X-10 Reactor, Oak Ridge National Laboratory
About this property
The X-10 Graphite Reactor is a decommissioned nuclear reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Formerly known as the Clinton Pile and X-10 Pile, it was the world's second artificial nuclear reactor (after Enrico Fermi's Chicago Pile-1) and the first intended for continuous operation. It was built during World War II as part of the Manhattan Project. While Chicago Pile-1 demonstrated the feasibility of nuclear reactors, the Manhattan Project's goal of producing enough plutonium for atomic bombs required reactors a thousand times as powerful, along with facilities to chemically separate the plutonium bred in the reactors from uranium and fission products. An intermediate step was considered prudent. The next step for the plutonium project, codenamed X-10, was the construction of a semiworks where techniques and procedures could be developed and training conducted. The centerpiece of this was the X-10 Graphite Reactor. It was air-cooled, used nuclear graphite as a neutron moderator, and pure natural uranium in metal form for fuel. Using designs by the Metallurgical Laboratory, DuPont commenced construction of the plutonium semiworks at the Clinton Engineer Works in Oak Ridge on February 2, 1943. The reactor went critical on November 4, 1943, and produced its first plutonium in early 1944. The reactor and chemical separation plant provided invaluable experience for engineers, technicians, reactor operators, and safety officials who then moved on to the Hanford Site. It supplied the Los Alamos Laboratory with its first significant amounts of plutonium and its first reactor-bred product. Studies of these samples in comparison to those from cyclotrons revealed a higher content of plutonium-240, making the gun-type Thin Man design impossible, leading to the Gadget and Fat Man bombs of the now-ubiquitous implosion-type. X-10 operated as a plutonium production plant until January 1945, when it was turned over to research activities and the production of radioactive isotopes for scientific, medical, industrial and agricultural uses. In August 1948, it became the first nuclear reactor to produce electricity, lighting a single bulb. It was shut down in 1963 and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1965.
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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
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Questions about this property
When was X-10 Reactor, Oak Ridge National Laboratory listed on the National Register?
X-10 Reactor, Oak Ridge National Laboratory was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 14, 1966.
What type of historic resource is X-10 Reactor, Oak Ridge National Laboratory?
X-10 Reactor, Oak Ridge National Laboratory is classified as a structure in the National Register of Historic Places.
Is X-10 Reactor, Oak Ridge National Laboratory a National Historic Landmark?
Yes. X-10 Reactor, Oak Ridge National Laboratory has been designated a National Historic Landmark (NHL), the highest level of federal recognition for historic properties in the United States.
What is the period of significance for X-10 Reactor, Oak Ridge National Laboratory?
The period of significance for X-10 Reactor, Oak Ridge National Laboratory is recorded as the industrial era.
Can I research the history near X-10 Reactor, Oak Ridge National Laboratory?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near X-10 Reactor, Oak Ridge National Laboratory will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
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