December 2 – important day for self sustaining fission
On December 2, 1942, Enrico Fermi and a small team started, controlled and stopped the first fission chain reaction in a graphite/uranium pile in a squash court under the stands at a defunct football stadium at the University of Chicago. On December 2, 1957, the Shippingport Atomic Power Plant began full power operation. It was the first commercial nuclear power plant built in the US. Shippingport was a public-private partnership with the design and general contracting handled by the same organization that built the Nautilus nuclear powered submarine, Naval Reactors.
Wired has also commemorated this important nuclear technology anniversary.
