Important Nuclear Energy Historical Events

Over time there have been many developments and discoveries that lead to the birth of nuclear energy and today we will be talking a little bit about some of the most important events. Each and every single one of these events changed the face of nuclear energy and had a global impact on the industry.

First up: the discovery of Uranium. In 1789, Martin Klaproth, a German chemist, discovered the element Uranium. Building off this discovery came Wilhelm Rontgen who in 1895 figured out how to ionize radiation. 1934, physicist Enrico Fermi really set things off by discovering fission. Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassman continued their experiments and with the help of Lisa Meitner, they proved that the lost mass changed to energy thus proving the existence of fission as well as confirming Einstein's work that E=mc^2 or that energy equals mass times the speed of light squared.

Once it was proved possible, in 1942 scientists led by Fermi began the construction of the world's first nuclear reactor also known as Chicago Pile-1. Developments continued to occur after, however most studies were focused on developing weapons for use in World War II. The Manhattan Project focused on making reactors that could produce materials that were more fissionable than the resources they had prior.

Man poses next to a device developed in the Manhattan Project

After the war, nuclear research became more sustained by peaceful motivations. The major goal became to create electricity using nuclear energy. In the 1970's and 1980's growth slowed as demand for electricity decreased and concerns stemming from prior events lead to a fear over reactor safety, waste disposal, and other environmental concerns. One major event that led to fear was the use of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Many saw the aftermaths and the sheer devastation that nuclear radiation could cause if not used and treated correctly which led to many spurring the general use of nuclear energy in general, not just atomic weapons.

Overhead view of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Reactors

Another tragic event that occurred was in Pennsylvania. 1979, the Three Mile Island accident occurred. A cooling malfunction resulted in a partial meltdown of a nuclear reactor which lead to radioactive gases and iodine to be released into the atmosphere. This was the worst accident in the U.S. commercial nuclear power plant history and hastened the decline in nuclear power plant construction and lead to a lot of fear regarding nuclear power plants.

With a lot of negativities surrounding nuclear energy, it really was unfortunate that only 7 years later in 1986, the Chernobyl disaster struck. A nuclear reactor in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine exploded. This explosion was huge and had devastating effects, and wasn't just an issue mechanically wise, but also was an error of mismanagement as well. Due to this tragic event, it resulted in a conference called the Convention on Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident which resulted in a treaty promising to provide notification to affected states of nuclear/radiation accidents. It also led to the creation of different agencies with the goal of specifically dealing with nuclear radiation, one such agency being the German Federal Environment Agency.

Photo of Chernobyl (Post Meltdown) from afar

The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan was another accident that was on the same scale as Chernobyl. In 2011, a 9.1 magnitude earthquake and tsunami hit Japan and disabled the plant's power supply and cooling systems. Without the cooling, the fuel rods overheated and partially melted down resulting in radioactive material being released into the area and countless amounts of people being exposed. This disaster led to more attention towards the potential affects that natural disasters can have on power plants as well as providing a new factor to consider when doing nuclear plant risk assessments as well as just in general for plant operators and regulators to keep in mind.

All of these events, both good and bad, ultimately are the foundation of nuclear energy. These events helped us learn lessons as well pushed us backwards and forwards. Today, all though some of these tragic events caused fear and chaos, learning the reasons and factors that led to the tragic event is an important thing to do in order to improve and progress.