History of Nuclear Energy

• First controlled nuclear chain reaction in Chicago, Fermi (1942)

• 1945 Soviet uranium-graphite reactor in Moscow

• WW II ends and prospect for int’l control of atomic energy arises

• Atoms for Peace - Eisenhower

• Great hope for nuclear energy; in 1950s nuclear was “too cheap to meter”

• 1957 IAEA formed

• Enthusiasm lasted into the 1970s

• - Environmental movement

• - Proliferation concerns grow

• - Three Mile Island, 1979

• - Deregulation of power generation in 1990s