Oak Ridge X-10: 1943- Graphite Reactor is Born

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,“Fermi and Arthur Compton (University of Chicago) supervise the loading of uranium fuel at the X-10 pile. Calculations indicate that 50 to 60 tons of uranium slugs must be loaded to start spontaneous fission. After 30 tons are loaded, the control rod is pulled out, the neutron flux is measured, and an assessment is made that the reactor will go critical before dawn during the next fuel loading.”

To the right is a photograph of the loading face of the Graphite Reactor. Tow operators insert a rod into one of the channels. Three more smaller photographs surround that one. At top is a photograph of a man with a receding hairline writing on a chalkboard. The caption reads,“Physicist Enrico Fermi directed the design of the Chicago Pile I and the Graphite Reactor at Oak Ridge.”

To the right is a photograph of workmen standing in front of a building as a crane lifts a sign from a flatbed truck. The sign reads “Monsanto Chemical Company, Clinton Laboratories.” The caption reads,“The new laboratory is called Clinton Laboratories (code-named X-10).”

Below that is a photograph of two men dressed in suits leaning over a piece of equipment on a lab bench. The caption reads,“Arthur Compton and his assistant Richard Doan headed the Metallurgical Laboratory at the University of Chicago. Compton made Doan research director at Clinton Laboratories in 1943.”

Text on the lower half of the panel reads,“Workers begin clearing land and installing utilities for the Graphite Reactor. By August 150 buildings are erected; by October the work is completed. The project employs 3,000 construction workers and costs $12 million.”

At the bottom of the panel is a photograph of a square plant building completely surrounded by five levels of wooden scaffolding. Two smaller photographs to the left show aerial views of the completed reactor building surrounded by numerous other structures spread out over the valley floor.