DOE-NE-0088

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However, some scientists worked on making breeder reactors, which would produce fissionable material in the chain reaction. Therefore, they would create more fissionable material than they would use. Enrico Fermi led a group of scientists in initiating the first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction. The historic event, which occurred on December 2, 1942, in Chicago, is recreated in this painting. After the war, the United States government encouraged the development of nuclear energy for peaceful civilian purposes. Congress created the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) in 1946. The AEC authorized the construction of Experimental Breeder Reactor I at a site in Idaho. The reactor generated the first electricity from nuclear energy on December 20, 1951. 8 A major goal of nuclear research in the mid-1950s was to show that nuclear energy could produce electricity for commercial use. The first commercial electricity-generating plant powered by nuclear energy was located in Shippingport, Pennsylvania. It reached its full design power in 1957. Light-water reactors like Shippingport use ordinary water to cool the reactor core during the chain reaction. They were the best design then available for nuclear powerplants. Private industry became more and more involved in developing light-water reactors after Shippingport became operational.
Federal nuclear energy programs shifted their focus to developing other reactor technologies. The nuclear power industry in the U.S. grew rapidly in the 1960s. Utility companies saw this new form of electricity production as economical, environmentally clean, and safe. In the 1970s and 1980s, however, growth slowed. Demand for electricity decreased and concern grew over nuclear issues, such as reactor safety, waste disposal, and other environmental considerations. Still, the U.S. had twice as many operating nuclear powerplants as any other country in 1991. This was more than one-fourth of the world’s operating plants. Nuclear energy supplied almost 22 percent of the electricity produced in the U.S. The Experimental Breeder Reactor I generated electricity to light four 200-watt bulbs on December 20, 1951. This milestone symbolized the beginning of the nuclear power industry. 9
Page 1 and 2: DOE/NE-0088 THE HISTORY OF Nuclear
Page 3 and 4: The History of Nuclear Energy Table
Page 5: A series of fissions is called a ch
Page 9 and 10: Introduction It is human nature to
Page 11 and 12: These elements had about half the a
Page 13: On the morning of December 2, 1942,
Page 17 and 18: Scientists are also studying the po
Page 19 and 20: Chronology of Nuclear Research and
Page 21 and 22: 1957 October 1. The United Nations
Page 23 and 24: 1964 October 3. Three nuclear-power
Page 25 and 26: adioactive waste, including spent f
Page 27: 1992 February 26. DOE signs a coope
Page 30 and 31: Hewlett, Richard, and Oscar Anderso
Page 33 and 34: Glossary atom The smallest unit of
Page 36: The Department of Energy produces p

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