Energy · Recorded milestone
First nuclear reactor
Recorded year1942
Chicago Pile-1, led by Enrico Fermi, achieves the first self-sustaining chain reaction.
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Led to
- Atomic bombRecorded · 1945enables
- Master-slave remote armRecorded · 1949enables
- Nuclear power plantRecorded · 1954enables
- Nuclear submarineRecorded · 1954enables
- Sterile insect techniqueRecorded · 1954enables
- Food irradiationRecorded · 1958enables
- Radioisotope power generatorRecorded · 1961enables
- Home smoke detectorRecorded · 1969requires
- Nuclear clock transitionRecorded · 2024requires
- Nuclear reactor on the MoonForecast · ~2032enables
Sources & evidence
Dataset updated 2026-10-18. This individual record has not been separately re-reviewed.