Nuclear reactor lower than had previously been thought. The memorandum was a product of the MAUD Committee, which was working on the UK atomic bomb project, known as Tube Alloys, later to be subsumed within the Manhattan Project. Eventually, the first artificial nuclear reactor, Chicago Pile-1, was constructed at the University of Chicago, by a team led by Italian physicist Enrico Fermi, in late 1942. By this time, the program had been pressured for a year by U.S. entry into the war. The Chicago Pile achieved criticality on 2 December 1942 at 3:25 PM. The reactor support structure was made of wood,
Enrico Fermi Nuclear Generating Station "We Almost Lost Detroit", was written by local Detroit newsman John Grant Fuller (subtitled "This Is Not A Novel" to point out that it was not a work of fiction). The song "We Almost Lost Detroit", by Gil Scott-Heron is also about the Fermi 1 meltdown. Fermi 2 is a 1,198 MWe General Electric boiling water reactor owned and operated by DTE Energy. Plans to build were announced in July 1968. Initial criticality was achieved in July 1985, and full commercial operation commenced on January 23, 1988. The reactor vessel holds 764 fuel assemblies and 185 control rods which modulate