The History of Nuclear Energy in the US

The History of Nuclear Energy in the US started with Ernest Rutherford who split the atom in 1917 and his research team continued with attempts to split the nuclei of the atom using a particle accelerator. James Chadwick discovered the neutron in 1932 and Enrico Fermi successfully achieved nuclear fission. In 1938 German and Austrian scientists worked on fission even further.

The first USA man-made reactor was developed in 1942 and was called Chicago Pile-1. It later became a part of the Manhattan Project that was responsible for the creation of nuclear weapons named little boy and fat man that were used to attack Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan putting an end to World War Two. After World War Two there was concern that these types of weapons would be increasingly produced and the memory of the horrors that occurred in Japan led to strict government controls.

In 1951 a reactor in Idaho was used to generate electricity, it had a partial meltdown and then President Harry Truman opted to shift research to solar power as he did not have a favorable view of this alternative source of power's potential. In 1953 President Dwight Eisenhower gave his dictum on Atoms of Peace. He called for peaceful creation of this type of power worldwide.

This was the point in government when backing for this alternative power grew to international proportions. Reactors were being built in the UK and the U. S. Navy was the first branch of the military to harness power for use operationally on naval ships. The 20th century saw an increased opposition to the use of this alternative source. In the oil crisis of the 1970's, this method of power was preferred but dangerous meltdowns created for in the world. Fossil fuel costs fell in the 1980's and the demand was lowered for alternative sources of energy.

The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament grew among protest groups. The History of Nuclear Energy in the US raised concerns with regards to the effects on human health and safety. Growing fears from the Cold War escalated due to the possibility of the military using these weapons, enough to destroy our planet. When the Three Mile Island accident occurred in 1979 and the disaster in Chernobyl in 1986 these led to a re-assessment of this form of energy and investigations began into alternative energy sources.

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