![]() Today, the building has been repurposed for other uses. It was the nation’s first large-scale plant for making nuclear reactor fuel elements from plutonium. May 14, 1959: The Fuel Fabrication Facility is dedicated in Building 350 in Illinois. During the final days of the conference, the reactor is dismantled and then shipped back to Argonne and reassembled. September 1, 1958: Argonne’s Argonaut training reactor arrives in Geneva, Switzerland, after being disassembled at Argonne and shipped to Geneva, then is reassembled at the Second International Conference on Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy and brought to criticality September 6. ![]() EBWR operation demonstrated safety and dynamic stability of directly employing the core’s water coolant for conversion of fission heat to electricity. The power was generated by Argonne’s BORAX III reactor.ĭecember 1956: Achieved first criticality of the Experimental Boiling Water Reactor ( EBWR), designed and built by Argonne as the first-ever prototype for a boiling water reactor power plant. July 17, 1955: Arco, Idaho, population 1,200, becomes the world’s first community to have all its electrical power provided by nuclear energy. The school was organized to carry out the Atoms-for-Peace program. March 14, 1955: Thirty-nine students from 19 foreign nations and the United States begin Argonne’s first International School of Nuclear Science and Engineering. June 4, 1953: The Atomic Energy Commission ( AEC) announces that EBR-I has achieved the first demonstration of the breeding principle in a nuclear reactor.įebruary 10, 1954: Chicago Pile 5 ( CP-5) goes critical for the first time. This was a heavy water cooled reactor that served as a source of neutrons for research. EBR-I was originally referred to as CP-4 or “ ZIP,” short for “Zinn’s Infernal Pile.” This work created the design for the Nautilus submarine reactor.ĭecember 20, 1951: Experimental Breeder Reactor 1 ( EBR-I) produces the world’s first usable amount of electricity from nuclear energy, lighting four electric light bulbs. January 31, 1947: Argonne begins design of a thermal, water-cooled submarine reactor. May 15, 1944: Walter Zinn starts Chicago Pile 3, the world’s first heavy-water-moderated nuclear reactor, at Site A. It was CP-1 dismantled and reassembled at the Argonne Forest site in the Cook Country Forest Preserve. March 20, 1943: Chicago Pile 2 ( CP-2) achieves criticality. View more information on Argonne’s current nuclear programs here.ĭecember 2, 1942: Enrico Fermi’s team produces the world’s first sustained and human-controlled nuclear chain reaction at Chicago Pile 1 ( CP-1). Our researchers are developing advanced reactors and fuel-cycle technologies that promise to improve the affordability of nuclear power, enhance the assurance of safety and security, and minimize the discharge of radioactive waste. We capitalize on Argonne’s role as a national center of scientific research and high-performance computing to achieve transformational advances in the performance, safety and economics of nuclear energy systems. Building on this heritage, we are supporting the reliable, safe and secure use of nuclear power worldwide – and fostering its increased use in the future by incorporating science and engineering breakthroughs in the design of advanced nuclear energy systems. ![]() Nearly every commercial reactor in operation today was developed from Argonne research. Nuclear energy is the largest generator of carbon-free electricity in use today, and it will play an increasing role in worldwide power generation as advanced reactor designs and improved fuel-cycle technologies are brought into commercial application.
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