Argonne History - 1940's | Argonne National Laboratory

Argonne History - 1940's

1 of 20

CP-1 drawing

This drawing depicts the historic event on Dec. 2, 1942, when a group of 49 scientists led by Enrico Fermi created the world's first controlled, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction underneath the University of Chicago's Stagg Field football stadium. Some of those present would later founded Argonne National Laboratory. Called Chicago Pile 1 (CP-1), the reactor was the first in a distinguished series of "Chicago Pile" reactors that advanced nuclear reactor technology, helped commercialize it for electricity generation, and developed the early use of nuclear reactors as a source of neutrons for research in other scientific disciplines. For more information, go to www.ne.anl.gov and click on the “Nuclear Reactors by Argonne National Laboratory” graphic.

1 of 20
CP-1 drawing
This drawing depicts the historic event on Dec. 2, 1942, when a group of 49 scientists led by Enrico Fermi created the world's first controlled, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction underneath the University of Chicago's Stagg Field football stadium. Some of those present would later founded Argonne National Laboratory. Called Chicago Pile 1 (CP-1), the reactor was the first in a distinguished series of "Chicago Pile" reactors that advanced nuclear reactor technology, helped commercialize it for electricity generation, and developed the early use of nuclear reactors as a source of neutrons for research in other scientific disciplines. For more information, go to www.ne.anl.gov and click on the “Nuclear Reactors by Argonne National Laboratory” graphic.
2 of 20
Chicago Pile 1 Model
Photograph of a model showing the first nuclear reactor erected in 1942 in a squash court in the West Stands of Stagg Field at the University of Chicago. On December 2, 1942 (as depicted here), a group of scientists under the direction of Enrico Fermi achieved the first self-sustaining chain reaction and thereby initiated the controlled release of nuclear energy. Fermi and his colleagues were assembled on the balcony to the right to observe the instruments recording the neutron intensity in the pile. After 28 minutes the operators to the right of the reactor pushed in a cadmium control rod called zip and ended the world's first chain reaction to be achieved by man. The reactor in the left foreground contained alternate layers of dead graphite containing uranium metal and uranium oxide. The completed reactor contained 57 layers which was about one layer beyond the critical stage. For more information, go to www.ne.anl.gov and click on the “Nuclear Reactors by Argonne National Laboratory” graphic. Courtesy: Archival Photographic Files, [apf2-00504], Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.
3 of 20
Birth certificate of the Atomic Age
Often called "the Birth Certificate of the Atomic Age," this chart records neutron intensity as measured by a galvanometer on Dec. 2, 1942, when a group of 49 scientists led by Enrico Fermi created history's first controlled nuclear chain reaction. In February 1943, the reactor was dismantled and moved to an isolated location in the Argonne Forest section of the Cook County Forest Preserve, where it was rebuilt in March 1943 as Chicago Pile 2 in a slightly different configuration. The small laboratory that grew up around the reactor became known as the Argonne Laboratory, and in 1946 became Argonne National Laboratory. For more information, go to www.ne.anl.gov and click on the “Nuclear Science and Technology Legacy” graphic.
4 of 20
Chianti bottle with list of original participants
Forty-nine people were present in a converted squash court at the University of Chicago's abandoned Stagg Field on Dec. 2, 1942, when Chicago Pile 1, the world's first nuclear reactor went critical. To celebrate their success, Eugene Wigner opened a bottle of Chianti he had purchased months before in anticipation of the event. The group silently sipped Chianti from paper cups, then passed the bottle around and signed the straw wrapping. The list contains the names of everyone present at the squash court during the historical experiment, which was led by Enrico Fermi. Many of them signed the list at a 20th-anniversary reunion. For more information, go to www.ne.anl.gov and click on the “Nuclear Science and Technology Legacy” graphic.
5 of 20
CP-1 pioneer signatures
A list of the 49 people, led by Enrico Fermi, who were present in a converted squash court at the University of Chicago's abandoned Stagg Field on Dec. 2, 1942, when Chicago Pile-1, the world's first nuclear reactor, went critical. Those present at their 20th reunion added their signatures to the list. For more information, go to www.ne.anl.gov and click on the “Nuclear Science and Technology Legacy” graphic.
6 of 20
Enrico Fermi
Enrico Fermi, who led the experiments on Chicago Pile-1, leading to the first man-made controlled nuclear reaction. For more information, go to www.ne.anl.gov and click on the “Nuclear Science and Technology Legacy” graphic.
7 of 20
CP-2
Chicago Pile 2 (CP-2) - pictured in March 1943 - was born in early 1943, when Chicago Pile 1, the world's first nuclear reactor, was dismantled and moved to the Cook County Forest Preserve near Palos Hills. At the new, isolated location, the reactor was reassembled with some refinements and modifications and renamed Chicago Pile 2. CP-2 had a thermal- power level of 10 kW and was fueled by natural uranium. A small laboratory atop the 14,000-ton reactor provided space for limited experiments using neutrons from the reactor's core. The reactor's face contained ports through which materials could be inserted into the core for irradiation. For more information, go to www.ne.anl.gov and click on the “Nuclear Reactors by Argonne National Laboratory” graphic.
8 of 20
Walter Zinn, CP-1 Graphite bricks
Argonne Director Walter Zinn at CP-1. Chicago Pile 1 was the world's first nuclear reactor, built in 1942 by Nobel Prize winner Enrico Fermi. The reactor was built underneath the University of Chicago's Stagg Field football stadium. On Dec. 2, 1942, Enrico Fermi and 48 of his colleagues succeed in achieving in this reactor the world’s first man-made controlled nuclear chain reaction, thereby establishing the ability of mankind to control the release of nuclear energy. He and other scientists from that group later founded Argonne National Laboratory. CP-1 consisted of 45000 graphite bricks stacked in 587 layers. For more information, go to www.ne.anl.gov and click on the “Nuclear Science and Technology Legacy” graphic. Image courtesy of Argonne National Laboratory.
9 of 20
Enrico Fermi
Enrico Fermi, who led the experiments on Chicago Pile-1, leading to the first man-made controlled nuclear reaction. For more information, go to www.ne.anl.gov and click on the “Nuclear Science and Technology Legacy” graphic.
10 of 20
Enrico Fermi and Walter H. Zinn
Enrico Fermi (left) and Walter H. Zinn were Argonne's first two directors. In early 1943, Chicago Pile 1, was moved from the University of Chicago to the Argonne Forest section of the Cook County Forest Preserve, rebuilt in a slightly different configuration and renamed Chicago Pile 2. The small laboratory that grew up around the reactor was called the Argonne Laboratory, and Fermi was its first director. In September 1944, Fermi moved to Los Alamos and Zinn, his deputy, was named director of the Argonne Laboratory, a position he held until July 1, 1946, when he was named director of the newly created Argonne National Laboratory. Zinn continued as director of Argonne National Laboratory until June 30, 1956. For more information, go to www.ne.anl.gov and click on the “Nuclear Science and Technology Legacy” graphic.
11 of 20
CP-3
Chicago Pile 3 (CP-3) - pictured in 1944 - was the world's first heavy-water moderated reactor. It was designed by Eugene Wigner. At Enrico Fermi's request, Walter Zinn directed its construction at the Argonne Laboratory in 1943. Chicago Pile 3 achieved criticality in 1944. The original fuel was natural uranium. CP-3 was modified in January 1950, and the natural uranium fuel was replaced with enriched uranium. The redesigned reactor, named CP-3’ ("CP-3 prime"), became operational in May 1950. Research programs conducted at CP-3 and CP-3’ included reactor physics studies, fission product separations, tritium recovery from irradiated lithium, and studies of radionuclide metabolism in laboratory animals. CP-3 was shared with Canadian scientists and engineers, who used it in the design of the Canadian NRX reactor, from which CANDU commercial power reactors evolved. CP-3’ shut down in 1954. For more information, go to www.ne.anl.gov and click on the “Nuclear Reactors by Argonne National Laboratory” graphic.
12 of 20
Walter Zinn, Crystal spectrometer CP-3
Walter Zinn, Argonne's second director and a pioneer in nuclear physics and reactor development, observes a Chicago Pile 3 crystal spectrometer. CP-3 was the world's first "heavy-water moderated" reactor. It was designed by Eugene Wigner; at Enrico Fermi's request, Walter Zinn directed its construction in the Argonne Forest in 1943. Chicago Pile 3 achieved criticality in 1944 and eventually served as a model for the CANDU line of reactors, which are used today in Canada. For more information, go to www.ne.anl.gov and click on the “Nuclear Reactors by Argonne National Laboratory” graphic. Image courtesy of Argonne National Laboratory
13 of 20
Site A gate
The front gate of the Argonne Lab, also known as Site A, circa 1943. After Enrico Fermi's historical experiment on Dec. 2, 1942, Chicago Pile 1 (CP-1) was moved to a remote location in the Argonne Forest of the Cook County Forest Preserve near Palos Hills. By March 1943, CP-1 had been rebuilt in a slightly different configuration and renamed Chicago Pile 2. The small laboratory that grew up around the reactor was called the Argonne Lab. On July 1, 1946, it became Argonne National Laboratory, the nation's first national laboratory. For more information, go to www.ne.anl.gov and click on the “Nuclear Science and Technology Legacy” graphic.
14 of 20
CP-1 fourth anniversary
This photo was taken Dec. 2, 1946, on the steps of Eckhart Hall at the University of Chicago at the fourth anniversary reunion of Chicago Pile 1 (CP-1) Pioneers. Front row (from left): Enrico Fermi, Walter Zinn, Albert Wattenberg and Herbert Anderson. Middle row (from left): Harold Agnew, William Sturm, Harold Lichtenberger, Leona W. Marshall and Leo Szillard. Back row (from left): Norman Hilberry, Samuel Allison, Thomas Brill, Robert Nobles, Warren Nyer and Marvin Wilkening. For more information, go to www.ne.anl.gov and click on the “Nuclear Science and Technology Legacy” graphic.
15 of 20
DuPage site farms
An aerial photo looking north shows farmland that became part of Argonne National Laboratory's new campus in the late 1940s, when Argonne began to move from its original site in the Cook County Forest Preserve near Palos Hills to its current site in southeastern DuPage County. These farm buildings were located in what is now the 300 area on the southern side of the Argonne campus. Old Bluff Road runs through the foreground. For more information, go to www.ne.anl.gov and click on the “Nuclear Science and Technology Legacy” graphic.
16 of 20
Argonne-West
Argonne-West was an Idaho site that Argonne National laboratory operated from Aug. 23, 1949, until February 1, 2005, when the U.S. Department of Energy merged Argonne-West and the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory to create Idaho National Laboratory. Argonne-West was Argonne's primary site for testing and demonstrating advanced nuclear reactor components and designs. The site hosted many unique facilities that contributed to the nation's nuclear power development program. • The silver dome in the photo is Experimental Breeder Reactor II. It was originally built to demonstrate a complete breeder-reactor power plant with on-site reprocessing of metallic fuel; this was successfully done from 1964 to 1969. The facility was then converted from a breeder to a burner reactor and given new missions that emphasized testing fuels and materials for larger, liquid-metal-cooled reactors. It became the prototype for the Integral Fast Reactor, successfully demonstrating the inherent safety of a nuclear reactor fueled by metallic alloy and cooled by a pool of liquid sodium. • The sliver structure with the flat top and sloping sides is the Zero-Power Plutonium Reactor (ZPPR), a "split-core" research reactor. Its core could be separated into two halves, each with an array of drawers that could be loaded with various fuels and other materials to simulate different reactor core designs. When the core halves were brought together, the reactor went critical and researchers could assess the performance of various core designs. • The brown box-like structure behind ZPPR is the Hot Fuel Examination Facility. HFEF is still operating and is a hot-cell complex with 15 separate hot cell workstations where highly radioactive materials can be safely examined using master-slave manipulators. For more information, go to www.ne.anl.gov and click on the “Nuclear Reactors by Argonne National Laboratory” graphic.
17 of 20
Enrico Fermi
Enrico Fermi, who led the experiments on Chicago Pile-1, leading to the first man-made controlled nuclear reaction. For more information, go to www.ne.anl.gov and click on the “Nuclear Science and Technology Legacy” graphic.
18 of 20
Enrico Fermi
Enrico Fermi, who led the experiments on Chicago Pile-1, leading to the first man-made controlled nuclear reaction. For more information, go to www.ne.anl.gov and click on the “Nuclear Science and Technology Legacy” graphic.
19 of 20
Enrico Fermi
Enrico Fermi, who led the experiments on Chicago Pile-1, leading to the first man-made controlled nuclear reaction. For more information, go to www.ne.anl.gov and click on the “Nuclear Science and Technology Legacy” graphic.
20 of 20
Enrico Fermi
Enrico Fermi, who led the experiments on Chicago Pile-1 leading to the first man-made controlled nuclear reaction. For more information, go to www.ne.anl.gov and click on the “Nuclear Science and Technology Legacy” graphic.