In what city was the first nuclear reactor built?

CrazeeTracy

Chicago http://www.bartleby.com/59/19/fermienrico.html Fermi, Enrico An American physicist of the twentieth century, born in Italy. Fermi built the first nuclear reactor in the 1940s under the stands of a football field at the University of Chicago. [Added text from the reference link - McG] Dec 13 07, 7:51 AM

McGruff

I would agree with Chicago for an exact answer to the question, but if you're looking for the first reactor to actually generate electrical power, I'd have to go with Obninsk. The Russian Nuclear Power Ministry (Minatom) shut down the world's first nuclear reactor in Obinsk earlier this week and announced plans to turn the 48-year-old nuclear relic into a museum, Ministry officials told Bellona Tuesday. The plant in Obninsk, a small town 60 miles south of Moscow, was unveiled by the Soviet government on June 27th 1954 as the first nuclear generator of electric power. It was dubbed AM-1, AM being the Russian-language acronym for "peaceful atom." "(Obninsk) is not only the world's first nuclear power station, but the first one to be taken out of service correctly," Shingaryov told Bellona, suggesting the Obninsk shutdown would set the standard for future closures. Minatom spokesman Yury Bespalko further added that the 5-megawatt reactor no longer served any scientific or technological purpose, Itar-TASS reported. When it first went on line, the Obninsk reactor helped Soviet scientists research the possibility of propelling submarines with nuclear power. Military research continued for years, although the plant also provided for local power needs. The small government-funded, water-cooled reactor had not produced electricity since 1968, but was still used for experiments and to warm the town's centrally distributed hot water supply. Charles Digges, 02/05-2002 http://bellona.no/bellona.org/english_import_area/international/russia/npps/24072 Dec 13 07, 11:11 AM

McGruff

Chicago Pile-1 (CP-1) was the world's first artificial nuclear reactor. CP-1 was built on a racquets court, under the abandoned west stands of the original Alonzo Stagg Field stadium, at the University of Chicago. The first artificial, self-sustaining, nuclear chain reaction was initiated within CP-1, on December 2, 1942. On December 2, 1942, CP-1 was ready for a demonstration. Before a group of dignitaries, a young scientist named George Weil worked the final control rod while Fermi carefully monitored the neutron activity. The pile went critical at 3:20 p.m. Fermi shut it down 33 minutes later. Operation of CP-1 was terminated in February 1943. The reactor was then dismantled and moved to Red Gate Woods, the former site of Argonne National Laboratory, where it was reconstructed using the original materials, plus an enlarged radiation shield, and renamed Chicago Pile-2 (CP-2). CP-2 began operation in March 1943 and was later buried at the same site, now known as the Site A/Plot M Disposal Site. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Pile-1 Dec 13 07, 11:12 AM