Oak Ridge X-10: 1942- Ushering in the Atomic Age

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,“In December the first sustained, controlled nuclear chain reaction is demonstrated at Chicago Pile I at the University of Chicago. Uranium nuclei fission, sustaining heat-generating nuclear chain reactions. Enrico Fermi leads the team, which includes Eugene Wigner and Alvin Weinberg, future ORNL directors.”

At upper right is a photograph of a group of men standing on a platform overlooking a large structure made of blocks. Below that are portraits of the three team members, Fermi, Wigner, and Weinberg.

Text on the lower half of the panel reads,“The X-10 reactor pilot plant in Oak Ridge is planned to demonstrate the feasibility of scaled-up production and separation of plutonium from uranium. Fermi is chosen as manager of the Graphite Reactor project. DuPont agrees to build the X-10 pilot plant and six plutonium production reactors (designed by Wigner) at Hanford, Washington.”

To the right of the text is a photograph showing a view across a plant area with buildings in the background and a tall smokestack. At the bottom of the panel there is an aerial photograph of the X-10 industrial area tucked into the valley between two ridges, the area filled with plant buildings and dotted with tall smokestacks.