Fun Fact #370 The Chicago Pile
Fun Fact #370
The Chicago Pile
Under the west viewing stands of Stagg Field, 1942 they threw the switch. For months the scientists behind the Manhattan project had debated the risk of testing a reactor in one of the most densely populated cities in America, but trusting Enrico Fermi’s safety Calculations they decided to activate “Chicago Pile 1” (CP-1) the world's first (man-made) Nuclear reactor. Finally the allies had proof of the feasibility of Nuclear power and with a working test subject their calculations became much more accurate. There were some issues with this first reactor though such as the lack of radiation shielding, and a cooling device to prevent a runaway reaction.
Using this information they built CP-2 in Cook county where scientists produced the Plutonium used to build “The Fat Man” Nuclear bomb and the reactor would further inform them on how they could build better reactors for possible use on the American Power Grid.
CP-2 now rests on the grounds of “The Argonne National Laboratory” in Lemont, Illinois, now the largest National Laboratory in the Midwest. Almost all active nuclear reactors in the world today have roots on Argonne’s campus though it now has other studies available such as Computer Science, and Materials Science.
