{c}
{tag=Nuclear reactor}
{title2=1942-12-02}
{wiki}

= Chicago Pile
{c}
{synonym}

The first human-made <nuclear chain reaction>.

\Video[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnScq24BEmc]
{title=Getting funding for the <Chicago Pile> <Edward Teller> interview by <Web of Stories> (1996)}
{description=
* https://youtu.be/mnScq24BEmc?t=114 the main cost for the reactor was the <graphite>. Presumably they already had the <uranium> in hand?. Edit, no, it is because it was a specialized graphite: <video German graphite from The Genius Behind the Bomb (1992)>, i.e. <nuclear graphite>.
}

\Video[https://youtu.be/OgT-Gw6Pjz4?t=1208]
{title=<German> <graphite> from The Genius Behind the Bomb (1992)}
{description=Graphite was expensive because it had to be <boron>-free, since <boron> absorbs <neutrons>. But a <boron> process was the main way to make <graphite>. This type of pure graphite is known as <nuclear graphite>.}


Chicago Pile-1

\Image[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/U235_Fission_cross_section.png]
{title=<Uranium-235> <neutron cross section> as a function of neutron energy}

\Image[https://web.archive.org/web/20240511185922im_/https://files.mtstatic.com/site_7337/56288/0?Expires=1715457562&Signature=gcqcBZOnS9aiS2uax2iwMp~mPDecQvybtyWdto5xaB0vftB10CbHkqMwkq8iDKjHWuNpZd8~yPu7a162Z4izasAGJE81S2ouVeQOZxIkEG7No-ErP1fnlhfjU4iT1UA5E~RCKy~wUDbKSEdPGS85SP69oi95dvRbjvOWfZgh05M_&Key-Pair-Id=APKAJ5Y6AV4GI7A555NA]
{title=<Neutron cross section> for various <uranium isotopes>}
{source=https://eng.libretexts.org/Sandboxes/jhalpern/Energy_Alternatives/04%3A_Nuclear_Power/4.06%3A_Controlling_the_Fission_Chain_Reaction-_Nuclear_Reactors/4.6.01%3A_Essential_Cross_Sections}

\Image[https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3a/Neutroncrosssectionboron-ru.svg]
{title=<Neutron cross section> of two isotopes of <Boron> as a function of <neutron> speed}


Ciro Santilli @cirosantilli 36

 Incoming links: Boron