What slowed the growth of the industry? Scientists admit that nuclear energy has always suffered from an image issue. The blue glow in the core of the Laboratory’s Omega West Reactor is a characteristic of Cherenkov radiation, which occurs when electrically charged particles travel faster than light through water. The oldest commercial reactor, located in New York, began operation in December 1969. The newest reactors, which are in Georgia, began operation in July 2023, but most reactors are older, with an average age of 42 years. As of August 1, 2023, the United States had 93 operating commercial nuclear reactors at 54 nuclear power plants in 28 states. electricity generation from 1990 through 2021. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reports that nuclear reactors were responsible for only 19–20 percent of the total annual U.S. The decades of declineĪlthough the nuclear industry started off strong in the United States, that growth soon plateaued.

During the 1960s and ’70s, more than 100 commercial reactors went into operation in the United States. In 1955, the Atomic Energy Commission announced a program to develop nuclear power plants. Navy operates a nuclear-powered submarine program today. In 1954, the United States used the same approach to launch the first nuclear-powered submarine, and the U.S. After the war, in 1951, an experimental reactor in Idaho generated the first electricity from nuclear energy. At the same time, scientists were exploring the energy applications of nuclear fission. Nuclear reactors constructed during the Manhattan Project were used to produce the uranium and plutonium that would eventually go into the Fat Man and Little Boy atomic bombs. The reactor operated until 1992.īuilt in 1942 at the University of Chicago, the first fission reactor, called Chicago Pile-1, generated the first self-sustaining fission reaction. Completed in 1956, the Omega West Reactor was initially used to support the Lab’s weapons work. The reactor core (where the fissions take place) must be kept cool or the nuclear fuel will overheat and melt. The fission creates heat, and the power plant uses that heat to turn water into steam, which then turns a turbine to produce electricity. Currently, all commercial nuclear reactors (called light-water or conventional reactors) built in the United States use uranium dioxide as fuel with water as a moderator that helps slow down the neutrons produced by fission. Nuclear power plants transform the energy that the reactors release into electricity. Nuclear reactors contain and control the nuclear fission process while releasing heat at a controlled rate. When each atom splits, a tremendous amount of energy is released. Additional neutrons are also released during the collision, which initiates a chain reaction of splitting atoms-or fissions.

“Nuclear power is essential for producing affordable clean energy.” What is nuclear fission?įission takes place when a neutron slams into a larger atom, splitting the larger atom into two smaller atoms. “The Lab’s ability to make new types of reactor fuel and work with industry to build efficient reactor designs will lead to success,” Rao says. These concepts offer the possibility of portable, easy-to-produce reactors that can meet a variety of energy needs-including the possibility of fueling deep-space exploration or powering human habitats on the moon or Mars.

Another key area involves the design of small modular reactors and microreactors. Researchers are uncovering new ways to use the process discovered more than 80 years ago to meet the nation’s energy needs.Ĭurrent work at the Lab involves research into the development of new fuels and materials for both existing and newly developed nuclear reactors. Today, scientists at Los Alamos are delving into the next generation of nuclear fission breakthroughs. In fact, it dates back to the Manhattan Project, the United States’ secret mission to split the atom, harness its power, and build the world’s first atomic bombs. Research on nuclear fission is not new to Los Alamos. Rao says recent advances in nuclear fission reactor technology, both at the Lab and across the globe, are paving the way for a solution to climate concerns. Rao, the director of Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Civilian Nuclear Program, is optimistic about the future of nuclear energy.

Wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the words, “fission is my mission,” Dasari V. Located at Purdue University’s School of Nuclear Engineering, the PUR-1 nuclear reactor serves a critical role in preparing future nuclear engineers for positions at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

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