"M Disposal Site. Chicago Pile-1 (CP-1), the world's first nuclear reactor, was moved from Stagg Field to this site in 1943 and renamed Chicago Pile-2 (CP-2). The remains of CP-1, CP-2, and Chicago Pile-3 (CP-3) remain buried at this site. Playland Amusement Park, now defunct, opened in mid-summer of 1950 and was located in Willow Springs, Illinois, which at that time was unincorporated. The area is now in Justice, Illinois. The amusement park was located at 9300 West 79th Street in Willow Springs. Southwest of Lemont, Archer passes Cog Hill Golf & Country Club, site of numerous Professional Golfers Association"
"the Chicago Pile 1 (CP-1) generated the first controlled nuclear reaction. This controlled release of energy from the nucleus of the atom enabled development of a method to obtain nuclear fuel for the first atomic weapons. His experience made him one of the experts on the chemistry of radioactive elements in the field of applied nuclear fission. Since he was single and in possession of high expertise, project managers transferred him around the nation to help resolve bottlenecks. He was one of the select group with knowledge of the separate components of the project, kept separate for security reasons. He"
"Chicago Pile-3 Chicago Pile-3 (CP-3) was the first heavy water reactor in the world, going critical on 15 May 1944. It was used in the experimental physics work of the Metallurgical Laboratory for the Manhattan Project. CP-3 was in operation from 1943–54 and was built near Palos Hills, Illinois on the former (i.e., original) site of Argonne National Laboratory. The site is now known as the Site A/Plot M Disposal Site and is situated within Red Gate Woods, part of the Cook County Forest Preserve system. CP-3 was initially fueled with natural uranium and used heavy water as a neutron"
"power – about one-half watt. The shape of the pile was intended to be roughly spherical, but as work proceeded, Fermi calculated that critical mass could be achieved without finishing the entire pile as planned. In 1943, CP-1 was moved to Red Gate Woods, and reconfigured to become Chicago Pile-2 (CP-2). There, it was operated until 1954, when it was dismantled and buried. The stands at Stagg Field were demolished in August 1957; the site is now a National Historic Landmark and a Chicago Landmark. The idea of chemical chain reactions was first suggested in 1913 by the German chemist"
"1942, CP-1's power output was increased to 200 W, enough to power a light bulb. Lacking shielding of any kind, it was a radiation hazard for everyone in the vicinity. Thereafter, testing was continued at the lower power of 0.5 W. The operation of Chicago Pile-1 was terminated on 28 February 1943. It was dismantled and moved to Argonne, where the original materials were used to build Chicago Pile-2 (CP-2). Instead of being spherical, the new reactor was built in a cube-like shape, about tall with a base approximately square. It was surrounded by concrete walls thick that acted as"
"Chicago Pile-5 Chicago Pile-5 (CP-5) was the last of the line of Chicago Pile research reactors which started with CP-1 in 1942. The first reactor built on the Argonne National Laboratory-East site, it operated from 1954-1979. CP-5 was a thermal-neutron reactor using enriched uranium as fuel and heavy water as coolant and as a neutron moderator. It produced neutrons for use in research. The reactor had an output rating of 5 megawatts. Cleanup and decommissioning of the site of CP-5 was started in 1991 completed in 2000. The cleanup process included removal of all contaminated equipment and spent fuel, decontamination"
"received designation as a National Historic Landmark on February 18, 1965 and was added to the newly created National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) on October 15, 1966 as one of the original designated historic places. Chicago Pile-1 is one of four Chicago NRHPs on the original list. The site was named a Chicago Landmark on October 27, 1971. Four plaques are placed on a nearby granite wall marking the site. The oldest plaque was originally placed in 1947 on the wall of the old stadium, while the other plaques mark the installation of the sculpture and the historic designations"
"the reactor had pipes, valves, and building debris placed inside and was then filled with concrete. The 800-ton shell was buried on the site in a deep pit. Today, a historical marker commemorates the site of CP-3 and its sister reactor CP-1/CP-2. Chicago Pile-3 Chicago Pile-3 (CP-3) was the first heavy water reactor in the world, going critical on 15 May 1944. It was used in the experimental physics work of the Metallurgical Laboratory for the Manhattan Project. CP-3 was in operation from 1943–54 and was built near Palos Hills, Illinois on the former (i.e., original) site of Argonne National"
"of the reactor vessel and associated plumbing, and removal of the spent fuel pool, reactor internals and the hot cell liner. The accessible areas of the structure have been certified as having radiation levels equivalent to background radiation. Chicago Pile-5 Chicago Pile-5 (CP-5) was the last of the line of Chicago Pile research reactors which started with CP-1 in 1942. The first reactor built on the Argonne National Laboratory-East site, it operated from 1954-1979. CP-5 was a thermal-neutron reactor using enriched uranium as fuel and heavy water as coolant and as a neutron moderator. It produced neutrons for use in"
"from Fermi to build the pile under the stands at Stagg Field. Construction of the reactor, known as Chicago Pile-1 (CP-1), began on the morning of 16 November 1942. The work was carried out in twelve-hour shifts, with a day shift under Zinn and a night shift under Anderson. When completed, the wooden frame supported an elliptical-shaped structure, high, wide at the ends and across the middle. It contained of uranium metal, of uranium oxide and of graphite, at an estimated cost of $2.7 million. On 2 December 1942, it achieved the first controlled self-sustaining nuclear reaction. On 12 December"
"was responsible for its design. In September 1942, the Metallurgical Laboratory became part of the Army Manhattan Project. Construction of the reactor, which became known as Chicago Pile-1 (CP-1), commenced in November 1942, under the West Stands of the University of Chicago's disused Stagg Field. CP-1 was ready on December 2, 1942; Weil worked the final control rod, while Fermi monitored the neutron activity. The pile went critical at 15:36, initiating the first man-made, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction. Fermi shut it down 28 minutes later, by having the control rods re-inserted. Weil continued to work in reactor development and in"
"a radiation shield, and with overhead protection from of lead and of wood. More uranium was used, so it contained of uranium and of graphite. No cooling system was provided as it only ran at a few kilowatts. CP-2 became operational in March 1943. A second reactor, known as Chicago Pile-3, or CP-3, was built at the Argonne site in early 1944. This was the world's first reactor to use heavy water as a neutron moderator. It had been unavailable when CP-1 was built, but was now becoming available in quantity thanks to the Manhattan Project's P-9 Project. The reactor"
"University of Chicago was building the world's first nuclear reactor called ""Chicago Pile-1"" as part of the Manhattan Project. This would have required an enormous number of graphite blocks and uranium pallets. At the time, there was a limited source of pure uranium. Frank Spedding of Iowa State University was able to produce only two short tons of pure uranium. However, a larger quantity of additional uranium metal was required for the pile to go critical. Around that time, Westinghouse Lamp Plant was able to supply a small amount of pure uranium metal. By 1941, there was an order for"
"lower than had previously been thought. The memorandum was a product of the MAUD Committee, which was working on the UK atomic bomb project, known as Tube Alloys, later to be subsumed within the Manhattan Project. Eventually, the first artificial nuclear reactor, Chicago Pile-1, was constructed at the University of Chicago, by a team led by Italian physicist Enrico Fermi, in late 1942. By this time, the program had been pressured for a year by U.S. entry into the war. The Chicago Pile achieved criticality on 2 December 1942 at 3:25 PM. The reactor support structure was made of wood,"
"These discoveries led numerous countries to begin working on the development of nuclear weapons and nuclear power. On 2 December 1942, as part of the Manhattan Project, another team led by Enrico Fermi was able to initiate the first artificial self-sustained nuclear chain reaction, Chicago Pile-1. An initial plan using enriched uranium-235 was abandoned as it was as yet unavailable in sufficient quantities. Working in a lab below the stands of Stagg Field at the University of Chicago, the team created the conditions needed for such a reaction by piling together 400 short tons (360 metric tons) of graphite, 58"
"from a uranium oxide lattice. This raised hopes that pure uranium would yield a suitable value of k. By December 1942, Zinn and Anderson had the new configuration ready at Stagg Field. Some long, wide and high, it contained of graphite and of uranium metal and uranium oxide. When the experiment was carried out on the afternoon of December 2, 1942, the reactor, known as Chicago Pile-1, reached criticality without incident. Since the reactor had no radiation shield, it was run at a maximum power of only 200 W, enough to power a light bulb, and ran for only three"
"On December 2, 1942, he was present for the start up of Chicago Pile-1, the world's first nuclear reactor to achieve criticality. Because of fears that the reaction could ""run away"", Hilberry stood ready with an axe to cut the scram line, a manila rope connected to control rods that could quickly shut the reactor down. He was also present for the start-up of the X-10 Graphite Reactor in November 1943, and the reactors at the Hanford Engineer Works the following year. He returned to the Metallurgical Laboratory in Chicago in 1945. Hilberry became assistant director of the Metallurgical Laboratory"
"graphite. A paper based on Anderson's PhD thesis, ""Resonance Capture of Neutrons by Uranium"", for security reasons, was not published until 10 years later. When, as part of the Manhattan Project, the Metallurgical Laboratory (Met Lab) was started up at the University of Chicago, in February 1942, Fermi and Anderson, along with Walter Henry Zinn from Columbia, became leaders in the design and construction of Chicago Pile-1 (CP-1), which achieved the first manmade nuclear chain reaction on December 2, 1942. Thereafter, Anderson led the construction of CP-2 at Argonne National Laboratory in 1943. He was also a key consultant to"
"his calculations that the water-cooled reactor would still be able to achieve criticality. From an engineering perspective, a water-cooled design was straightforward to design and build, while helium posed technological problems. Wigner's team produced a preliminary report on water cooling, designated CE-140 in April 1942, followed by a more detailed one, CE-197, titled ""On a Plant with Water Cooling"", in July 1942. Fermi's Chicago Pile-1 reactor, constructed under the west viewing stands of the original Stagg Field at the University of Chicago, ""went critical"" on December 2, 1942. This graphite-moderated reactor only generated up to 200 W, but it demonstrated"
"United States Army Corps of Engineers assumed control of the nuclear weapons program and Compton's Metallurgical Laboratory became part of the Manhattan Project. That month, Compton gave Robert Oppenheimer responsibility for bomb design. It fell to Compton to decide which of the different types of reactor designs that the Metallurgical Laboratory scientists had devised should be pursued, even though a successful reactor had not yet been built. When labor disputes delayed construction of the Metallurgical Laboratory's new home in the Red Gate Woods, Compton decided to build Chicago Pile-1, the first nuclear reactor, under the stands at Stagg Field. Under"
"nuclear reaction in the Chicago Pile-1, Enrico Fermi's famous first critial nuclear reactor. Wilcox P. Overbeck Wilcox Pratt Overbeck (1912–1980) was an electrical and nuclear engineer who built instrumentation for the first nuclear reactor, the Chicago Pile-1, and went on to work at other United States Department of Energy national laboratories. He also worked with Vannevar Bush at MIT on the Rapid Arithmetic Machine. A one-hot ring counter is sometimes referred to as an ""Overbeck ring""; he patented such a device made with a multi-anode vacuum tube in 1943. At the Met Lab in Chicago, he used such counters to"
"it had 2,008 staff. Chicago Pile-1 was soon moved by the lab to a more remote site in the Argonne Forest, where its original materials were used to build an improved Chicago Pile-2. Another reactor, Chicago Pile-3, was built at the Argonne site in early 1944. This was the world's first reactor to use heavy water as a neutron moderator. It went critical in May 1944, and was first operated at full power in July 1944. The Metallurgical Laboratory also designed the X-10 Graphite Reactor at the Clinton Engineer Works in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and the B Reactor at the"
"as the location for part of the Manhattan Project. Shortly after the December 1942 demonstration of the first self-sustaining chain reaction at the University of Chicago, the research group led by Enrico Fermi needed to move to the larger, more remote laboratory campus. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had leased from the Forest Preserve District of Cook County, and placed the wartime reactor laboratory on within the forest. The first reactor, CP-1, was disassembled and moved to Site A in March 1943, renamed as Chicago Pile 2. In May 1944 the laboratory first operated a second, heavy water-moderated reactor,"
"the uranium metal of 10 kilograms which was considered an enormous amount. The plant ramped up the production using makeshift equipment including metal garbage cans from a local market to use in the process. The order was fulfilled within a couple of months. By early 1942, there was another order from Arthur H. Compton of the Metallurgical Laboratory for three short tons of the uranium metal for the Chicago Pile-1. The project was done in secrecy by not revealing any connection of the work there to the ongoing research on the nuclear reaction. To avoid leaking of information about the"
"No cooling system was provided as it only ran at a few kilowatts. CP-2 became operational in March 1943, with a ""k"" of 1.055. During the war Zinn allowed CP-2 to be run around the clock, and its design was suitable for conducting experiments. CP-2 was joined by Chicago Pile-3, the first heavy water reactor, which went critical on 15 May 1944. The reactors were used to undertake research related to weapons, such as investigations of the properties of tritium. Wartime experiments included measuring the neutron absorption cross-section of elements and compounds. Albert Wattenberg recalled that about 10 elements were"
"Chicago Pile-1 at the university, the first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction was achieved under the direction of Enrico Fermi in the 1940s. Other four-year educational institutions there are the Illinois Institute of Technology, St. Xavier University, Chicago State University, Illinois College of Optometry and Shimer College. The South Side also hosts community colleges such as Olive-Harvey College, Kennedy-King College and Richard J. Daley College. Chicago Public Schools operates the public schools on the South Side, including DuSable High School, Simeon Career Academy, John Hope College Prep High School and Phillips Academy High School. The De La Salle Institute, located in"
"by Goodyear Tire to encase the reactor. On 2 December 1942, a team led by Enrico Fermi initiated the first artificial self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction in an experimental reactor known as Chicago Pile-1. The point at which a reaction becomes self-sustaining became known as ""going critical"". Compton reported the success to Conant in Washington, D.C., by a coded phone call, saying, ""The Italian navigator [Fermi] has just landed in the new world."" In January 1943, Grafton's successor, Major Arthur V. Peterson, ordered Chicago Pile-1 dismantled and reassembled at Red Gate Woods, as he regarded the operation of a reactor as"
"of a self-sustaining nuclear reaction were unknown, so it seemed inadvisable to build the first nuclear reactor on the University of Chicago campus in the middle of the city. Compton found a location in the Argonne Woods Forest Preserve, about from Chicago. Stone & Webster was contracted to develop the site, but the work was halted by an industrial dispute. Fermi then persuaded Compton that he could build the reactor in the squash court under the stands of the University of Chicago's Stagg Field. Construction of the pile began on 6 November 1942, and Chicago Pile-1 went critical on 2"
"by Otto Hahn and his assistant Fritz Strassmann, and proved with Hahn's radiochemical methods. The first artificial self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction (Chicago Pile-1, or CP-1) took place in December 1942 under the leadership of Enrico Fermi. In 1945, the pocketbook ""The Atomic Age"" heralded the untapped atomic power in everyday objects and depicted a future where fossil fuels would go unused. One science writer, David Dietz, wrote that instead of filling the gas tank of your car two or three times a week, you will travel for a year on a pellet of atomic energy the size of a vitamin"
"X-10 Graphite Reactor The X-10 Graphite Reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, formerly known as the Clinton Pile and X-10 Pile, was the world's second artificial nuclear reactor (after Enrico Fermi's Chicago Pile-1), and the first designed and built for continuous operation. It was built during World War II as part of the Manhattan Project. While Chicago Pile-1 demonstrated the feasibility of nuclear reactors, the Manhattan Project's goal of producing enough plutonium for atomic bombs required reactors a thousand times as powerful, along with facilities to chemically separate the plutonium bred in the reactors from uranium"
"Harold Lichtenberger Harold V. Lichtenberger (April 22, 1920 – December 7, 1993) was an American physicist who was involved in the planning of the Chicago Pile-1, the first nuclear reactor to achieve criticality, and in other reactor experiments at the Argonne National Laboratory. Lichtenberger was born in Decatur, Illinois. He graduated from Millikin University with a Bachelor's degree in 1942. During the construction of the Chicago Pile-1, he was part of the team measuring materials, and during testing he, Warren Nyer and Alvin C. Graves made up a ""suicide squadron"" known as the liquid-control squad: if the control rods failed,"
"to be nuclear fission products. Fermi left Italy in 1938 to escape new Italian racial laws that affected his Jewish wife, Laura Capon. He emigrated to the United States, where he worked on the Manhattan Project during World War II. Fermi led the team that designed and built Chicago Pile-1, which went critical on 2 December 1942, demonstrating the first human-created, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction. He was on hand when the X-10 Graphite Reactor at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, went critical in 1943, and when the B Reactor at the Hanford Site did so the next year. At Los Alamos, he"
"the urgency and their confidence in Fermi's calculations, no one objected. Chicago Pile 1 was encased within a balloon so that the air inside could be replaced by carbon dioxide. Anderson had a dark gray balloon manufactured by Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company. A cube-shaped balloon was somewhat unusual, but the Manhattan Project's AAA priority rating ensured prompt delivery with no questions asked. A block and tackle was used to haul it into place, with the top secured to the ceiling and three sides to the walls. The remaining side, the one facing the balcony from which Fermi directed the"