Nuclear Engineering Division

About

Nuclear Energy

Nuclear Reactors
Designed by Argonne

CP-1 Anniversary

Argonne's Nuclear Science and Technology Legacy

Met Lab & Argonne’s Early History

Historical News Releases


Join us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter NE on Flickr NE on YouTube

Reactors designed by Argonne National Laboratory

Chicago Pile 1 (CP-1) 75th Anniversary

December 2, 1942 - December 2, 2017

Celebrating the 75th anniversary of the world's first self-sustaining,
controlled nuclear chain reaction

  • VIEW FULL PLAYLIST of the CP-1 75th Anniversary Symposium: the Future of Nuclear Energy.
  • LEARN about the first reactor experiment that began a new chapter in science history.
  • LEARN about the 49 CP-1 Pioneers present on December 2, 1942 when Chicago Pile 1 went critical.
 

On December 2, 1942, Enrico Fermi led an experiment at the University of Chicago demonstrating that a nuclear chain reaction could be initiated, sustained, and controlled. “Chicago Pile - 1,” or CP-1 for short, catapulted forward the fields of nuclear physics and radiation biology and paved the way for such new fields as nuclear power generation and nuclear chemistry. CP-1 also was central to the formation of the nation’s first national laboratory, Argonne, to investigate peaceful uses of nuclear technology--since that time, Argonne has engaged in all of these fields and played a leading role in the development of current generation and advanced power reactors.

On the 75th anniversary of CP-1, Argonne honors the historic scientific achievement with a symposium that explores the future of nuclear energy from many perspectives. This anniversary symposium addresses the future of nuclear energy from the U.S. national lab, industrial, and foreign perspectives and examine how basic science in advanced materials and chemistry can play a role.

Video: CP-1 75th Anniversary Symposium

View Photos from the Event

CP-1 75th Anniversary Symposium

Last Modified: Thu, October 12, 2017 3:42 PM

For more information:

For more information, please contact at Argonne.

CP-1 Pioneers

Harold M. Agnew
Samuel K. Allison
Herbert L. Anderson
Wayne Arnold
Hugh M. Barton
Thomas Brill
Robert F. Christy
Arthur H. Compton
Enrico Fermi
Richard J. Fox
Stewart Fox
Carl. C. Gamertsfelder
Alvin C. Graves
Crawford H. Greenewalt
Norman Hilberry
David L. Hill
William H. Hinch
Robert E. Johnson
W.R. Kanne
August C. Knuth
Phillip Grant Koontz
Herbert E. Kubitschek
Harold V. Lichtenberger
George M. Maronde
Anthony J. Matz
George Miller
George D. Monk
Henry P. Newson
Robert G. Nobles
Warren E. Nyer
Wilcox P. Overbeck
J. Howard Parsons
Gerard S. Pawlicki
Theodore Petry
David P. Rudolph
Leon Sayvetz
Leo Seren
Louis Slotin
Frank H. Spedding
William J. Sturm
Leo Szilard
Al Wattenberg
Richard J. Watts
George L. Weil
Eugene P. Wigner
Marvin H. Wilkening
Volney C. (Bill) Wilson
Leona Woods (Marshall Libby)
Walter H. Zinn

More about the CP-1 Pioneers

 

Contact NSE Division