Oak Ridge National Laboratory was completed, later renamed to "Oak Ridge National Laboratory". The site was chosen for the X-10 Graphite Reactor, used to show that plutonium can be created from enriched uranium. Enrico Fermi and his colleagues developed the world's second self-sustaining nuclear reactor after Fermi's previous experiment, the Chicago Pile-1. The X-10 was the first reactor designed for continuous operation. After the end of World War II the demand for weapons-grade plutonium fell and the reactor and the laboratory's 1000 employees were no longer involved in nuclear weapons. Instead, it was used for scientific research. In 1946 the first medical isotopes were
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