Chicago Pile-1 final uranium slugs. Chicago Pile-1 Chicago Pile-1 (CP-1) was the world's first nuclear reactor. On 2 December 1942, the first human-made self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction was initiated in CP-1, during an experiment led by Enrico Fermi. The reactor's development was part of the Manhattan Project, the Allied effort to create atomic bombs during World War II. It was built by the Metallurgical Laboratory at the University of Chicago, under the west viewing stands of the original Stagg Field. Fermi described the apparatus as "a crude pile of black bricks and wooden timbers". The reactor was assembled in November 1942, by
RA-1 Enrico Fermi used for research and teaching. RA-1 Enrico Fermi RA-1 Enrico Fermi is a research reactor in Argentina and the first nuclear reactor to be built in that country. Construction started April 1957, with first criticality 17 January 1958. It produced the first medical and industrial radioisotopes made in Argentina, and was used to train staff for the first two nuclear power stations there. It is a pool type, with enriched uranium oxide fuel (20% U-235), light water coolant and moderator, and a graphite reflector. It produces 40 kilowatts of thermal energy at full authorised power. It has been modernised on