Harnessing the power of the atom has been a major goal of both science and science fiction, capturing the public imagination with the promise of cheap, clean energy. The initial idea was developed until December 20, 1951, when a switch was flicked and the Experimental Breeder Reactor 1 (EBR1) was switched on, becoming the first nuclear reactor to generate electrical energy, and therefore become the first nuclear power plant.
The heat generated from the reaction was used to turn water into steam, turning turbines to generate electricity. On its first successful run the reactor produced enough power to run just four lightbulbs. The next day it produced enough to power the entire research facility, and today nuclear power stations, many of them based on this original design, provide some 16 percent of the world's electricity.
Walter Zinn (1906-2000), the chief scientist behind the work, started his career in nuclear engineering in 1939, Just three years later, in 1942, he became the first to produce a self-sustaining nuclear reaction as part of the Manhattan Project, which was developing the nuclear bomb. After World War II ended in 1945, the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) assigned resources to research peaceful use of the power of the atom, and develop nuclear power for electricity generation.
The reactor EBR1 ran until 1963, continuing research into nuclear energy. Zinn himself continued to refine the reactor design. His boiling-water reactor, among many of his later designs in the field, became the prototype for commercial nuclear power plants across the globe.
