclear chain reactions long before humans achieved the controlled version -- so some license is taken with the title of this post.


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