Timeline and History of Nuclear Energy

The development of the science of nuclear energy was prominently seen in the modern era, around the 20th century. It must be noted that the process of evolution of nuclear physics had already begun in the late 19th century. Uranium was, for the first time, observed and named after the planet Uranus, by noted German scientist, Martin Klaproth, in 1789. Actual experiments on heavy elements, however, did not begin till 1902, when Ernest Rutherford conducted experiments to prove the presence of electrons and protons. Rutherford's theories were promoted in the 1940s by Niels Bohr. In 1911, Frederick Soddy discovered the phenomenon of isotopes in radioactive elements, while in 1932, James Chadwick discovered the neutron.

Nuclear energy in the atomic nucleus was finally discovered and put to use in 1939 by Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassman. Both of them, together, advocated the existence of residual strong force (a force that bounds the nucleus of atoms together). They conducted further experiments to prove that this force could be converted into heat energy, when split by bombarding it with neutrons. These bombarded neutrons would split the atom of heavy elements and also generate additional neutrons, making the process a self-sustained one. This reaction, in the modern era, is termed as nuclear fission. Coincidentally, many of their experiments were based on the theory of Albert Einstein, put forth in 1905.

The theory by Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassman was confirmed experimentally by Frederic Joliot in Paris. In 1939, Francis Perrin developed a way of slowing down the chain reaction by introducing water in the process. He also advocated the theory by Einstein. He suggested that the matter or mass, that needed to be bombarded with neutrons, had to be of a specific weight and volume, and in a pure state, so as to make the chain reaction last for the longest possible time. These developments sparked off a race to develop the concept of nuclear reactors in 1940. Initially, many European nations were involved in the race for nuclear development. The United States, however, accelerated the efforts and in July 1941, two important reports were published, the first one emphasized uranium as a material for a bomb, while the second one emphasized uranium as a source of heat energy through a boiler. Americans, initially, were not interested in manufacturing the bomb, however, the possibility of Germans being in possession of an atomic bomb was frightening, and led the allies to start constructing their own bomb capable of causing damage equivalent to 1,800 tons of TNT.

On the insistence of Prime Minister Winston Churchill, President Roosevelt accelerated the program for development of the bomb. The first nuclear weapon was tested in New Mexico on 16th July 1945. It used plutonium as its explosive fuel. The second bomb tested used U-235, a variant of uranium. The horrifying effects of the bombs were seen on 6th and 9th of August 1945, when they were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan, as a part of World War II. After the second world war, many nations across the world promoted use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. However, during the cold war, countless nuclear weapons were developed in spite of the awareness of the consequences.

Nuclear energy today is used in many different fields, the prominent use being energy production. Use of nuclear energy in most fields, such as defense, is extremely dangerous and carelessness can result in disaster, capable of wiping off a large population of living beings.