(CP-1)
Located at the
University of Chicago, underneath an abandoned
football stadium (
Stagg Field), Chicago Pile Number One or CP-1 went critical on December 2, 1942.
Constructed in an abandoned
squash court it was here that
mankind first harnessed the
power of the
atom. Although it only produced 0.5
watts of power it was all that was needed to enter the
next phase of the
United States' development of
The Bomb.
The pile contained 771,000
pounds of
graphite, 80,590 pounds of
uranium oxide and 12,400 pounds of
uranium metal when it went "
critical." It cost about $1
million to produce and build. The
pile took the form of a flattened
ellipsoid which measured 25
feet wide and 20 feet high.