3/2/2019 Nuclear Technologies Timeline - Greatest Engineering Achievements of the Twentieth Century

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Nuclear Technologies Timeline

Even though the ancient Greeks correctly theorized Nuclear Technologies

that everything was made up of simple particles, which Timeline
they called atoms, it wasn't until the beginning of the E=MC2
20th century that scientists realized the atom could be Splitting the Atom
split. Nuclear physicists such as Britain's Joseph John Manhattan Project
Thomson and Denmark's Niels Bohr mapped out the Peacetime Use
atom's elementary building blocks (the electron, Power Plants
proton, and neutron) and paved the way for the Essay - Shirley Ann Jackson
discovery of nuclear fission—the process that
transformed the atom into a new and powerful source
of energy. Today atomic energy generates clean, low-
cost electricity, powers some of the world's largest
ships, and assists in the development of the latest
health care techniques.

1905 Special theory of relativity

German-born physicist Albert Einstein
introduces his special theory of relativity,
which states that the laws of nature are the
same for all observers and that the speed of
light is not dependent on the motion of its
source. The most celebrated result of his work
is the mathematical formula E=mc2, or energy
equals mass multiplied by the speed of light
squared, which demonstrates that mass can
be converted into energy. Einstein wins the
Nobel Prize in physics in 1921 for his work on
the photoelectric effect.

1932 Neutron is discovered

English physicist and Nobel laureate James
Chadwick exposes the metal beryllium to
alpha particles and discovers the neutron, an
uncharged particle. It is one of the three chief
subatomic particles, along with the positively
charged proton and the negatively charged
electron. Alpha particles, consisting of two
neutrons and two protons, are positively
charged, and are given off by certain
radioactive materials. His work follows the
contributions of New Zealander Ernest
Rutherford, who demonstrated in 1919 the
existence of protons. Chadwick also studies
deuterium, known as heavy hydrogen, an
isotope of hydrogen used in nuclear reactors.

1932 Cockcroft teams Walton to split the atom

British physicist John Cockcroft teams with
Ernest Walton of Ireland to split the atom with
protons accelerated to high speed. Their work
wins them the Nobel Prize in physics in 1951.

1937 5-million-volt Van de Graaff generator built

The Westinghouse Corporation builds the 5-
million-volt Van de Graaff generator. Named
for its inventor, physicist Robert Van de Graaff,
the generator gathers and stores electrostatic
charges. Released in a single spark and
accelerated by way of a magnetic field, the
accumulated charge, equivalent to a bolt of
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lightning, can be used as a particle accelerator
in atom smashing and other experiments.

1939 Uranium atoms are split

Physicists Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann of
Germany, along with Lise Meitner of Austria
and her nephew Otto Frisch, split uranium
atoms in a process known as fission. The
mass of some of the atoms converts into
energy, thus proving Einstein’s original theory.

1939- Manhattan Project

1945 The U.S. Army’s top-secret atomic energy
program, known as the Manhattan Project,
employs scientists in Los Alamos, New
Mexico, under the direction of physicist J.
Robert Oppenheimer, to develop the first
transportable atomic bomb. Other Manhattan
Project teams at Hanford, Washington, and
Oak Ridge, Tennessee, produce the plutonium
and uranium-235 necessary for nuclear
fission.

1942 First controlled, self-sustaining nuclear

chain reaction
Italian-born physicist and Nobel winner Enrico
Fermi and his colleagues at the University of
Chicago achieve the first controlled, self-
sustaining nuclear chain reaction in which
neutrons released during the splitting of the
atom continue splitting atoms and releasing
more neutrons. Fermi’s team builds a low-
powered reactor, insulated with blocks of
graphite, beneath the stands at the university’s
stadium. In case of fire, teams of students
stand by, equipped with buckets of water.

1945 Hiroshima and Nagasaki

To force the Japanese to surrender and end
World War II, the United States drops atomic
bombs on Hiroshima, an important army depot
and port of embarkation, and Nagasaki, a
coastal city where the Mitsubishi torpedoes
used in the attack on Pearl Harbor were
made.

1946 First nuclear-reactor-produced

radioisotopes for peacetime civilian use
The U.S. Army's Oak Ridge facility in
Tennessee ships the first nuclear-reactor-
produced radioisotopes for peacetime civilian
use to Brainard Cancer Hospital in St. Louis.

1946 Atomic Energy Commission

The U.S. Congress passes the Atomic Energy
Act to establish the Atomic Energy
Commission, which replaces the Manhattan
Project. The commission is charged with
overseeing the use of nuclear technology in
the postwar era.

1948 Plans to commercialize nuclear power

The U.S. government’s Argonne National
Laboratory, operated in Illinois by the
University of Chicago, and the Westinghouse
Corporation’s Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory
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in Pittsburgh, announce plans to
commercialize nuclear power to produce
electricity for consumer use.

1951 Experimental Breeder Reactor 1

Experimental Breeder Reactor 1 at the Idaho
National Engineering and Environmental
Laboratory (INEEL) produces the world’s first
usable amount of electricity from nuclear
energy. When neutrons released in the fission
process convert uranium into plutonium, they
generate, or breed, more fissile material, thus
producing new fuel as well as energy. No
longer in operation, the reactor is now a
registered national historic landmark and is
open to the public for touring.

1953 First of a series of Boiling Reactor

Experiment reactors
BORAX-I, the first of a series of Boiling
Reactor Experiment reactors, is built at
INEEL. The series is designed to test the
theory that the formation of steam bubbles in
the reactor core does not cause an instability
problem. BORAX-I proves that steam
formation is, in fact, a rapid, reliable, and
effective mechanism for limiting power,
capable of protecting a properly designed
reactor against "runaway" events.

1954 Atomic Energy Act of 1954

The U.S. Congress passes the Atomic Energy
Act of 1954, amending the 1946 act to allow
the Atomic Energy Commission to license
private companies to use nuclear materials
and also to build and operate nuclear power
plants. The act is designed to promote
peaceful uses of nuclear energy through
private enterprise, implementing President
Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Atoms for Peace
Program.

1955 BORAX-III provide an entire town with

electricity
In July, BORAX-III becomes the first nuclear
power plant in the world to provide an entire
town with all of its electricity. When power from
the reactor is cut in, utility lines supplying
conventional power to the town of Arco, Idaho
(population 1,200), are disconnected. The
community depends solely on nuclear power
for more than an hour.

1955 First nuclear-powered submarine

The USS Nautilus SSN 571, the world’s first
nuclear-powered submarine, gets under way
on sea trials. The result of the efforts of 300
engineers and technicians working under the
direction of Admiral Hyman Rickover, "father
of the nuclear navy," it is designed and built by
the Electric Boat Company of Groton,
Connecticut, and outfitted with a pressurized-
water reactor built by the Westinghouse
Corporation’s Bettis Atomic Power Laboratory.
In 1958 the Nautilus is the first ship to voyage
under the North Pole.

International Atomic Energy Agency

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1957
The International Atomic Energy Agency is
formed with 18 member countries to promote
peaceful uses of nuclear energy. Today it has
130 members.

The first U.S. large-scale nuclear power plant

begins operation in Shippingport,
Pennsylvania. Built by the federal government
but operated by the Duquesne Light Company
in conjunction with the Westinghouse Bettis
Atomic Power Laboratory, the pressurized-
water reactor supplies power to the city of
Pittsburgh and much of western Pennsylvania.
In 1977 the original reactor is replaced by a
more efficient light-water breeder reactor.

1962 First advanced gas-cooled reactor

The first advanced gas-cooled reactor is built
at Calder Hall in England. Intended originally
to power a naval vessel, the reactor is too big
to be installed aboard ship and is instead
successfully used to supply electricity to
British consumers. A smaller pressurized-
water reactor, supplied by the United States, is
then installed on Britain’s first nuclear-
powered submarine, the HMS Dreadnaught.

1966 Advanced Testing Reactor

The Advanced Testing Reactor at the Idaho
National Engineering and Environmental
Laboratory begins operation for materials
testing and isotope generation.

1969 Zero Power Physics Reactor

The Zero Power Physics Reactor (ZPPR), a
specially designed facility for building and
testing a variety of types of reactors, goes
operational at Argonne National Laboratory-
West in Idaho. Equipped with a large inventory
of materials from which any reactor could be
assembled in a few weeks, ZPPR operates at
very low power, so the materials do not
become highly radioactive and can be reused
many times. Nuclear reactors can be built and
tested in ZPPR for about 0.1% of the capital
cost of construction of the whole power plant.

1974 Energy Reorganization Act of 1974

The Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 splits
the Atomic Energy Commission into the
Energy Research and Development
Administration (ERDA) and the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission (NRC). ERDA’s
responsibilities include overseeing the
development and refinement of nuclear power,
while the NRC takes up the issue of safe
handling of nuclear materials.

1979 Three Mile Island

The nuclear facility at Three Mile Island near
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, experiences a
major failure when a water pump in the
secondary cooling system of the Unit 2
pressurized-water reactor malfunctions. A
jammed relief valve then causes a buildup of
heat, resulting in a partial meltdown of the
core but only a minor release of radioactive
material into the atmosphere.
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1986 Chernobyl
The Chernobyl nuclear disaster occurs in
Ukraine during unauthorized experiments
when four pressurized-water reactors
overheat, releasing their water coolant as
steam. The hydrogen formed by the steam
causes two major explosions and a fire,
releasing radioactive particles into the
atmosphere that drift over much of the
European continent.

1990s U.S. Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program

The U.S. Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program
pioneers new materials and develops
improved material fabrication techniques,
radiological control, and quality control
standards.

2000 World record reliability benchmarks

The fleet of more than 100 nuclear power
plants in the United States achieve world
record reliability benchmarks, operating
annually at more than 90 percent capacity for
the last decade—the equivalent of building 10
gigawatt nuclear power plants in that period.
In the 21 years since the Three Mile Island
accident, the fleet can claim the equivalent of
2,024.6 gigawatt-years of safe reactor
operation, compared to a total operational
history of fewer than 253.9 gigawatt-years
before the accident. Elsewhere in the world,
nuclear power energy production grows, most
notably in China, Korea, Japan, and Taiwan,
where more than 28 gigawatts of nuclear
power plant capacity is added in the last
decade of the century.

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