When Was Nuclear Energy Invented – History of Nuclear Energy

When was Nuclear Energy Invented.Uranium was discovered in 1789 by Martin Klaproth, a German chemist, and named after the planet Uranus. In 1895, Wilhelm Rontgen discovered ionizing radiation. He produced continuous X-rays by passing an electric current through an evacuated glass tube. In 1896, Henri Becquerel found that pitchblende caused a photographic plate to darken. Pitchblende means an ore that containing uranium and radium. Henri Becquerel went on to demonstrate that this was due to alpha particles (helium nuclei) and beta radiation (electrons) being emitted. Then, “gamma rays” a third type of radiation from pitchblende was found by Villard. The name 'radioactivity' was given by Pierre and Marie Curie to this phenomenon in 1896. Later, medical treatment used Radium. Samuel Prescott, in 1898 showed that radiation can destroyed bacteria in food.

Albert Einstein

The radioactivity as a spontaneous event emitting an alpha or beta particle from the nucleus created a different element was showed by Ernest Rutherford in 1902. He went on to develop a fuller understanding of atoms and in 1919 he fired alpha particles from a radium source into nitrogen and found that nuclear rearrangement was occurring, with formation of oxygen. Meanwhile, Niels Bohr was another scientist who advanced our understanding of the atom and the way electrons were arranged around its nucleus through to the 1940s.
 
By 1911 a scientist-Frederick Soddy discovered that naturally radioactive elements had a number of different isotopes with the same chemistry. Also in this year George de Hevesy showed that such different isotopes (radionuclides) were invaluable as tracers.
 
The neutron was discovered by James Chadwick in 1932. Also in that year Walton and Cockcroft produced nuclear transformations by bombarding atoms with accelerated protons. Later, in 1934 Irene Curie and Frederic Joliot found that some such transformations created artificial radionuclides. The next year Enrico Fermi found that a much greater variety of artificial radionuclides could be formed when neutrons were used instead of protons.
 
In 1934, physicist Enrico Fermi conducted experiments in Rome, it showed that neutrons could split many kinds of atoms. This results surprised even Enrico Fermi himself. When Enrico Fermi bombarded uranium with neutrons, Fermi did not get the elements he expected. The elements were much lighter compared than uranium. In 1938, Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassman fired neutrons from a source containing the elements beryllium and radium and into uranium (atomic number 92).They were surprised to find lighter elements, such as barium (atomic number 56), in the leftover materials. These elements had about half the atomic mass of uranium. In previous experiments, the leftover materials were only slightly lighter than uranium. 

Enrico Fermi

Hahn and Strassman contacted Lise Meitner in Copenhagen before publicizing their discovery. She was an Austrian colleague who had been forced to flee Nazi Germany. She worked with Niels Bohr and her nephew, Otto R. Frisch. Meitner and Frisch thought the barium and other light elements in the leftover material resulted from the uranium splitting — or fissioning. However, when she added the atomic masses of the fission products, they did not total the uranium’s mass. Meitner used Einstein’s theory to show the lost mass changed to energy. This proved fission occurred and confirmed Einstein’s work.

When Was Nuclear Energy Invented -The First Self-Sustaining Chain Reaction

When was Nuclear Energy Invented. In 1939, Bohr came to America. He shared with Einstein the Hahn-Strassman-Meitner discoveries. Bohr also met Fermi at a conference on theoretical physics in Washington, D.C. They discussed the exciting possibility of a selfsustaining chain reaction. In such a process, atoms could be split to release large amounts of energy.

Scientists throughout the world began to believe a self-sustaining chain reaction might be possible. It would happen if enough uranium could be brought together under proper conditions. The amount of uranium needed to make a self-sustaining chain reaction is called a critical mass. 

Fermi and his associate, Leo Szilard, suggested a possible design for a uranium chain reactor in 1941. Their model consisted of uranium placed in a stack of graphite to make a cube-like frame of fissionable material.

Early in 1942, a group of scientists led by Fermi gathered at the University of Chicago to develop their theories. By November 1942, they were ready for construction to begin on the world’s first nuclear reactor, which became known as Chicago Pile-1. The pile was erected on the floor of a squash court beneath the University of Chicago’s athletic stadium. In addition to uranium and graphite, it contained control rods made of cadmium. Cadmium is a metallic element that absorbs neutrons. When the rods were in the pile, there were fewer neutrons to fission uranium atoms. This slowed the chain reaction. When the rods were pulled out, more neutrons were available to split atoms. The chain reaction sped up.

On the morning of December 2, 1942, the scientists were ready to begin a demonstration of Chicago Pile-1. Fermi ordered the control rods to be withdrawn a few inches at a time during the next several hours. Finally, at 3:25 p.m., Chicago time, the nuclear reaction became self-sustaining. Fermi and his group had successfully transformed scientific theory into technological reality. The world had entered the nuclear age.

When Was Nuclear Energy Invented -The Development Of Nuclear Energy For Peaceful Applications

When was Nuclear Energy Invented. The first nuclear reactor was only the beginning. Most early atomic research focused on developing an effective weapon for use in World War II. The work was done under the code name Manhattan Project.


However, some scientists worked on making breeder reactors, which would produce fissionable material in the chain reaction. Therefore, they would create more fissionable material than they would use. After the war, the United States government encouraged the development of nuclear energy for peaceful civilian purposes. Congress created the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) in 1946. The AEC authorized the construction of Experimental Breeder Reactor I at a site in Idaho. The reactor generated the first electricity from nuclear energy on December 20, 1951.

A major goal of nuclear research in the mid-1950s was to show that nuclear energy could produce  electricity for commercial use. The first commercial electricity-generating plant powered by nuclear energy was located in Shippingport, Pennsylvania. It reached its full design power in 1957. Light-water reactors like Shippingport use ordinary water to cool the reactor core during the chain reaction.

They were the best design then available for nuclear powerplants. Private industry became more and more involved in developing light-water reactors after Shippingport became operational.

Federal nuclear energy programs shifted their focus to developing other reactor technologies. The nuclear power industry in the U.S. grew rapidly in the 1960s. Utility companies saw this new form of electricity production as economical, environmentally clean, and safe. In the 1970s and 1980s, however, growth slowed. Demand for electricity decreased and concern grew over nuclear issues, such as reactor safety, waste disposal, and other environmental considerations.

Still, the U.S. had twice as many operating nuclear powerplants as any other country in 1991. This was more than one-fourth of the world’s operating plants. Nuclear energy supplied almost 22 percent of the electricity produced in the U.S.


At the end of 1991, 31 other countries also had nuclear powerplants in commercial operation or under construction. That is an impressive worldwide commitment to nuclear power technology. During the 1990s, the U.S. faces several major energy issues and has developed several major goals for nuclear power, which are:
1. To maintain exacting safety and designstandards;
2. To reduce economic risk;
3. To reduce regulatory risk; and
4. To establish an effective high-level nuclear waste disposal program.

Several of these nuclear power goals were addressed in the Energy Policy Act of 1992, which was signed into law in October of that year. The U.S. is working to achieve these goals in a number of ways. For instance, the U.S.  Department of Energy has undertaken a number of joint efforts with the nuclear industry to develop the next generation of nuclear powerplants. These plants are being designed to be safer and more efficient. There is also an effort under way to make nuclear plants easier to build by standardizing the design and simplifying the licensing requirements, without lessening safety standards.

In the area of waste management, engineers are developing new methods and places to store the radioactive waste produced by nuclear plants and other nuclear processes. Their goal is to keep the waste away from the environment and people for very long periods of time.
 
Scientists are also studying the power of nuclear fusion. Fusion occurs when atoms join — or fuse — rather than split. Fusion is the energy that powers the sun. On earth, the most promising fusion fuel is deuterium, a form of hydrogen. It comes from water and is plentiful. It is also likely to create less radioactive waste than fission. However, scientists are still unable to produce useful amounts of power from fusion and are continuing their research.
 
Research in other nuclear areas is also continuing in the 1990s. Nuclear technology plays an important role in medicine, industry, science, and food and agriculture, as well as power generation. For example, doctors use radioisotopes to identify and investigate the causes of disease. They also use them to enhance traditional medical treatments. In industry, radioisotopes are used for measuring microscopic thicknesses, detecting irregularities in metal casings, and testing welds. Archaeologists use nuclear techniques to date prehistoric objects accurately and to locate structural defects in statues and buildings. Nuclear irradiation is used in preserving food. It causes less vitamin loss than canning, freezing, or drying.

Nuclear research has benefited mankind in many ways. But today, the nuclear industry faces huge, very complex issues. How can we minimize the risk? What do we do with the waste? The future will depend on advanced engineering, scientific research, and the involvement of an enlightened citizenry.

Reference:
The History of Nuclear Energy. U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology
Washington, D.C. 20585

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