Chicago Pile-1

Chicago Pile-1 (CP-1) was the world's first artificial nuclear reactor. On 2 December 1942, the first human-made self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction was initiated in CP-1, during an experiment led by Enrico Fermi. The reactor's development was part of the Manhattan Project, the Allied effort to create atomic bombs during World War II. It was built by the Metallurgical Laboratory at the University of Chicago, under the west viewing stands of the original Stagg Field. Fermi described the apparatus as "a crude pile of black bricks and wooden timbers".

Ilustración do Chicago Pile-1

The reactor was assembled in November 1942, by a team that included Fermi, Leo Szilard (who had previously formulated an idea for non-fission chain reaction), Herbert L. Anderson, Walter Zinn, Martin D. Whitaker, and George Weil. It contained 45,000 graphite blocks weighing 400 short tons (360 t) used as neutron moderators, and was fueled by 6 short tons (5,4 t) of uranium metal and 50 short tons (45 t) of uranium oxide. In the pile, some of the free neutrons produced by the natural decay of uranium were absorbed by other uranium atoms, causing nuclear fission of those atoms, and the release of additional free neutrons. Unlike most subsequent nuclear reactors, it had no radiation shielding or cooling system as it operated at very low 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.

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Bibliografía

• Allardice, Corbin; Trapnell, Edward R. (December 1982). "The First Pile". The First Reactor (PDF). Oak Ridge, Tennessee: United States Atomic Energy Commission, Division of Technical Information. pp. 1–21. OCLC 22115. 
• Anderson, Herbert L. (1975). "Assisting Fermi". En Wilson, Jane. All In Our Time: The Reminiscences of Twelve Nuclear Pioneers. Chicago: Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. pp. 66–104. OCLC 1982052. 
• Bonolis, Luisa (2001). "Enrico Fermi's Scientific Work". En Bernardini, C.; Bonolis, Luisa. Enrico Fermi: His Work and Legacy. Bologna: Società Italiana di Fisica: Springer. pp. 314–394. ISBN 88-7438-015-1. OCLC 56686431. 
• Compton, Arthur (1956). Atomic Quest. New York: Oxford University Press. OCLC 173307. 
• Fermi, Enrico (December 1982). "Fermi's Own Story". The First Reactor (PDF). Oak Ridge, Tennessee: United States Atomic Energy Commission, Division of Technical Information. pp. 22–26. OCLC 22115. 
• Groves, Leslie (1962). Now It Can Be Told: The Story of the Manhattan Project. New York: Harper. ISBN 0-306-70738-1. OCLC 537684. 
• Jones, Vincent (1985). Manhattan: The Army and the Atomic Bomb. Washington, D.C.: United States Army Center of Military History. OCLC 10913875. 
• Libby, Leona Marshall (1979). The Uranium People. New York: Crane, Russak. ISBN 0-8448-1300-1. OCLC 4665032. 
• Manhattan District (1947). Manhattan District History, Book IV – Pile Project X-10, Volume 2 – Research, Part 1 – Metallurgical Laboratory (PDF). Washington, D.C.: Manhattan District. 
• Nichols, Kenneth D. (1987). The Road to Trinity: A Personal Account of How America's Nuclear Policies Were Made. New York: William Morrow and Company. ISBN 0-688-06910-X. OCLC 15223648. 
• Rhodes, Richard (1986). The Making of the Atomic Bomb. London: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-671-44133-7. 
• Salvetti, Carlo (2001). "The Birth of Nuclear Energy: Fermi's Pile". En Bernardini, C.; Bonolis, Luisa. Enrico Fermi: His Work and Legacy. Bologna: Società Italiana di Fisica: Springer. pp. 177–203. ISBN 88-7438-015-1. OCLC 56686431. 

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