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Timeline of nuclear energy history |
Learn the history of nuclear energy here, in timeline form from Roentgen’s discovery of x-rays, through the Manhattan project, up to Fukushima. |
See our history page for further discussion of this timeline. This timeline is also available as a PDF [5 MB].
Visit our main page to learn more about nuclear energy.
- Richard Rhodes, "The Making of the Atomic Bomb," Simon and Schuster, 1986.
- Alvin Weinberg, "The First Nuclear Era," AIP Press, 1994.
- All images and many details extracted from Wikipedia
1895 Roentgen discovers X-rays
1898 The Curies identify 2 radioactive
nuclides, coin term "radioactive"
1899 Rutherford distinguishes alpha and
beta radiation and discovers half-life
1909 Rutherford discovers that most
mass is concentrated in a small nucleus
1920 Rutherford theorizes a "neutron"
1935 Chadwick identifies neutrons
1938 Hann and Strassman split uranium
atoms with neutrons, Meitner and Frisch
explain what's happening and name it "fission"
1939 Fermi and Szilard measure neutron
multiplication, conclude that a nuclear chain
reaction is possible
1939 Szilard, Wigner, and Teller convince
Einstein to sign a letter warning Roosevelt of
possibility of nuclear weapons
1939 Roosevelt authorizes creation of
Advisory Committee on Uranium, begins US
nuclear bomb effort (though not vigorously)
1896 Becquerel discovers rays emitted
spontaneously from uranium salts
1942 Fermi achieves first nuclear chain
reaction in a squash court at U. of Chicago.
Manhattan project in full swing. Secret cities
are built in Oak Ridge TN (to enrich uranium),
Hanford WA (to produce plutonium), and Los
Alamos NM (to design and assemble bomb)
July 1945 The world's first nuclear weapon
test, the Trinity shot, is successful
Aug 6 & 9, 1945 Atomic bombs Little Boy
and Fat Man dropped on Japanese cities,
Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Up to 240,000
people died.
1951 EBR-1 reactor is the first to generate
electricity in Arco, ID
1954 Obninsk reactor in the Soviet Union
becomes the first commercial nuclear
power plant
1957 Shippingport reactor begins
operation, first commercial nuclear power
1974 French Prime Minister Messmer
launches huge nuclear power program in
response to oil crisis. In 2004, 75% of France's
electricity is nuclear
1954 USS Nautilus launches, the first
nuclear-powered submarine
Aug 15, 1945 Japan surrenders
unconditionally, ending WWII.
1953 Eisenhower gives Atoms for Peace
speech, launching civilian program
1986 Chernobyl reactor suffers a large power
excursion resulting in the release of large
amounts of radiation. 50+ firefighters die, up to
4000 civilians estimated to die of early cancer
1986 EBR-II reactor demonstrates that
advanced, sodium cooled reactors can passively
shut down without backup systems
2011 4 reactors at Fukushima Daiichi lose
backup generators due to tsunami and suffer
core meltdowns, hydrogen explosions.
Radiation release estimated 10-30% of
Chernobyl. Zero people's health affected by
dose, but land is evacuated
1979 Three Mile Island reactor suffers a
partial meltdown. Radiation largely contained
Created by whatisnuclear.com, Oct. 2013
2004 After decades of electricity generation
with no deaths in the US, a Nuclear
Renaissance discussed, with talks of more
reactor builds to offset carbon emissions
2013 Climate guru James Hansen publishes
paper claiming nuclear has saved 1.8 million
lives total (including worst-case estimates for
all accidents) by offsetting air-pollution related
deaths
1994 Megatons to Megawatts program
started, turns 20,000 nuclear weapons into
electricity. By 2000, ~10% of US electricity
comes from dismantled Russian warheads
2013 Voyager I enters interstellar space after
traveling the solar system for 36 years. It is
powered by a Plutonium-238 radioisotopic
thermal generator