Timeline of nuclear power

This timeline of nuclear power is an incomplete chronological summary of significant events in the study and use of nuclear power. This is primarily limited to sustained fission and decay processes, and does not include detailed timelines of nuclear weapons development or fusion experiments.

1920s

1925
On February 2, Patrick Blackett publishes experimental results of the first nuclear transmutation, by the bombardment of a nitrogen nucleus with an alpha particle, producing an oxygen-17 nucleus and a proton, at Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge.{{cite journal |last=Blackett |first=Patrick Maynard Stewart |author-link=Patrick Blackett |date=2 February 1925 |title=The Ejection of Protons From Nitrogen Nuclei, Photographed by the Wilson Method |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences |volume=107 |issue=742 |pages=349–360 |bibcode=1925RSPSA.107..349B |doi=10.1098/rspa.1925.0029 |doi-access=free}}

1930s

{{CSS image crop|Image=Leo Szilard reactor.png|cWidth=170|cHeight=240|oTop=70|oLeft=73|bSize=300|Description=Leo Szilard's reactor patent}}

1931
On January 2, Ernest Lawrence and M. Stanley Livingston complete the first cyclotron, a type of circular particle accelerator. This early design is only 4.5 inches in diameter and yields a maximum proton energy of 80 keV.{{cite web |title=The Centennial of The University of California, 1868-1968 |url=https://oac.cdlib.org/view?docId=hb4v19n9zb;NAAN=13030&doc.view=frames&chunk.id=div00569&toc.depth=1&toc.id=div00015&brand=calisphere |access-date=2024-12-26 |website=Online Archive of California}}{{cite web |date=1931-08-03 |title=Lawrence and the Cyclotron |url=https://history.aip.org/exhibits/lawrence/first.htm |access-date=2024-12-26 |website=The First Cyclotrons}}
1932
On January 1, Harold Urey, Ferdinand Brickwedde, and George M Murphy publish the discovery of deuterium. It is spectroscopically identified following separation from a sample of cryogenic liquid hydrogen at Columbia University, New York.{{cite journal |vauthors=Urey H, Brickwedde F, Murphy G |year=1932 |title=A hydrogen isotope of mass 2 |journal=Physical Review |volume=39 |issue=1 |pages=164–165 |bibcode=1932PhRv...39..164U |doi=10.1103/PhysRev.39.164 |doi-access=free}}{{cite magazine |last1=Brickwedde |first1=Ferdinand G. |name-list-style=vanc |year=1982 |title=Harold Urey and the discovery of deuterium |magazine=Physics Today |page=34 |volume=35 |issue=9 |bibcode=1982PhT....35i..34B |doi=10.1063/1.2915259}} Like all nuclei, preceding the discovery of the neutron, it is assumed to be composed entirely of protons and hypothetical "nuclear electrons".
On February 27, James Chadwick publishes the discovery of the neutron, identified as the "beryllium radiation" emitted under alpha-particle bombardment, previously observed by Irène Joliot-Curie and Frédéric Joliot-Curie.{{cite journal |last=Chadwick |first=James |year=1932 |title=Possible Existence of a Neutron |url=https://web.mit.edu/22.54/resources/Chadwick.pdf |url-status=live |journal=Nature |volume=129 |issue=3252 |page=312 |bibcode=1932Natur.129Q.312C |doi=10.1038/129312a0 |s2cid=4076465 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240208065844/https://web.mit.edu/22.54/resources/Chadwick.pdf |archive-date=2024-02-08 |access-date=2023-12-13}}
On April 30, John Cockcroft and Ernest Walton publish the first disintegration of an atomic nucleus, popularly described as splitting the atom. They report the production of two alpha particles from the bombardment of lithium-7 nuclei by protons, using a Cockcroft–Walton generator at the University of Cambridge's Cavendish Laboratory.{{Cite journal |last1=Cockcroft |first1=John |last2=Walton |first2=Ernest |date=April 1932 |title=Disintegration of Lithium by Swift Protons |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/129649a0 |journal=Nature |volume=129 |issue=649 |page=649 |bibcode=1932Natur.129..649C |doi=10.1038/129649a0}} While in lithium this reaction is exothermic, nucleus disintegration is distinct from the undiscovered process of fission, which induces a radioactive decay.
1934
On June 24, Leo Szilard files the first patent for a nuclear reactor. The design, which predates the discovery of fission, resembles an accelerator-driven subcritical reactor, suggesting deuteron beam fusion interacting with indium, beryllium, bromine, or uranium as neutron-rich core materials.L. Szilárd, [http://v3.espacenet.com/textdoc?DB=EPODOC&IDX=GB630726 "Improvements in or relating to the transmutation of chemical elements,"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080621120547/http://v3.espacenet.com/textdoc?DB=EPODOC|date=21 June 2008}} British patent number: GB630726 (filed: 28 June 1934; published: 30 March 1936).
Mikhail Alekseevich Eremeev completes the first cyclotron in the Soviet Union and in Europe, at the Leningrad Physico-Technical Institute. It is a small design based a prototype by Lawrence, with a 28 cm diameter capable of achieving 530 keV proton energies.{{cite web |title=Курчатов в жизни: письма, документы, воспоминания. |url=https://elib.biblioatom.ru/text/kurchatov-v-zhizni_2007/p25 |access-date=2024-12-31 |website=Электронная библиотека /// История Росатома |language=ru}}{{cite journal |last1=Grinberg |first1=A P |last2=Frenkel' |first2=Viktor Ya |date=1983-03-31 |title=Igor' Vasil'evich Kurchatov at the Leningrad Physicotechnical Institute |journal=Soviet Physics Uspekhi |volume=26 |issue=3 |pages=245–265 |doi=10.1070/PU1983v026n03ABEH004356 |issn=0038-5670}}
1935
In January, Vemork hydroelectric plant in Norway operates the first large-scale heavy water production site, pioneered by Leif Tronstad.{{Cite web |title=Kraftverk: Vemork |url=https://www.nve.no/vann-vassdrag-og-miljo/nves-utvalgte-kulturminner/kraftverk/vemork/ |access-date=2018-05-04 |website=nve.no |language=no}}
1937
In March, V. N. Rukavishnikov, {{Interlanguage link multi|Lev Mysovskii|ru|Мысовский, Лев Владимирович|preserve=1}} and Igor Kurchatov complete the first MeV cyclotron in the Soviet Union and in Europe, and outside the United States, at the V. G. Khlopin Radium Institute in Leningrad. It is a 100 cm (39 in) accelerator capable of achieving 3.2 MeV proton energies.{{cite web |title=Радиевый институт. Хроника событий. История коллекций. |url=https://elib.biblioatom.ru/text/radievyy-institut_2023/p155/?hl=%D0%BC%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%82%201937 |access-date=2024-12-27 |website=Электронная библиотека /// История Росатома |language=ru}}{{cite journal |last=Onishchenko |first=L. M. |date=2008 |title=Cyclotrons: A survey |journal=Physics of Particles and Nuclei |volume=39 |issue=6 |pages=950–979 |doi=10.1134/S106377960806004X |bibcode=2008PPN....39..950O |issn=1063-7796}}
On April 3, Yoshio Nishina, Tameichi Yasaki, and Sukeo Watanabe complete the first cyclotron in Japan and in Asia, at the Riken laboratory in Tokyo. It is a 26-inch accelerator capable of achieving 2.9 MeV deuteron energies.{{cite journal |last=KIM |first=DONG-WON |date=2006-03-01 |title=Yoshio Nishina and two cyclotrons |journal=Historical Studies in the Physical and Biological Sciences |publisher=University of California Press |volume=36 |issue=2 |pages=243–273 |doi=10.1525/hsps.2006.36.2.243 |issn=0890-9997}}{{cite web |date=2024-12-26 |title=Yoshio Nishina |url=https://ahf.nuclearmuseum.org/ahf/profile/yoshio-nishina/ |access-date=2024-12-26 |website=Nuclear Museum}}
1938
In August, Niels Bohr, George de Hevesy, and August Krogh complete the first cyclotron in Denmark, at the Institute for Theoretical Physics of the University of Copenhagen.{{cite journal |last=WITTJE |first=ROLAND |date=2004-09-01 |title=A proton accelerator in Trondheim in the 1930s |journal=Historical Studies in the Physical and Biological Sciences |publisher=University of California Press |volume=35 |issue=1 |pages=115–152 |doi=10.1525/hsps.2004.35.1.115 |issn=0890-9997}}
1939
On February 11, Lise Meitner and Otto Frisch publish the discovery of nuclear fission,{{cite journal |last1=Meitner |first1=L. |author-link1=Lise Meitner |last2=Frisch |first2=O. R. |author-link2=Otto Robert Frisch |year=1939 |title=Disintegration of Uranium by Neutrons: a New Type of Nuclear Reaction |url=http://www.nature.com/physics/looking-back/meitner/index.html |url-status=live |journal=Nature |volume=143 |issue=3615 |page=239 |bibcode=1939Natur.143..239M |doi=10.1038/143239a0 |issn=0028-0836 |s2cid=4113262 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190428141914/http://www.nature.com/physics/looking-back/meitner/index.html |archive-date=28 April 2019 |access-date=25 May 2020|url-access=subscription }} collaborating with Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann who previously identified barium following neutron bombardment of uranium, at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Chemistry, Berlin.{{cite journal |last1=O. |first1=Hahn |author-link1=Otto Hahn |last2=Strassmann |first2=F. |author-link2=Fritz Strassmann |date=6 January 1939 |title=Über den Nachweis und das Verhalten der bei der Bestrahlung des Urans mittels Neutronen entstehenden Erdalkalimetalle |trans-title=Concerning the Existence of Alkaline Earth Metals Resulting from Neutron Irradiation of Uranium |journal=Naturwissenschaften |language=de |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=11–15 |bibcode=1939NW.....27...11H |doi=10.1007/BF01488241 |issn=0028-1042 |s2cid=5920336}} Meitner and Frisch, both Jewish, had already fled Nazi Germany to Stockholm and Copenhagen respectively, and were barred from co-publishing with their German colleagues under Nazi anti-Jewish legislation.
On March 8, Hans von Halban, Frédéric Joliot-Curie, Lew Kowarski, and Francis Perrin submit for publication the first net neutron production in an atomic pile.{{cite journal |last1=VON HALBAN |first1=H. |last2=JOLIOT |first2=F. |last3=KOWARSKI |first3=L. |year=1939 |title=Liberation of Neutrons in the Nuclear Explosion of Uranium |journal=Nature |publisher=Springer Science and Business Media LLC |volume=143 |issue=3620 |pages=470–471 |doi=10.1038/143470a0 |bibcode=1939Natur.143..470V |issn=0028-0836}} The experiment in Ivry-sur-Seine, Paris uses a 50-cm copper sphere filled with a uranyl nitrate water solution and a radium-beryllium neutron source.
On March 16, Herbert L. Anderson, Enrico Fermi, and H B Hanstein submit for publication the first pile neutron production in the United States, from pile Columbia number 1 at Columbia University, New York. The pile submerges a 13-cm glass bulb filled with uranium oxide in water acting as a moderator and reflector.{{cite journal |last1=Anderson |first1=H. L. |last2=Fermi |first2=E. |last3=Hanstein |first3=H. B. |date=1939-04-15 |title=Production of Neutrons in Uranium Bombarded by Neutrons |journal=Physical Review |volume=55 |issue=8 |pages=797–798 |doi=10.1103/PhysRev.55.797.2 |bibcode=1939PhRv...55..797A |issn=0031-899X}}
In March, Frédéric Joliot-Curie achieves a 7 MeV proton beam at the first cyclotron in France, at the Collège de France in Paris.{{cite book |last=Gablot |first=Ginette |chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/978-3-7643-8933-8_5.pdf |title=The Physical Tourist |date=2009 |publisher=Birkhäuser Basel |isbn=978-3-7643-8932-1 |publication-place=Basel |pages=73–80 |chapter=A Parisian Walk along the Landmarks of the Discovery of Radioactivity |doi=10.1007/978-3-7643-8933-8_5 |access-date=2024-12-31 |doi-access=free}}{{cite journal |date=1960 |title=Jean Frédéric Joliot, 1900-1958 |journal=Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society |volume=6 |pages=86–105 |doi=10.1098/rsbm.1960.0026 |issn=0080-4606}}

1940s

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Chicago Pile-1, first reactor
X-10 Graphite Reactor, second reactor
Hanford B reactor, first large-scale reactor
GLEEP, first British reactor
F-1, first Soviet reactor
Leipzig L-IV, early Nazi German pile
Haigerloch B-VIII, final Nazi German pile
Chicago Pile-3, first heavy-water reactor
Clementine, first fast reactor

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1940
On May 27, Edwin McMillan and Philip Abelson publish the discovery of neptunium at the Berkeley Radiation Laboratory. They use the 60-inch cyclotron produce a small sample of neptunium-239 via neutron bombardment of uranium-238. They also correctly assume its beta decay to the alpha-emitting plutonium-239, but are unable to isolate it.{{cite journal |author=Mcmillan, Edwin |last2=Abelson |first2=Philip |date=1940 |title=Radioactive Element 93 |journal=Physical Review |volume=57 |issue=12 |pages=1185–1186 |bibcode=1940PhRv...57.1185M |doi=10.1103/PhysRev.57.1185.2 |doi-access=free}}
On July 1, Georgy Flyorov and Konstantin Petrzhak publish the discovery of spontaneous fission, in uranium atoms insulated from cosmic rays 60 meters underground in the Dinamo station of the Moscow Metro. They also report no such reactions in protactinium or thorium.{{cite journal |author=Flerov |author2=Petrjak |date=1940-07-01 |title=Spontaneous Fission of Uranium |journal=Physical Review |volume=58 |issue=1 |pages=89 |doi=10.1103/PhysRev.58.89.2 |bibcode=1940PhRv...58...89F |issn=0031-899X}}
1941
In January, Walther Bothe and Peter Jensen conduct an neutronics experiment with a 55-cm radius graphite sphere. They erroneously conclude, possibly due to unaccounted boron and cadmium impurities of a few ppm, a neutron capture cross-section value for carbon over twice its accepted value. This hinders development of the Nazi German nuclear program.{{cite journal |last=Reed |first=B. Cameron |date=2020 |title=Walther Bothe's Graphite: Physics, Impurities, and Blame in the German Nuclear Program |journal=Annalen der Physik |volume=532 |issue=7 |page= |doi=10.1002/andp.202000121 |issn=0003-3804 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2020AnP...53200121R }}
On February 24, Glenn T. Seaborg, Edwin McMillan, Emilio Segrè, Joseph W. Kennedy, and Arthur Wahl make the discovery of plutonium at the Berkeley Radiation Laboratory. They identify plutonium-238 from oxidation of a sample of beta-decaying neptunium-238, produced via deuteron bombardment of uranium in the 60-inch cyclotron.{{Cite web |last=Glenn T. Seaborg |date=September 1981 |title=The plutonium story |url=http://www.osti.gov/bridge/purl.cover.jsp?purl=/5808140-l5UMe1/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130516093638/http://www.osti.gov/bridge/purl.cover.jsp?purl=%2F5808140-l5UMe1%2F |archive-date=May 16, 2013 |access-date=March 16, 2022 |publisher=Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, University of California |id=LBL-13492, DE82 004551}} A paper is submitted to Physical Review in March but publication is delayed until 1946 due to World War II.
1942
In May, the L-IV atomic pile at the University of Leipzig sees the first net neutron production of the Nazi German nuclear program. The design uses a uranium powder, a heavy water moderator and reflector, and a central radium-beryllium neutron source.{{cite journal |last=Reed |first=B. Cameron |date=2021 |title=An inter-country comparison of nuclear pile development during World War II |journal=The European Physical Journal H |volume=46 |issue=1 |page= 15|doi=10.1140/epjh/s13129-021-00020-x |issn=2102-6459 |doi-access=free|arxiv=2001.09971 |bibcode=2021EPJH...46...15R }}
On June 23, uranium powder in the L-IV atomic pile ignites on contact with air, causing a steam explosion and wider fire. This is the first nuclear-related accident, and leads the German program to use only solid uranium in future designs.
On November 13, Alpha-I, the first calutron track, begins uranium enrichment operation at the Y-12 facility, the first electromagnetic separation plant.{{cite journal |last=Reed |first=Cameron |year=2011 |title=From Treasury Vault to the Manhattan Project |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/25766759 |journal=American Scientist |publisher=Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society |volume=99 |issue=1 |pages=40–47 |doi=10.1511/2011.88.40 |issn=0003-0996 |jstor=25766759 |access-date=2024-12-21|url-access=subscription }}
On December 2, Chicago Pile-1, the first artificial nuclear reactor, achieves criticality at the University of Chicago. The Manhattan Project's assembly uses blocks of natural uranium and graphite as a moderator to produce 0.5 watts of thermal power.{{cite book |last=Reed |first=Bruce Cameron |title=Manhattan Project |date=2020 |publisher=Springer International Publishing |isbn=978-3-030-45733-4 |publication-place=Cham |page=149–169 |chapter=Piles and Secret Cities |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-45734-1_5}}
1943
On February 28, in the early hours of the morning, a Special Operations Executive-trained team of Norwegian commandos detonate explosive charges on the heavy-water electrolysis chambers at the Vemork hydroelectric plant during Operation Gunnerside.{{cite book |last=Riste |first=Olav |author-link=Olav Riste |title=Norway 1940–45: The Resistance Movement |author2=Nøkleby, Berit |publisher=Tano |year=1970 |isbn=82-518-0164-8 |location=Oslo}}
On March 20, Chicago Pile-2, the world's second reactor, achieves criticality at Site A, Illinois. It is a rebuilt and slightly enlarged version of CP-1.
On March 22, Igor Kurchatov, director of Laboratory No. 2 writes a letter to Mikhail Pervukhin suggesting that "eka-osmium-239" (plutonium-239) produced in a theoretical "uranium boiler" (reactor) will undergo fission as an alternative to uranium-235 in bomb designs.{{cite journal |last1=Mikhailov |first1=V. N. |last2=Goncharov |first2=G. A. |date=1999 |title=I. V. Kurchatov and the development of nuclear weapons in the USSR |journal=Atomic Energy |volume=86 |issue=4 |pages=266–282 |doi=10.1007/BF02673142 |issn=1063-4258}}
In March, the US approves a Soviet request for over 0.3 tons of uranium compounds under the Lend-Lease program. General Leslie Groves hopes to hide the extent of the Manhattan Project, and reveal the location of Laboratory No. 2.{{cite web |date=1949-12-07 |title=U.S. LICENSED SHIPMENT OF URANIUM TO RUSSIANS |url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/52708017 |access-date=2024-12-17 |website=Trove}}{{cite journal |last=Oleynikov |first=Pavel V. |year=2000 |title=German scientists in the Soviet atomic project |journal=The Nonproliferation Review |publisher=Informa UK Limited |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=1–30 |doi=10.1080/10736700008436807 |issn=1073-6700}}
On July 31, Igor Kurchatov learns via atomic spies of the successful criticality and graphite moderator choice of Chicago Pile-1 eight months prior.
On November 4, the X-10 Graphite Reactor achieves criticality at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee. It is the world's third reactor, the first built for continuous operation, the first reactor for the production of plutonium-239.
1944
On March 19, Takeuchi Masa of the Japanese nuclear weapons program's Riken laboratory constructs the country's first Clusius tube thermal diffusion design for uranium enrichment.{{cite web |last1=Nagase-Reimer |first1=Keiko |last2=Grunden |first2=Walter E |last3=Yamazaki |first3=Masakatsu |date=2005-01-01 |title=Nuclear Weapons Research in Japan During the Second World War |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/327076517 |access-date=2024-12-18 |website=ResearchGate}}
In March, the 305 Test Pile begins operation at the Hanford Site, primarily to provide quality assurance of graphite for subsequent reactors.{{cite report |title=Multiple missions: The 300 Area in Hanford Site history |last=Gerber |first=M.S. |date=1993-09-01 |doi=10.2172/10116166 |page= |doi-access=free}} Via atomic spies, this design would be replicated as the USSR's first F-1 reactor.
On May 9, LOPO (low-power), the first aqueous homogeneous reactor, the first reactor to use enriched uranium, and the first water-cooled and water-moderated reactor, achieves criticality at Los Alamos National Laboratory, using a solution of uranyl sulfate at 14.7% enrichment.{{cite web |date=1920-06-03 |title=Timeline |url=https://ahf.nuclearmuseum.org/ahf/nuc-history/timeline/ |access-date=2024-11-07 |website=Nuclear Museum}}
On May 15, Chicago Pile-3, the first heavy-water reactor, achieves criticality at Site A, Illinois. It uses deuterium oxide i.e. heavy water as a moderator instead of graphite, as well as a coolant.{{cite web |title=Manhattan Project: Places > Metallurgical Laboratory > CP-2 and CP-3 |url=https://www.osti.gov/opennet/manhattan-project-history/Places/MetLab/cp2-3.html |access-date=2024-12-25 |website=OSTI.GOV}}
In July, the X-10 Graphite Reactor becomes the first reactor to exceed 1 MWth power output, reading 4 MWth due to the addition of two large fans.{{cite book |last=Jones |first=Vincent |url=http://www.history.army.mil/html/books/011/11-10/CMH_Pub_11-10.pdf |title=Manhattan: The Army and the Atomic Bomb |publisher=United States Army Center of Military History |year=1985 |location=Washington, D.C. |oclc=10913875 |access-date=25 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141007074359/http://www.history.army.mil/html/books/011/11-10/CMH_Pub_11-10.pdf |archive-date=October 7, 2014 |url-status=dead}}
On September 16, S-50, the first and only full-scale liquid thermal diffusion plant, begins operation at Clinton Engineer Works, Tennessee.{{cite book |last1=Brown |first1=Anthony Cave |title=The Secret History of the Atomic Bomb |last2=MacDonald |first2=Charles Brown |last3=MacDonald |first3=Charles B. |date=1977 |isbn=0-440-57728-4 |page=305|publisher=Dell Publishing Company }}
On September 26, the B Reactor is started at Hanford Site, Washington. At 250 MWth, it is the first reactor to exceed 10 and 100 MWth and is considered the first large-scale reactor. The site is primarily built for weapons-grade plutonium production, but also produces weapons-usable tritium, polonium-210, and uranium-233, as well as non-military plutonium, thulium-170, and iridium-192.
On September 27, the first instance of xenon poisoning occurs in the Hanford B reactor. Water contamination of graphite, boron impurities in the Columbia River water coolant, and nitrogen in the air are all suggested as the neutron poisoning cause. John Archibald Wheeler and Enrico Fermi calculate the cause and the problem is solved by loading additional fuel slugs into extra tubes.{{Cite web |title=John Wheeler's Interview (1965) |url=https://www.manhattanprojectvoices.org/oral-histories/john-wheelers-interview-1965 |access-date=2019-06-19 |website=www.manhattanprojectvoices.org |language=en}}
In December, HYPO (high-power), the second aqueous homogenous reactor, achieves criticality at Los Alamos National Laboratory, using a uranyl nitrate solution at 14.5% enrichment.{{cite report |url=https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1133322 |title=Discussion Regarding Aqueous Homogeneous Reactor (AHR) Benchmarks |last1=Klein |first1=Steven |last2=Kimpland |first2=Robert |date=2014-05-28 |doi=10.2172/1133322 |page= |access-date=2024-12-30 |doi-access=free}}
In December, the D Reactor is started at Hanford Site, Washington. It is largely identical to the B Reactor with the same primary purpose of weapons-grade plutonium production.
1945
On January 20, a team led by Otto Robert Frisch achieves the first criticality burst in the Dragon Critical Assembly at Los Alamos National Laboratory, the first fast neutron reactor and first prompt criticality. The device uses a uranium hydride slug and hollow cylinder both enriched at 71-75%, with the former dropped through the latter.{{cite web |last=Malenfant |first=R.E. |date=2005 |title=Experiments with the Dragon Machine |url=https://inis.iaea.org/search/search.aspx?orig_q=RN:37047076 |access-date=2024-12-31 |website=INIS}}{{cite journal |last1=Kimpland |first1=Robert |last2=Grove |first2=Travis |last3=Jaegers |first3=Peter |last4=Malenfant |first4=Richard |last5=Myers |first5=William |date=2021-12-03 |title=Critical Assemblies: Dragon Burst Assembly and Solution Assemblies |journal=Nuclear Technology |volume=207 |issue=sup1 |pages=S81–S99 |doi=10.1080/00295450.2021.1927626 |issn=0029-5450 |doi-access=free|arxiv=2103.05780 |bibcode=2021NucTe.207S..81K }}
In February, the F Reactor is started at Hanford Site, Washington. It is largely identical to the B Reactor with the same primary purpose of weapons-grade plutonium production.
On March 12, K-25, the first gaseous diffusion plant becomes fully operational at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee. It is the world's largest building, and had an electrical consumption almost triple that of the entire city of Detroit.{{cite book |last1=Jones |first1=Vincent |url=http://www.history.army.mil/html/books/011/11-10/CMH_Pub_11-10.pdf |title=Manhattan: The Army and the Atomic Bomb |publisher=United States Army Center of Military History |year=1985 |location=Washington, D.C. |pages=166–168 |oclc=10913875 |access-date=25 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141007074359/http://www.history.army.mil/html/books/011/11-10/CMH_Pub_11-10.pdf |archive-date=7 October 2014 |url-status=dead}} {{cite journal |last=Kemp |first=R. Scott |date=2012 |title=The End of Manhattan: How the Gas Centrifuge Changed the Quest for Nuclear Weapons |journal=Technology and Culture |volume=53 |issue=2 |pages=272–305 |doi=10.1353/tech.2012.0046 |issn=1097-3729}}
On March 15, 612 Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bomb the Auergesellschaft plant of the Nazi German nuclear program, in Oranienburg. It is an attempt to deny its uranium to the advancing Soviet Army on the recommendation of General Leslie Groves. Over 100 tons are still ultimately recovered by Russian Alsos for the F-1 reactor.{{cite book |last1=Riehl |first1=Nikolaus |title=Stalin's Captive: Nikolaus Riehl and the Soviet Race for the Bomb |last2=Seitz |first2=Frederick |date=1996 |publisher=American Chemical Society and the Chemical Heritage Foundations |isbn=0-8412-3310-1 |page=77-79}}{{cite journal |last=Oleynikov |first=Pavel V. |year=2000 |title=German scientists in the Soviet atomic project |journal=The Nonproliferation Review |publisher=Informa UK Limited |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=1–30 |doi=10.1080/10736700008436807 |issn=1073-6700}}
On April 23, the Allied Alsos Mission dismantles and recovers uranium and heavy water from the B-VIII atomic pile at Haigerloch, the final pile of the Nazi German nuclear program.
On September 5, ZEEP, the first reactor in Canada and outside the United States, achieves criticality at Chalk River Laboratories, on the Ontario side of the Ottawa River.{{cite web |title=ZEEP -- Canada's First Nuclear Reactor |url=http://www.sciencetech.technomuses.ca/english/whatson/zeep.cfm |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140306233719/http://www.sciencetech.technomuses.ca/english/whatson/zeep.cfm |archivedate=6 March 2014 |publisher=Canada Science and Technology Museum}}

1946
On November 19, Clementine, the first continuous fast neutron reactor, the first liquid metal cooled reactor, and the first reactor to use plutonium fuel achieves criticality at Los Alamos National Laboratory, using a mercury coolant abandoned by all later designs.{{cite journal |last1=Patenaude |first1=Hannah K. |last2=Freibert |first2=Franz J. |date=2023-03-09 |title=Oh, My Darling Clementine: A Detailed History and Data Repository of the Los Alamos Plutonium Fast Reactor |journal=Nuclear Technology |publisher=Informa UK Limited |volume=209 |issue=7 |pages=963–1007 |doi=10.1080/00295450.2023.2176686 |issn=0029-5450 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2023NucTe.209..963P }}
On December 25, F-1, the first reactor in the Soviet Union and in Europe, and outside North America, achieves criticality at the Kurchatov Institute in Moscow. It is fuelled with uranium recovered by "Russian Alsos" from the Nazi German nuclear program including the Auergesellschaft Oranienburg plant.{{cite web |last=Vakhroucheva |first=Elizaveta |title=Division of System Analysis Elektronika Information and Computer Complex Engineering and Production Division |url=http://www.nti.org/db/nisprofs/russia/reactor/research/with/kurchato.htm#f1 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090115212712/http://www.nti.org/db/nisprofs/russia/reactor/research/with/kurchato.htm#f1 |archive-date=15 January 2009 |accessdate=25 December 2010 |work=Kurchatov Institute |publisher=NTI}}
1947
On July 22, NRX, the second reactor in Canada, achieves criticality at Chalk River Laboratories.{{cite book |last=Hurst |first=D.G. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3uz0AwAAQBAJ |title=Canada Enters the Nuclear Age: A Technical History of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited as Seen from Its Research Laboratories |publisher=McGill-Queen's University Press |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-7735-6653-8 |page=45 |access-date=2024-12-31}}
On August 15, GLEEP, the first reactor in the United Kingdom, achieves criticality at the Atomic Energy Research Establishment in Oxfordshire.{{Cite book |last=Hill |first=C |title=An Atomic Empire: A Technical History of the Rise and Fall of the British Atomic Energy Programme |date=2013 |publisher=Imperial College Press |isbn=978-1-908977-41-0}}
1948
On June 10, Reactor A, the second reactor and the first plutonium production reactor in the Soviet Union, achieves criticality at Mayak Production Association, Chelyabinsk Oblast.{{cite journal |last=Diakov |first=Anatoli |date=2011-04-25 |title=The History of Plutonium Production in Russia |journal=Science & Global Security |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=28–45 |doi=10.1080/08929882.2011.566459 |bibcode=2011S&GS...19...28D |issn=0892-9882}}
In August, the X-10 Graphite Reactor becomes the first reactor to generate electricity. The experiment uses a steam generator and engine to power a single flashlight bulb. This could be considered the first boiling water reactor.{{cite journal |last1=Xie |first1=Yong |last2=Zhao |first2=Hongkun |last3=Johns |first3=Steve |last4=Windes |first4=William E. |date=1981-09-01 |title=Nuclear graphite—The first years |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0022311581905195 |journal=Journal of Nuclear Materials |publisher=North-Holland |volume=100 |issue=1–3 |pages=55–63 |doi=10.1016/0022-3115(81)90519-5 |bibcode=1981JNuM..100...55E |issn=0022-3115 |access-date=2024-12-10|url-access=subscription }}
On December 15, Zoé aka EL-1, the first reactor in France, and the first heavy water reactor in Europe, begins experimental operation at Fort de Châtillon.{{cite web |title=Irène and Frédéric Joliot-Curie |url=http://www.curie.fr/fondation/musee/irene-frederic-joliot-curie.cfm/lang/_gb.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100603032613/http://www.curie.fr/fondation/musee/irene-frederic-joliot-curie.cfm/lang/_gb.htm |archive-date=2010-06-03 |access-date=26 April 2010 |publisher=Institut Curie}}
1949
On February 1, Georgy Flyorov uses the Physical Boiler on Fast Neutrons, the first Soviet pulsed fast reactor, at Design Bureau 11, Sarov, to measure the critical mass of plutonium, ahead of the RDS-1 test.{{cite book |last1=Андрюшин |first1=Игорь А. |title=Укрощение ядра |last2=Чернышев |first2=Александр К. |last3=Юдин |first3=Юрий А. |date=2003 |publisher=Tipografija "Krasnyj Oktjabrʹ" |isbn=5-7493-0621-6 |publication-place=Sarov |page=71 |language=ru}}{{cite journal |last=Zavyalov |first=Nikolai V. |date=2022 |title=RFNC—VNIIEF research facilities aimed at experimental acquisition of basic and applied knowledge in the fields of nuclear, radiation, and fast-process physics (on the 75th anniversary of the Atomic industry) |journal=Physics-Uspekhi |volume=65 |issue=5 |pages=507–522 |doi=10.3367/UFNe.2020.12.038933 |bibcode=2022PhyU...65..507Z |issn=1063-7869}}{{cite web |title=ФКБН / Сводный указатель объектов / Атомный проект СССР // Электронная библиотека /// История Росатома |url=https://elib.biblioatom.ru/soviet-atomic-program/objects/fizicheskiy_kotel_na_byistryih_neytronah@13272/ |access-date=2025-01-10 |website=Электронная библиотека /// История Росатома |language=ru}}
In April, TVR, the third reactor and first heavy water reactor in the Soviet Union, achieves criticality.{{cite journal |last1=Loffe |first1=B. L. |last2=Shvedov |first2=O. V. |date=1999 |title=Heavy water reactors and nuclear power plants in the USSR and Russia: Past, present, and future |journal=Atomic Energy |volume=86 |issue=4 |pages=295–304 |doi=10.1007/BF02673145 |issn=1063-4258}}{{cite web |date=2008-02-24 |title=International Science and Technology Center |url=http://www.kiae.ru/radleg/ch6e.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090123173547/http://www.kiae.ru/radleg/ch6e.htm |archive-date=2009-01-23 |access-date=2024-12-31 |website=kiae.ru}}

1950s

{{multiple image

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| image1 = NautilusNY.jpg

| image2 = Nautilus core.jpg

| image3 = RIAN archive 314495 Lenin nuclear ice-breaker on the Neva River.jpg

| image4 = USS Long Beach (CGN-9) underway at sea, circa in the 1960s.jpg

| image5 = Convair NB-36H.JPG

| image8 = BORAX-I 004.jpg

| footer = From top, left to right

USS Nautilus, first nuclear vessel
S1W, first pressurized water reactor
Lenin, first nuclear surface ship
USS Long Beach, first nuclear surface combat ship
Convair NB-36H, first aircraft to operate a reactor
Kiwi A, first nuclear thermal rocket
EBR-I, first breeder reactor
BORAX-I, first boiling water reactor
Aircraft Reactor Experiment, first molten-salt reactor

| image6 = Kiwi A fire-up.jpg

| image7 = First four nuclear lit bulbs.jpeg

| width6 = 40

| image9 = Aircraft Reactor Experiment full-scale mockup.jpg

}}

1951
On August 24, EBR-I, the first breeder reactor, producing more fuel than it consumes, begins power operation.{{Cite web |title=Nuclear energy for peace: the birth of nuclear energetics |url=http://www.straipsniai.lt/en/Energetics/page/5238 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726164126/http://www.straipsniai.lt/en/Energetics/page/5238 |archive-date=July 26, 2011 |access-date=July 21, 2009}}
1952
On October 27, EL-2, the first gas-cooled reactor, achieves criticality at the Saclay Nuclear Research Centre, France. While many early reactors were air-cooled, it is an experimental 2 MW design testing the first closed circuit nitrogen and carbon dioxide cooling.{{cite report |title=Nuclear Safety. Technical Progress Journal, October--December 1991: Volume 32, No. 4 |date=1991-01-01 |publisher=Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI) |doi=10.2172/10140945 |page= |doi-access=free}}{{cite web |last=Kowarski |first=L. |date=1954 |title=Development of the Second French Reactor |url=https://inis.iaea.org/search/search.aspx?orig_q=RN:50017532 |access-date=2024-11-12 |website=INIS}}
On December 2, NRX, Canada's second reactor, constructed at Chalk River Laboratories, experiences the first core meltdown in a nuclear facility. Future president Jimmy Carter is among the US Navy crew sent to assist clean-up.{{cite book |last=Mahaffey |first=James A. |title=Atomic Accidents |date=2014 |publisher=Pegasus Books |isbn=978-1-60598-492-6 |publication-place=New York |page= |oclc=829988959}}
The AI reactor (Industrial Association Mayak) begins production of tritium at the Mayak plant in Ozyorsk, USSR.{{cite journal |last=Podvig |first=Pavel |date=2011-04-25 |title=History of Highly Enriched Uranium Production in Russia |journal=Science & Global Security |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=46–67 |doi=10.1080/08929882.2011.566467 |bibcode=2011S&GS...19...46P |issn=0892-9882}}
1953
On March 30, the S1W, the first pressurized water reactor, achieves criticality at Idaho National Laboratory. It is designed to power submarines {{cite web |date=2024-08-29 |title=Outline History of Nuclear Energy |url=https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/current-and-future-generation/outline-history-of-nuclear-energy |access-date=2024-11-12 |website=World Nuclear Association}}
On December 8, US president Dwight D. Eisenhower delivers the Atoms for Peace speech to the United Nations General Assembly in New York City. It promotes education resources and empowers companies such as American Machine and Foundry to supply research reactors to Mexico, Colombia, Brazil, Peru, Chile, Argentina,{{cite journal |last=Drogan |first=Mara |date=2019-04-01 |title=The Atoms for Peace program and the Third World |journal=Cahiers du monde russe |publisher=OpenEdition |volume=60 |issue=2–3 |pages=441–460 |doi=10.4000/monderusse.11249 |issn=1252-6576}}{{cite book |last1=Mateos |first1=Gisela |title=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Latin American History |last2=Suárez-Díaz |first2=Edna |date=2016-04-05 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-936643-9 |page= |chapter=Atoms for Peace in Latin America |doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780199366439.013.317}} Portugal,{{cite web |last1=Ramalho |first1=A J.G. |last2=Marques |first2=J G |last3=Cardeira |first3=F M |date=2000-06-01 |title=The portuguese research reactor: A tool for the next century |url=https://www.osti.gov/etdeweb/biblio/20095195 |access-date=2024-11-13 |website=OSTI.GOV}} Israel,{{cite web |last1=Cohen |first1=Avner |last2=Burr |first2=William |date=15 April 2015 |title=The Eisenhower Administration and the Discovery of Dimona: March 1958–January 1961 |url=http://nsarchive.gwu.edu/nukevault/ebb510/ |access-date=17 April 2015 |website=nsarchive.gwu.edu |publisher=National Security Archive}} Iran, Pakistan,"Diversified Success", Time, May 19, 1961 Thailand,{{cite web |last=Yamkate |first=P |date=2001-11-01 |title=Thailand's nuclear research centre |url=https://www.osti.gov/etdeweb/biblio/20226247 |access-date=2024-11-13 |website=OSTI.GOV}} South Korea,{{cite journal |last=DiMoia |first=John |date=2010 |title=Atoms for Sale?: Cold War Institution-Building and the South Korean Atomic Energy Project, 1945–1965 |journal=Technology and Culture |volume=51 |issue=3 |pages=589–618 |doi=10.1353/tech.2010.0021 |issn=1097-3729}} Japan,{{cite web |year=2012 |title=History and Present Situation of Kinki University Reactor (UTR-KINKI) |url=https://www.rertr.anl.gov/RERTR34/pdfs/S8-P16_Wakabayashi.pdf |access-date=2024-11-13}} the Philippines,{{cite journal |last1=Palangao |first1=Marinell |last2=Asuncion-Astronomo |first2=Alvie |last3=Tare |first3=Jeffrey |last4=Gatchalian |first4=Ronald Daryll |last5=Olivares |first5=Ryan |date=2021-12-21 |title=Determination of Reactor Parameters for Different Subcritical Configurations of the Philippine Research Reactor-1 TRIGA Nuclear Fuel |journal=Philippine Journal of Science |volume=150 |issue=2 |page= |doi=10.56899/150.02.10}} Indonesia,{{cite journal |last=Amir |first=Sulfikar |year=2010 |title=The State and the Reactor: Nuclear Politics in Post-Suharto Indonesia |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/20798217 |journal=Indonesia |publisher=Southeast Asia Program Publications at Cornell University |issue=89 |pages=101–147 |issn=0019-7289 |jstor=20798217 |access-date=2024-11-13}} and Yugoslavia.{{cite journal |last=Hymans |first=Jacques E. C. |date=2011-03-21 |title=Proliferation Implications of Civil Nuclear Cooperation: Theory and a Case Study of Tito's Yugoslavia |journal=Security Studies |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=73–104 |doi=10.1080/09636412.2011.549013 |issn=0963-6412}}
On December 28, the R reactor, the first production reactor at Savannah River Site, is started. It uses natural uranium and a heavy water moderator, and is intended to produce both plutonium and tritium for weapons.{{cite book |last1=Reed |first1=M.B. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=W6b4nzfjWeEC |title=Savannah River Site at Fifty |last2=Strack |first2=B.S. |author3=United States. Department of Energy |publisher=U.S. Department of Energy |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-16-067182-1 |page=556 |language=ms |access-date=2024-12-30}}
BORAX-I, the first full-scale boiling water reactor, achieves criticality at Argonne National Laboratory.{{cite book |author=United States. Department of Energy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TRRYAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA114 |title=TID. |author2=Oak Ridge National Laboratory |publisher=U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, Technical Information Service |year=1957 |page=114 |access-date=2024-11-09 |issue=v. 7535}}{{cite web |last=Riznic |first= J. |date=2017-01-01 |title=Introduction to steam generators—from Heron of Alexandria to nuclear power plants: Brief history and literature survey |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/B9780081008942000017 |access-date=2024-11-09 |publisher=Woodhead Publishing |page=3–33 |doi=10.1016/B978-0-08-100894-2.00001-7}}
1954
On January 21, the {{USS|Nautilus|SSN-571|6}}, the first vessel to use nuclear propulsion and the first nuclear submarine, powered by the S2W reactor is launched from General Dynamics Electric Boat shipyard, Groton, Connecticut, and in 1958 completes the first journey under the North Pole.{{cite web |title=Citation – Presidential Unit Citation for making the first submerged voyage under the North Pole |url=http://www.ussnautilus.org/events/panopo50th/puc.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090204062318/http://www.ussnautilus.org/events/panopo50th/puc.html |archive-date=4 February 2009 |website=US Navy Submarine Force Museum}}
On June 27, AM-1 becomes the first grid-connected reactor at Obninsk Nuclear Power Plant, southwest of Moscow. It is a predecessor to the RBMK design.{{cite web |title=APS-1 OBNINSK (Atomic Power Station 1 Obninsk) |url=http://www.iaea.org/PRIS/CountryStatistics/ReactorDetails.aspx?current=447 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131204122307/http://www.iaea.org/PRIS/CountryStatistics/ReactorDetails.aspx?current=447 |archive-date=4 December 2013 |access-date=23 July 2014 |work=Power Reactor Information System |publisher=IAEA}}
On November 3, the Aircraft Reactor Experiment, the first molten-salt reactor, achieves criticality at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.{{cite report |title=Operation of the Aircraft Reactor Experiment |last1=Cottrell |first1=W. B. |last2=Hungerford |first2=H. E. |date=1955-09-06 |publisher=Oak Ridge National Laboratory |page=1 |osti=4237975 |id=ORNL-1845 |last3=Leslie |first3=J. K. |last4=Meem |first4=J. L. |osti-access=free}}
1955
On July 17, BORAX-III becomes the first reactor to fully power a town, during a demonstration in Arco, Idaho.{{cite web |date=2016-04-20 |title=AEC Press release for BORAX-III lighting Arco, Idaho |url=https://www.ne.anl.gov/About/reactors/borax3/index.shtml |access-date=2024-12-07 |website=Reactors designed/built by Argonne National Laboratory}}
On September 17, the Aircraft Shield Test Reactor, the first reactor operated during aircraft flight, begins test flights in the Convair NB-36H.{{cite web |last=Polmar |first=Norman |date=2024-03-01 |title=Atomic-Powered Aircraft |url=https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2024/april/atomic-powered-aircraft |access-date=2024-11-12 |website=U.S. Naval Institute}}
1956
On August 4, Apsara, the first reactor in India and in Asia, achieves criticality at Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, in Trombay, Mumbai.{{cite web |title=Apsara Research Reactor |url=http://www.nti.org/facilities/818/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150419042039/http://www.nti.org/facilities/818/ |archive-date=19 April 2015 |access-date=12 April 2015}}
On December 3, BORAX-IV, the first reactor to use thorium fuel, achieves criticality at Argonne National Laboratory.{{cite book |author=United States. Department of Energy |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TRRYAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA114 |title=TID. |author2=Oak Ridge National Laboratory |publisher=U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, Technical Information Service |year=1957 |page=114 |access-date=2024-11-29 |issue=v. 7535}}
1957
On October 31, FRM I, the first reactor in West Germany, achieves criticality at Technical University of Munich.{{cite book |last=Trischler |first=Helmuth |title=Politik und Kultur im föderativen Staat 1949 bis 1973 |date=2004-12-31 |publisher=OLDENBOURG WISSENSCHAFTSVERLAG |isbn=978-3-486-56596-6 |page=156 |chapter=Nationales Innovationssystem und regionale Innovationspolitik |doi=10.1524/9783486708646.117}}
On November 2, the first gas centrifuge enrichment plant begins operation, in Leningrad, under a team led by Evgeni Kamenev.{{cite journal |last=Kemp |first=R. Scott |date=2012 |title=The End of Manhattan: How the Gas Centrifuge Changed the Quest for Nuclear Weapons |journal=Technology and Culture |volume=53 |issue=2 |pages=272–305 |doi=10.1353/tech.2012.0046 |issn=1097-3729}}
On December 5, the {{ship||Lenin|1957 icebreaker|2}}, the first nuclear-powered surface vessel, a Soviet icebreaker, is launched from the Admiralty Shipyards in Leningrad.{{cite journal |date=February 1969 |title=Soviet Life |journal=Soviet Life |volume=2 |issue=149 |page=57}}
The OMRE, the first complete organic nuclear reactor, cooled and moderated by hydrocarbons, in this case terphenyls, achieves criticality at the Idaho National Laboratory.{{sfn|Shirvan|Forrest|2016|p=Table 1}}
1958
On September 27, HWRR, a Soviet-supplied 7 MW heavy water research reactor, the first reactor in China, begins operation in Beijing. Nuclear power is developed primarily for weapons production until the Qinshan I reactor begins development in 1985.{{cite journal |last=Frank |first=Lewis A. |date=1966 |title=Nuclear Weapons Development in China |journal=Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists |volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=12–15 |doi=10.1080/00963402.1966.11454882 |bibcode=1966BuAtS..22a..12F |issn=0096-3402}}
1959
On June 16, TRICO-I, the first reactor in the Belgian Congo and in Africa, achieves criticality at Lovanium University, Kinshasa.{{cite web |date=June 1998 |title=Vraag: Kernreactor in Kinsjasa. |url=http://www.senate.be/www/webdriver?MItabObj=pdf&MIcolObj=pdf&MInamObj=pdfid&MItypeObj=application/pdf&MIvalObj=16780309 |publisher=Belgian Senate |language=nl,fr}}
On July 1, Kiwi A, the first nuclear thermal rocket, begins testing at Area 25, Nevada, under Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory's Project Rover. It produces 70 MW for five minutes and achieves a core temperature of 2,900 K, using liquid hydrogen as the coolant, moderator, and propellant.{{sfn|Finseth|1991|pp=12–14}}
On July 14, the {{USS|Long Beach|CGN-9|6}}, the first nuclear-powered surface combat ship, is launched from Fore River Shipyard, Massachusetts.{{cite web |title=USS Long Beach CGN-9 |url=https://www.history.navy.mil/our-collections/art/exhibits/communities/100th-anniversary-cno/admiral-george-w--anderson/uss-long-beach-cgn-9.html |access-date=16 March 2021 |website=Naval History and Heritage Command}}

File:SNAPSHOT 1965-027A.jpg reactor, the first operated in space and to power a nuclear electric propulsion system.]]

1960s

1960
In June, IRR-1, a HEU-fueled research reactor, the first reactor in Israel, achieves criticality at the Soreq Nuclear Research Center near Yavne. It is under US inspection.{{cite book |last=Shukla |first=Mayank |title=Neutron Imaging |last2=Ray |first2=Nirmal |last3=Patel |first3=Tarun |date=2022 |publisher=Springer Singapore |isbn=978-981-16-6272-0 |publication-place=Singapore |page=97–162 |chapter=Major Neutron Source Facilities Across the Globe |doi=10.1007/978-981-16-6273-7_4}}
On September 24, the {{USS|Enterprise|CVN-65|6}}, the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, is launched from Newport News Shipbuilding, Virginia.{{cite news |author=Brad Lendon |title=Carrier turns donor: USS Enterprise gives anchor to USS Lincoln |url=http://www.cnn.com/2014/10/03/us/navy-carrier-anchor/index.html?hpt=hp_t2 |access-date=3 October 2014 |publisher=CNN.com}}
1961
On January 3, the Army Nuclear Power Program's SL-1 experiences a prompt critical accident, killing three workers, the first and only fatal nuclear power accident in the United States.
On November 11, UTR-KINKI, the first reactor in Japan, achieves criticality at Kinki University.
1962
On March 3, PM-3A, the first and only reactor to operate in Antarctica, achieves criticality at McMurdo Station.
In March, KRR-1, the first reactor in South Korea, achieves criticality at Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute.{{cite journal |last1=Min |first1=Jae Seong |last2=Lee |first2=Ki Won |last3=Kim |first3=Hee Reyoung |last4=Lee |first4=Choong Wie |date=2017 |title=Radiological assessment of the decontaminated and decommissioned Korea Research Reactor-1 building |journal=Nuclear Engineering and Design |volume=322 |pages=492–496 |doi=10.1016/j.nucengdes.2017.07.026|bibcode=2017NuEnD.322..492M }}
On September 16, Indian Point Unit 1, the first commercial reactor to use thorium fuel, begins commercial operation in New York.{{cite journal |last1=Rodriguez |first1=P. |last2=Sundaram |first2=C.V. |year=1981 |title=Nuclear and materials aspects of the thorium fuel cycle |journal=Journal of Nuclear Materials |publisher=Elsevier BV |volume=100 |issue=1–3 |pages=227–249 |doi=10.1016/0022-3115(81)90534-1 |bibcode=1981JNuM..100..227R |issn=0022-3115}}
1963
On December 26, IRR-2, a plutonium production reactor, the second reactor in Israel, achieves criticality at Shimon Peres Negev Nuclear Research Center near Dimona. It is a heavy water-moderated design sold by France and not under IAEA monitoring.{{cite web |date=1964-02-11 |title=Office of the Historian |url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1964-68v18/d12 |access-date=2024-11-29 |website=Historical Documents}}
In December, the N reactor, the ninth at the Hanford Site, Washington, begins operation. At 4000 MWth it is one of the largest plutonium production reactors ever.[http://ansnuclearcafe.org/2015/11/02/hanford-one/ ANS Nuclear Cafe: Hanford One] Additionally, until the DR reactor's shutdown in December 1964, the Hanford Site operates at 25,870 MWth, the largest nuclear plant ever by thermal power.{{cite web |date=1994-09-30 |title=Plutonium: The First 50 Years |url=https://sgp.fas.org/othergov/doe/pu50yc.html |access-date=2024-12-24 |website=FAS Project on Government Secrecy (1991-2021)}}
1964
In August, the Dragon reactor, the first helium-cooled reactor, achieves criticality under UKAEA operation at Winfrith, England.{{cite web |last=McDonald |first=CF |title=The nuclear gas turbine: towards realization after half a century of evolution |url=https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/GT/proceedings-abstract/GT1995/V003T08A001/246240 |access-date=2024-11-19 |website=asmedigitalcollection.asme.org}}{{cite journal |last=Price |first=M.S.T. |date=2012 |title=The Dragon Project origins, achievements and legacies |journal=Nuclear Engineering and Design |volume=251 |pages=60–68 |doi=10.1016/j.nucengdes.2011.12.024|bibcode=2012NuEnD.251...60P }}
The AMB-100, the first reactor to use supercritical water, begins operation at Beloyarsk Nuclear Power Station in the Soviet Union.{{cite journal |last1=Kostarev |first1=V S |last2=Shirmanov |first2=I A |last3=Anikin |first3=A A |last4=Shcheklein |first4=S E |date=2021-03-01 |title=On the possibility of obtaining ultra-supercritical steam parameters at Nuclear Power Plants with fast neutron reactors using non-nuclear steam superheating |journal=IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering |volume=1089 |issue=1 |page=012005 |doi=10.1088/1757-899X/1089/1/012005 |issn=1757-8981 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2021MS&E.1089a2005K }} Alongside the AMB-200 they are the only two such reactors ever, but the design has re-emerged as a Generation IV reactor concept.

1965
On April 3, NASA launches into orbit the Snapshot satellite carrying SNAP-10A, the first reactor operated in space"[https://beyondnerva.com/2018/11/26/history-of-us-astronuclear-reactors-part-1-snap-2-and-10a/ History of US Astronuclear Reactors part 1: SNAP-2 and 10A]", Beyond NERVA, April 3, 2019. Retrieved 3 April 2019.Andrew LePage, "[https://www.drewexmachina.com/2015/04/03/first-nuclear-reactor-in-orbit/ The First Nuclear Reactor in Orbit]", Drew Ex Machina, April 3, 2015. Retrieved 3 April 2019. and via its cesium ion thruster also the first use of nuclear electric propulsion.[https://web.archive.org/web/20030111163512/http://www.grc.nasa.gov/WWW/ion/past/60s/snapshot.htm SNAPSHOT], NASA Glenn Research Center, March 20, 2007. Retrieved 3 April 2019. It uses a uranium zirconium hydride fuel-moderator hybrid, and a liquid sodium-potassium alloy (NaK) coolant.
A Soviet-supplied IR-2000 pool-type research reactor begins operation as the first reactor in North Korea, at the Nyongbyon Nuclear Scientific Research Center.{{cite web |date=30 July 1996 |title=Research Reactor Details – IRT-DPRK |url=http://www.iaea.org/cgi-bin/rrdb.page.pl/rrdeta.htm?country=KP&site=IRT-DPRK&facno=258 |access-date=14 February 2007 |publisher=International Atomic Energy Agency}}
1966
On August 28, the AVR, the first pebble-bed reactor, achieves criticality at Julich Research Center, West Germany. It was an early pioneer of helium-cooled high temperature designs.{{cite report |title=Experimental Study and Computational Simulations of Key Pebble Bed Thermo-mechanics Issues for Design and Safety |last1=Tokuhiro |first1=Akira |last2=Potirniche |first2=Gabriel |date=2014-07-08 |publisher=Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI) |doi=10.2172/1157564 |page= |last3=Cogliati |first3=Joshua |last4=Ougouag |first4=Abderrafi |doi-access=free}}
On November 8, Alexander Vinogradov and colleagues at the USSR Academy of Sciences publishes the detection by Luna 10's gamma ray spectrometer of radiation from uranium, thorium, and potassium on the Moon's surface.{{cite book |last1=Ivanov |first1=M.A. |last2=Kohanov |first2=A. |last3=Lardier |first3=Christian |last4=Abe |first4=Masanao |last5=Longobardo |first5=Andrea |last6=Smith |first6=Caroline L. |last7=Grady |first7=Monica M. |last8=Broggini |first8=C. |last9=Trezzi |first9=D. |title=Sample Return Missions |date=2021-01-01 |chapter=The Luna program |chapter-url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/B9780128183304000033 |access-date=2024-12-10 |publisher=Elsevier |pages=37–78 |doi=10.1016/B978-0-12-818330-4.00003-3|isbn=978-0-12-818330-4 }}
1967
On January 24, MH-1A, the first floating nuclear power plant, achieves criticality. It was developed by the Army Nuclear Power Program at Gunston Cove, Virginia.Suid, Lawrence H. The Army's Nuclear Power Program: Evolution of a Support Agency (1990); (Greenwood Publishing: New York) page 101; accessed 13 March 2012.
1968
On June 8, the Phoebus-2A nuclear thermal rocket engine undergoes its second test and first at full power.{{cite report |title=Beyond the Moon [Slides] |last=Carr |first=Alan |date=2020-12-08 |publisher=Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI) |doi=10.2172/1735863 |page= |doi-access=free}} It achieves a maximum power output of 4082 MWth.{{cite journal |last1=Gabrielli |first1=Roland Antonius |last2=Herdrich |first2=Georg |year=2015 |title=Review of Nuclear Thermal Propulsion Systems |journal=Progress in Aerospace Sciences |publisher=Elsevier BV |volume=79 |pages=92–113 |doi=10.1016/j.paerosci.2015.09.001 |bibcode=2015PrAeS..79...92G |issn=0376-0421}}
On October 2, the Molten-Salt Reactor Experiment achieves criticality as the first uranium-233 reactor, at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Tennessee.{{cite web |last=Rosenthal |first=Murray |year=2009 |title=An account of Oak Ridge National Laboratory's thirteen nuclear reactors |url=https://sgp.fas.org/othergov/doe/ornl.pdf |access-date=2024-12-25}}
1969
On March 28, the Ultra-High Temperature Reactor Experiment achieves criticality at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Unlike other HTGRs, the helium coolant directly contacts the fuel and removes fission products, allowing outlet temperatures up to 1300 °C.[http://www.osti.gov/bridge/servlets/purl/4792064-Th6uOi/4792064.PDF ULTRA HIGH TEMPERATURE REACTOR EXPERIMENT (UHTREX) HAZARD REPORT], Los Alamos Science Document #LA-2689 (1962).{{cite report |title=OBSERVATIONS OF UHTREX FUEL ELEMENTS DURING REACTOR STARTUP OPERATIONS. |last=Weintraub |first=L |date=1969-01-01 |publisher=Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI) |doi=10.2172/4138747 |page= |doi-access=free}}

1970s

1973
On June 11, Alexander Vinogradov and colleagues at the USSR Academy of Sciences publishes the detection by Venera 8's gamma ray spectrometer of radiation from uranium, thorium, and potassium on Venus' surface.{{cite journal |last1=Surkov |first1=Yu.A. |last2=Kirnozov |first2=F.F. |date=1973-11-01 |title=The content of uranium, thorium, and potassium in the rocks of Venus as measured by Venera 8 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/0019103573900018 |journal=Icarus |publisher=Academic Press |volume=20 |issue=3 |pages=253–259 |doi=10.1016/0019-1035(73)90001-8 |bibcode=1973Icar...20..253V |issn=0019-1035 |access-date=2024-12-10|url-access=subscription }}
1975
In July, Kraftwerk Union AG begins work on the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant in Iran. It is the first commercial nuclear project in the Middle East. Work is paused following the 1979 Iranian revolution and completed in collaboration with Russia in 2011.{{cite journal |last1=Khlopkov |first1=Anton |year=2010 |title=Iran Breakthrough for the Russian Nuclear Industry |journal=Moscow Defense Brief |publisher=Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies |volume=1 |issue=19}}{{cite news |date=4 September 2011 |title=Iranian nuclear power station 'begins generating electricity' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/sep/04/iran-nuclear-power-bushehr-plant |access-date=4 September 2011 |work=The Guardian |location=London |agency=Reuters}}
1976
On October 28, US president Gerald Ford indefinitely suspends nuclear spent fuel reprocessing, and encourages other nations to do the same. The decision is based on the plutonium proliferation risk, especially the 1974 first Indian nuclear weapons test, Smiling Buddha.[http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=6561#axzz1zILTm1BT Gerald Ford 28 October 1976 Statement on Nuclear Policy] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180926112728/http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=6561#axzz1zILTm1BT|date=26 September 2018}}. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
1978
On November 5, voters in Austria reject a referendum to allow the startup of its first nuclear power plant, Zwentendorf, by 50.47% to 49.53%. A subsequent law makes Austria the first country to ban nuclear power.{{cite web |date=2012-01-17 |title=Austria |url=https://www.ensreg.eu/country-profile/austria#:~:text=In%201978%2C%20the%20Austrian%20electorate,on%20a%20Nuclear%2Dfree%20Austria. |access-date=2024-11-12 |website=ENSREG}}{{cite book |last1=Müller |first1=W.C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p4CpDgAAQBAJ&pg=PA98 |title=The Politics of Nuclear Energy in Western Europe |last2=Thurner |first2=P.W. |publisher=OUP Oxford |year=2017 |isbn=978-0-19-106408-1 |page=98 |access-date=2024-11-12}}
1979
On March 28, Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station's Unit 2 reactor experiences a partial core meltdown, in Pennsylvania, US. It is the worst nuclear accident in US history based on radioactive material released.{{cite web |title=Backgrounder on the Three Mile Island Accident |url=https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/3mile-isle.html |access-date=March 6, 2018 |publisher=U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission}} It is classed as a Level 5 nuclear accident out of seven on the International Nuclear Event Scale.{{cite journal |last=Spiegelberg-Planer |first=Rejane |date=September 2009 |title=A Matter of Degree |url=https://www.iaea.org/sites/default/files/publications/magazines/bulletin/bull51-1/51102744649.pdf |journal=IAEA Bulletin |location=Vienna, Austria |publisher=Division of Public Information, International Atomic Energy Agency |volume=51 |issue=1 |page=46 |access-date=October 16, 2021 |quote=A revised International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES) extends its reach. |postscript=Three Mile Island is mentioned on page 47}}{{cite web |date=August 1, 2008 |title=The International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale |url=https://www.iaea.org/sites/default/files/ines.pdf |access-date=October 16, 2021 |website=INES |publisher=International Atomic Energy Agency |quote=Level 5: Accident with Wider Consequences; Three Mile Island, USA, 1979 – Severe damage to the reactor core.}}

1980s

1981
On June 7, the Israeli Air Force carries out Operation Opera, bombing an unfinished secret Iraqi nuclear reactor. Ten Iraqi soldiers and one French civilian engineer were killed. France sold Iraq the Osiris-class research reactor which claimed it was for peaceful use.Polakow-Suransky, Sasha. The Unspoken Alliance: Israel's Secret Relationship with Apartheid South Africa. Pantheon (1 ed.), 2010. p. 145.File:IAEA 02790015 (5613115146).jpg, the worst nuclear accident in history.]]
1983
On December 31, Unit 1 at Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant comes online in the Lithuanian SSR. The first RBMK-1500 unit, at 4800 MWth, it is the largest nuclear reactor unit by thermal power ever. Alongside Unit 2 they are the only RBMK-1500 units completed. During testing the "positive scram" power excursion flaw in the RBMK design during graphite moderator-tipped control rod insertion is discovered. Other RBMK plants are alerted but changes are not made to prevent it triggering the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.{{Cite book |last1=Higginbotham |first1=Adam |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WwPJDwAAQBAJ&q=ignalina&pg=PA61 |title=Midnight in Chernobyl: The Untold Story of the World's Greatest Nuclear Disaster |date=4 February 2020 |publisher=Simon and Schuster |isbn=9781501134630}}
1985
In September, Superphénix, the largest fast reactor and breeder reactor ever, at 1,242 MWe, achieves criticality at Creys-Malville in France.{{cite web |last=Settimo |first=D |date=2008-07-01 |title=Creys-Malville (Superphenix) decommissioning program and sodium treatment |url=https://www.osti.gov/etdeweb/biblio/21239092 |access-date=2024-11-22 |website=OSTI.GOV}}
1986
On April 26, in the Ukrainian SSR, Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Unit 4 experiences a core meltdown during a test, the first Level 7 nuclear accident on the International Nuclear Event Scale. It destroys its containment building and spreads radioactive material across Europe.
1987
On January 7, the N reactor, the last US plutonium production reactor, is shut down at the Hanford Site, Washington. Modifications are begun to improve safety due to the water-cooled graphite-moderated design being shared by Chernobyl Unit 4, but the plant never reopens.{{cite web |date=1987-01-07 |title=Hanford's N Reactor shuts down for six months |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1987/01/07/Hanfords-N-Reactor-shuts-down-for-six-months/4034536994000/ |access-date=2024-12-07 |website=UPI}}

1990s

File:CANDU at Qinshan.jpg in Zhejiang, China, operational from 1991.]]1991
On December 15, Qinshan I, the first commercial reactor in China, is connected to the grid.{{cite web |date=24 Apr 2021 |title=QINSHAN-1 |url=https://pris.iaea.org/PRIS/CountryStatistics/ReactorDetails.aspx?current=62 |access-date=25 Apr 2021 |work=Power Reactor Information System |publisher=International Atomic Energy Agency}}
1993
On February 18, the United States and Russia sign the Megatons to Megawatts Program agreement. Russia agrees to dilute 500 metric tons of its excess weapons-grade highly enriched uranium to low-enriched uranium, using US-supplied natural uranium, for sale on the global market, over the course of 20 years. The deal is signed by William J. Burns and Viktor Mikhaylov in Washington D.C.{{Cite web |title=Arms Control website. |url=http://www.armscontrol.ru/start/docs/heu93t.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131103195654/http://www.armscontrol.ru/start/docs/heu93t.htm |archive-date=2013-11-03 |access-date=2013-10-31}}
1994
On October 21, the United States and North Korea sign the Agreed Framework. The DPRK agrees to freeze its operational 5 MWe and under construction 50 MWe and 200 MWe Magnox-style reactors at Nyongbyon and Taechon, seen as a plutonium production risk. The US assures the construction of two 1000 MWe light water reactors, likely OPR-1000s,{{cite web |last=Admin |first=Cms |date=1998-04-30 |title=Ulchin 3 and 4: the first Korean Standard Nuclear Power Plants |url=https://www.neimagazine.com/advanced-reactorsfusion/ulchin-3-and-4-the-first-korean-standard-nuclear-power-plants/ |access-date=2024-11-19 |website=Nuclear Engineering International}} by the formation of the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (KEDO).{{cite web |date=5 September 2017 |title="Prevented war with North Korea in 1994 – here's what needs to be done |url=https://inews.co.uk/essentials/news/world/north-korea-nuclear-negotiations-1994-2017-robert-gallucci/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170910220028/https://inews.co.uk/essentials/news/world/north-korea-nuclear-negotiations-1994-2017-robert-gallucci/ |archive-date=2017-09-10 |access-date=2017-09-10 |publisher=.inews.co.uk |language=en}} KEDO's director later comments the agreement is "a political orphan within two weeks of its signature" as the Republican Revolution ends Congressional funding for the organization.{{cite news |last=Behar |first=Richard |date=12 May 2003 |title=Rummy's North Korea Connection What did Donald Rumsfeld know about ABB's deal to build nuclear reactors there? And why won't he talk about it? |url=http://money.cnn.com:80/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2003/05/12/342316/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071122140941/http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2003/05/12/342316/ |archive-date=22 November 2007 |newspaper=CNN Money}}
1995
On January 8, Russia's Minatom and Iran's Atomic Energy Organization sign an agreement to complete the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant with two VVER-1000 PWR units.
1997
On July 2, Unit 7 begins commercial operation at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant, Japan,{{cite web |last=Nagano |first=K |date=2002-05-01 |title=Spent fuel management in Japan |url=https://www.osti.gov/etdeweb/biblio/20252557 |access-date=2024-11-19 |website=OSTI.GOV}} making it the largest nuclear power plant ever by net electrical power at 7,965 MWe.{{cite web |title=Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant |url=http://www.power-technology.com/projects/kashiwazaki/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090828104054/http://www.power-technology.com/projects/kashiwazaki/ |archive-date=28 August 2009 |access-date=20 March 2010 |publisher=Power Technologies}}{{cite web |title=TEPCO nuclear power stations |url=http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/challenge/energy/nuclear/plants-e.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110315013337/http://www.tepco.co.jp/en/challenge/energy/nuclear/plants-e.html |archive-date=15 March 2011 |access-date=20 March 2010}}{{cite web |title=Nuclear Power Reactors in Japan |url=http://www.iaea.org/PRIS/CountryStatistics/CountryDetails.aspx?current=JP |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121022003535/http://www.iaea.org/PRIS/CountryStatistics/CountryDetails.aspx?current=JP |archive-date=22 October 2012 |access-date=9 March 2014 |publisher=International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)}}

2000s

2000
On December 21, the HTR-10 prototype high-temperature helium-cooled pebble-bed reactor achieves criticality at Tsinghua University, China.{{cite web |last=Yuanhui |first=Xu |date=2002 |title=The HTR-10 project and its further development |url=https://inis.iaea.org/search/search.aspx?orig_q=RN:33033030 |access-date=2024-11-30 |website=INIS}}
2001
On June 26, the United States Department of Energy classifies the SILEX process of uranium laser enrichment, originally developed by the Australian company Silex Systems.{{cite web |date=2001-06-26 |title=Record of Decision To Classify Certain Elements of the SILEX Process as Privately Generated Restricted Data |url=https://sgp.fas.org/othergov/doe/silex.html |access-date=2025-01-03 |website=FAS Project on Government Secrecy (1991-2021)}}
2007
On September 6, the Israeli Air Force carries out Operation Outside the Box, bombing an unfinished secret Syrian nuclear reactor in Deir ez-Zor Governorate. Allegedly 10 North Korean scientists are killed, and Syria initially considers a chemical weapons response. Iran reportedly provided $1 billion in funding to North Korea for its construction, which is the same gas-cooled graphite-moderated design as the Nyongbyon reactor and intended it as a backup to their enrichment facilities. The IAEA confirms the reactor in 2011 and Israel confirms the attack in 2018.{{Cite web |date=21 March 2018 |title=More than a decade on, Israel admits to strike on suspected Syrian nuclear reactor |url=http://www.france24.com/en/20180321-more-decade-israel-admits-strike-suspected-syria-nuclear-reactor}}

2010s

2011
On March 11, during electrical outage from the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, Fukushima Daiichi reactor units 1, 2, and 3 experience partial core meltdowns, and release radioactive material into the environment.{{cite web |date=2024-04-29 |title=Fukushima Daiichi Accident |url=https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/safety-and-security/safety-of-plants/fukushima-daiichi-accident |access-date=2024-11-24 |website=World Nuclear Association}} It is the second Level 7 nuclear accident on the International Nuclear Event Scale, making it the worst accident since Chernobyl,{{cite web |title=The international nuclear and radiological event scale |url=https://www.iaea.org/sites/default/files/ines.pdf |access-date=3 November 2024 |website=www.iaea.org |publisher=IAEA}} and influences divestment from nuclear power in Germany, Italy, Belgium, Spain, and Switzerland.
On September 3, Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant in Iran, the first commercial nuclear reactor in the Middle East, begins supplying grid electricity.{{cite news |date=4 September 2011 |title=Iranian nuclear power station 'begins generating electricity' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/sep/04/iran-nuclear-power-bushehr-plant |access-date=4 September 2011 |work=The Guardian |location=London |agency=Reuters}}
2013
On May 22, the Australian company Silex Systems, working with a consortium of General Electric, Hitachi, and Cameco, completes the first demonstration of a laser enrichment facility at a test loop in Wilmington, North Carolina.{{cite web |author=SPIE Europe Ltd |title=Laser uranium enrichment project completes test phase |url=https://optics.org/news/4/5/31 |access-date=2024-12-24 |website=optics.org - The Business of Photonics}}{{cite web |last=Brumm |first=Jim |date=2013-05-28 |title=GE hits milestone with laser enrichment of uranium |url=https://www.starnewsonline.com/story/news/2013/05/28/ge-hits-milestone-with-laser-enrichment-of-uranium/30938243007/ |access-date=2024-12-24 |website=Wilmington Star-News}}
On October 11, the Dongfang Electric generator stator of the Taishan 1 EPR is installed in Guangdong, China. At 1750 MWe it is said to be the largest single-piece electrical generator in the world.{{cite web |date=2013-10-11 |title=Taishan generator stator lift |url=https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/articles/taishan-generator-stator-lift |access-date=2024-11-22 |website=World Nuclear News}}
In December, the 20-year Megatons to Megawatts Program successfully concludes with the final Russian delivery of low-enriched uranium to the US. Critics later say that it led to Rosatom's dominance over the global enriched uranium market.{{cite web |date=2013-12-11 |title=Megatons to Megawatts program concludes |url=https://world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Megatons-to-Megawatts-program-concludes |access-date=2024-11-12 |website=World Nuclear News}}
2016
On
2017
In November, Russia completes the first test of the 9M730 Burevestnik, the first nuclear-powered cruise missile and the first nuclear-powered aircraft of any kind. {{cite news |last=Panda |first=Ankit |date=6 February 2019 |title=Russia Conducts Test of Nuclear-Powered Cruise Missile: The test is the thirteenth to date to involve the experimental Burevestnik. |url=https://thediplomat.com/2019/02/russia-conducts-test-of-nuclear-powered-cruise-missile/ |access-date=11 October 2019 |work=Diplomat}}{{cite news |date=13 September 2020 |title=Russian nuclear-powered cruise missile could 'circle the globe for years' |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/09/13/russia-has-nuclear-powered-cruise-missile-could-circle-globe/ |access-date=14 September 2020 |publisher=The Daily Telegraph}}
2018
In December, the Taishan 1 EPR begins operation in Guangdong, China. At 1660 MWe it is the largest nuclear reactor unit by electrical power ever.{{cite news |date=14 December 2018 |title=First EPR enters commercial operation |url=https://world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/First-EPR-enters-commercial-operation |access-date=16 December 2018 |publisher=World Nuclear News}}{{cite journal |last=Hargreaves |first=Ben |date=2008-04-23 |title=Designs on the future: deals in the US and Europe will prove pivotal to decisions on the UK's reactor programme. |url=https://go.gale.com/ps/i.do?id=GALE%7CA186320164&sid=googleScholar&v=2.1&it=r&linkaccess=abs&issn=09536639&p=AONE&sw=w&userGroupName=anon%7E6bf34e8e&aty=open-web-entry |journal=Professional Engineering Magazine |publisher=Caspian Publishing Ltd. |volume=21 |issue=7 |pages=41–43 |issn=0953-6639 |access-date=2024-11-22}}
2019
On August 8, a Russian explosion and radiation accident kills five military and civilian specialists off the coast of Nyonoksa, on the White Sea floor. Russia claimed the accident was related to an "isotope power source for a liquid-fuelled rocket engine".{{Cite news |last=Roth |first=Andrew |date=10 August 2019 |title=Russian nuclear agency confirms role in rocket test explosion |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/aug/10/russian-nuclear-agency-confirms-role-in-rocket-test-explosion |access-date=2019-08-10 |work=The Guardian}}{{Cite news |last=Kramer |first=Andrew E. |date=10 August 2019 |title=Russia Confirms Radioactive Materials Were Involved in Deadly Blast |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/10/world/europe/russia-explosion-radiation.html |access-date=2019-08-10 |work=The New York Times}} A US delegate tells the United Nations General Assembly First Committee that a nuclear reaction occurred.{{cite web |date=10 October 2019 |title=2019 UN General Assembly First Committee of the United States of America General Debate Statement by Thomas G. DiNanno |url=http://statements.unmeetings.org/media2/21998264/united-states.pdf |access-date=11 October 2019 |website=statements.unmeetings.org}} CNBC and Reuters report it occurred during recovery of a previously tested 9M730 Burevestnik nuclear-powered cruise missile left on the seabed to cool the fission core's decay heat.{{cite news |last=Macias |first=Amanda |date=21 August 2019 |title=US intel report says mysterious Russian explosion was triggered by recovery mission of nuclear-powered missile, not a test |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/29/intel-says-russian-explosion-was-not-from-nuclear-powered-missile-test.html |access-date=11 October 2019 |work=CNBC}}{{cite web | title=Russia fired new ballistic missile at Ukraine, Putin says | website=Reuters | date=2024-11-22 | url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/russia-launches-intercontinental-ballistic-missile-attack-ukraine-kyiv-says-2024-11-21/ | access-date=2024-12-01}}
On December 8, the US NRC grants a 20-year extension to Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Station Units 3 and 4, the first US reactors licensed for an 80-year lifetime.{{cite web |title=What's the Lifespan for a Nuclear Reactor? Much Longer Than You Might Think |url=https://www.energy.gov/ne/articles/whats-lifespan-nuclear-reactor-much-longer-you-might-think |access-date=2024-11-30 |website=Energy.gov}}
On December 19, Akademik Lomonosov, the first commercial floating nuclear power plant, begins operation in Chukotka, Russia.{{cite web |date=2019-12-19 |title=Russia connects floating plant to grid |url=http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Russia-connects-floating-plant-to-grid |access-date=2019-12-20 |website=World Nuclear News}}

2020s

2022
On February 24, during their invasion of Ukraine, Russian Armed Forces capture the Chernobyl exclusion zone including the power plant.{{cite news |date=24 February 2022 |title=Chernobyl power plant captured by Russian forces -Ukrainian official |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/chernobyl-power-plant-captured-by-russian-forces-ukrainian-official-2022-02-24/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220224174356/https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/chernobyl-power-plant-captured-by-russian-forces-ukrainian-official-2022-02-24/ |archive-date=24 February 2022 |access-date=24 February 2022 |work=Reuters}}
On March 4, Russian Armed Forces capture Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant and thermal plant, the first military attack and capture of operational commercial nuclear reactors.{{cite web |date=2024-12-03 |title=Ukraine: Russia-Ukraine War and Nuclear Energy |url=https://world-nuclear.org/information-library/country-profiles/countries-t-z/ukraine-russia-war-and-nuclear-energy |access-date=2024-12-10 |website=World Nuclear Association}}{{Cite news |last1=Polityuk |first1=Pavel |last2=Vasovic |first2=Aleksandar |last3=Irish |first3=John |date=2022-03-04 |title=Russian forces seize huge Ukrainian nuclear plant, fire extinguished |url=https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/top-wrap-1-europes-largest-nuclear-power-plant-fire-after-russian-attack-mayor-2022-03-04/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220304100517/https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/top-wrap-1-europes-largest-nuclear-power-plant-fire-after-russian-attack-mayor-2022-03-04/ |archive-date=4 March 2022 |access-date=2022-03-04 |work=Reuters |language=en}} The largest nuclear plant in Europe, it previously provided 23% of Ukraine's electricity.{{cite web |title=SS "Zaporizhzhia NPP" |url=https://www.energoatom.com.ua/en/about-6/separated-59/npp_zp-60 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201027004706/https://www.energoatom.com.ua/en/about-6/separated-59/npp_zp-60 |archive-date=27 October 2020 |access-date=25 October 2020 |website=www.energoatom.com.ua}} Rosatom claims control while the plant continues to be operated by Ukrainian Energoatom staff under Russian orders. The six reactors are placed in various levels of shutdown.{{Cite web |last=Petrenko |first=Roman |date=12 March 2022 |title=Invaders seize Zaporizhzhia power plant and claims it is part of Rosatom |url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2022/03/12/7330624/ |access-date=2022-03-12 |website=Ukrayinska Pravda |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Hunder |first=Max |date=2 December 2023 |title=Ukraine's Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant suffered power outage, energy ministry says |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraines-russian-occupied-zaporizhzhia-nuclear-plant-suffered-power-outage-2023-12-02/ |access-date=2024-01-12 |website=Reuters}}
On April 1, Russian Armed Forces withdraw from the Chernobyl exclusion zone.{{cite news |last1=Suliman |first1=Adela |last2=Francis |first2=Ellen |last3=Stern |first3=David L. |last4=Bearak |first4=Max |last5=Villegas |first5=Paulina |date=2022-04-01 |title=Russian troops have withdrawn from Chernobyl, Ukraine agency says |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/04/01/ukraine-chernobyl-russia-troops-withdraw/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220401141559/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/04/01/ukraine-chernobyl-russia-troops-withdraw/ |archive-date=1 April 2022 |access-date=2022-04-02 |newspaper=The Washington Post}} Armed Forces of Ukraine re-enter two days later.{{cite web |author-last=Kamenev |author-first=Maxim |date=22 June 2022 |title=How Russia took over Chernobyl |url=https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/odr/chernobyl-russian-occupation-nuclear-radiation-effects/ |access-date=24 June 2022 |work=openDemocracy}}
On September 11, Unit 6 at Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, the last operating reactor, is disconnected from the grid.{{cite web |date=2024-11-13 |title=Ukraine: Current status of nuclear power installations |url=https://www.oecd-nea.org/jcms/pl_66130/ukraine-current-status-of-nuclear-power-installations |access-date=2024-12-10 |website=Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA)}}