Argonne’s Nuclear Science and Technology Legacy

Historical News Releases

News releases about Argonne’s nuclear science and technology history.

• Fermi facts, fables: Colleagues and friends share memories Reprinted from Argonne Logos - Winter 2002
  ARGONNE, Ill. (Winter, 2002)—One of the highlights at Argonne's "Symposium Celebrating the 100th Birthday of Enrico Fermi and His Contribution to the Development of Nuclear Power" in 2002 was a stream of Fermi stories from his colleagues and admirers. More »

• Passively safe reactors rely on nature to keep them cool Reprinted from Argonne Logos - Winter 2002
  ARGONNE, Ill. (Winter, 2002)—Imagine a nuclear power plant so safe that even the worst emergencies would not damage the core or release radioactivity. And imagine that this is achieved not with specially engineered emergency systems, but through the laws of nature and behavior inherent in the reactor's materials and design. This goal, known in the nuclear industry as "passive safety," is pursued and even claimed by a number of reactor concepts. Argonne's advanced fast reactor (AFR) has demonstrated its passive safety conclusively on a working prototype. More »

• Early Argonne reactor lit the way for worldwide nuclear industry
  ARGONNE, Ill. (Dec. 20, 1996)—Forty-five years ago today, a nuclear reactor produced useful electricity for the first time. It was barely enough to power a simple string of four 100-watt light bulbs, but the 16 scientists and engineers—all staff members of Argonne National Laboratory, which designed and built the reactor—recorded their historic achievement by chalking their names on the wall beside the generator. More »
• Maria Goeppert Mayer is role model for women scientists
  ARGONNE, Ill. (Dec. 13, 1996)—While working at Argonne National Laboratory in 1948, physicist Maria Goeppert Mayer developed the explanation of how neutrons and protons within atomic nuclei are structured. Called the "nucelar shell model," her work explains why the nuclei of some atoms are more stable than others and why some elements have many different atomic forms, called "isotopes," while others do not. For this work, she shared the 1963 Nobel Prize in physics. More »
• Mysterious little particle has long Argonne history
  ARGONNE, Ill. (Nov. 13, 1996)—How small is "small"? A particle that barely exists, as humans measure existence, is so remarkably small that trillions pass through our bodies every second with no effect. That particle is the neutrino, and its history has long been intertwined with that of Argonne National Laboratory. More »
• International School focused on peaceful uses of nuclear energy
  ARGONNE, Ill. (Oct. 12, 1996)—In December of 1953, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, in an effort to promote international scientific cooperation, proposed an "Atoms for Peace" program to the United Nations General Assembly. He offered other nations help from the United States in harnessing the power of nuclear energy for peaceful uses. More »
• Research helps safeguard nuclear workers worldwide
  ARGONNE, Ill. (Aug. 3, 1996)—A small facility at Argonne National Laboratory played a big role in safeguarding people around the world who work with radioactive materials at nuclear power plants, hospitals and laboratories.More »
• Patent on world's first reactor was a long time coming
  ARGONNE, Ill. (May 18, 1996)—Their names are the stuff of legend: Eli Whitney, Samuel Morse, Alexander Graham Bell, Enrico Fermi. Their inventions -- the cotton gin, the telegraph, the telephone, and the nuclear reactor -- have been compared to the discoveries of fire and the wheel in their impact on human history. More »
• Chicago Pile reactors create enduring research legacy
  ARGONNE, Ill. (March 20, 1996)—Next September 21, Argonne National Laboratory will open its gates to 20,000-plus visitors to show off its scientific and educational programs. But the laboratory's first open house, held March 20, 1954, brought some 2,300 people -- mostly employees and their families -- to the laboratory to tour Chicago Pile 5 (CP-5), the nation's newest nuclear reactor. More »
• The Nautilus submarine reactor
  ARGONNE, Ill. (Jan. 21, 1996)—Forty-two years ago, on Jan. 21, 1954, the culmination of one of Argonne National Laboratory's most important early research projects slid down a ramp into the icy waters off Groton, Conn. -- the U.S.S. Nautilus, the world's first atomic-powered submarine. Today, descendants of the revolutionary nuclear reactor aboard the Nautilus provide electricity to homes and businesses around the world. More »

• The civilians take charge of nuclear energy
  ARGONNE, Ill. (Jan. 1, 1996)—Argonne National Laboratory celebrates its 50th anniversary in 1996, but it was actually a key presidential decision 49 New Years Eves ago that shaped the future of Argonne and the entire national laboratory system. More »

Last Modified: Wed, September 25, 2013 9:19 PM