Chicago Pile 1 (CP-1) was the
world's first nuclear reactor
BUILT BY ENRICO FERMI AND HIS TEAM
IN 1942 AT THE UNIVERITY OF CHICAGO
It signaled the birth of a new era...
...and the start of our Laboratory
Within a decade of Fermi's first reactor, Argonne
designed, built and tested numerous reactor proto-
types, including thermal and fast breeder reactors...
Argonne even developed the reactor
core for the U.S.S. Nautilus, the world's
first atomic-powered submarine!
Argonne's work is the basis for nearly
all commercial nuclear power reactors used
around the world, including evolving systems
for future sustainable nuclear energy
ARGONNE "SITE A" CIRCA 1946
Today, Argonne works on a broad range of some
of the nation's most pressing challenges in science,
energy, environment, and national security
Fermi's legacy continues today as part of the
mission of Argonne's Nuclear Engineering division,
whose work continues to advance the science and
technology foundations for nuclear energy
Our vision is the realization of sustainable nuclear
energy as a safe, secure, carbon-free energy source to
support global economic growth and prosperity
Argonne provides national leadership
for DOE's Advanced Reactor Technologies
and Fuel Cycles R&D Programs
We have world leading expertise in reactor and fuel cycle physics,
reactor design & safety, separations science, and materials science
PLUS SYNERGISTIC PROGRAMS IN CONVERSION OF
RESEARCH REACTORS & MEDICAL ISOTOPE PRODUCTION TO LEU
FUELS & MATERIALS EXPERTISE THAT SUPPORTS LIFE EXTENSION,
IMPROVED OPERATION OF CURRENT AND EVOLVING PLANTS
We utilize Argonne's world-class facilities such as the
Advanced Photon Source and Leadership Computing Facility
...as well as our unique facilities for testing
and validation of reactor concepts and components
Research Reactors
Argonne has a distinguished history of
advancing our nation's nonproliferation goals
This includes our long-standing work to convert
research and test reactors worldwide to use low-
rather than high-enriched uranium (HEU) fuel
TRIGA POOL-TYPE RESEARCH REACTOR
We use our engineering expertise to develop
designs that eliminate the need for HEU fuel, while
preserving facility mission requirements
70 facilities have been converted in 38
countries since we started this work in 1978
RESULTING IN SUBSTANTIAL REDUCTION OF HEU USAGE WORLDWIDE
AND THE ASSOCIATED RISK OF THE SPREAD OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS
Computing
Argonne has used computers for much of its history.
This was the Lab's first computer, AVIDAC (1953).
Argonne provides leadership to
DOE's Nuclear Energy Advanced Modeling
and Simulation (NEAMS) program
Our reactor engineering codes and enabling tools for high
performance computing are internationally recognized
We also use the world's most
powerful supercomputers, such as
MIRA at Argonne's Leadership
Computing Facility
Simulation
This is an example of a complex simulation requiring
a powerful supercomputer. It models coolant flow
in a sodium-cooled fast reactor.
The distorted (eddy current) flow along the
side is due to the helical wire-wrapped fuel
pins used to space the fuel and promote
mixing to reduce hot spots
It used a billion grid points and ran on
65536 computer processors!