Oak Ridge X-10: 1939- The Atomic Age Opens

US DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

The X-10 Graphite Reactor is located on the secure grounds of Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). In-person visitation is only authorized via guided tours.

Text at the top of this panel reads,“Otto Hahn exposes uranium to neutrons at the Technical University of Berlin, Germany, causing the release of neutrons. (He will later win a Nobel Prize in physics for this research.) Lise Meitner realizes that Hahn’s experiment has resulted in nuclear fission.”

To the right of the text is a photograph of Hahn and Meitner standing near work bench in a laboratory. He makes notes on a pad as she watches.

In the middle of the panel more text reads,“When the uranium nucleus captures a neutron, the nucleus splits into smaller parts and releases neutrons and tremendous amounts of energy. This process is called nuclear fission.“The U.S. government fears that Germany might win the race to develop the uranium fission bomb as a weapon in World War II.Nobel Laureate Albert Einstein signs a letter to President Franklin D. Roosevelt asking the U.S. government to develop the fission bomb before Germany does.”

At the bottom of the panel is a photograph of Einstein signing a piece of paper as another man watches.