Chicago Pile-1 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 a team that
Nuclear Reactor Operator Badge Nuclear Reactor Operator Badge The Nuclear Reactor Operator Badge is a decoration of the United States Army which was issued between the years of 1965 and 1990. In 1991, the decoration was declared obsolete by Army Regulation 600-8-22, but uniform regulations permit the continued wearing of badges awarded before then. The Nuclear Reactor Operator Badge is worn above the ribbons over the left pocket flap of the Army uniform, in the same position as the Parachutist Badge. The Nuclear Reactor Operator Badge was first authorized on June 18, 1965. The badge was issued in four degrees; the basic badge was