Contemporary sketch of the atomic pile in Chicago in which the first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction occurred on December 2, 1942. The pile was

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Contemporary sketch of the atomic pile in Chicago in which the first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction occurred on December 2, 1942. The pile was built by a team led by the Italian physicist Enrico Fermi in a squash court under the stands of Chicago University's Stagg Field. The pile consisted of a complex lattice of bricks of graphite & \slugs\" of uranium. It was encased in a tent of balloon fabric to minimise the loss of neutrons from the pile. Demonstration of a self- sustaining chain reaction was a vital experiment in the Manhattan Project, the American programme to build the first atomic bomb."

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Size: 4758px × 3669px
Photo credit: © ARGONNE NATIONAL LABORATORY/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: atomic, bomb, chain, early, energy, fermi, field, historical, manhattan, nuclear, pile, power, project, reaction, research, stagg, technology, weapon, weapons