Atomic Energy

ATOMIC ENERGY

Atomic energy is energy produced by atoms. The term originated in 1903 when Ernest Rutherford began to speak of the possibility of atomic energy. The energy released by a nuclear reaction, especially by fission or fusion. The Bombarding of Uranium with Neutrons The uranium divided into two Roughly equal parts this process is called fission. On December 2nd,1942, an experiment by Fermi in the squash court-come-laboratory, proved that it was possible to unlock atomic energy in a controlled way. Fermi had created the first ever self-sustaining chain reaction. Szilard, who had worked with Fermi on CP-1, remarked that "this will go down as a black day in the history of Mankind." Controlled, this reaction potentially had untold benefits for Mankind. Uncontrolled, it could unleash awesome power. Atomic fission had the ability to unleash vast amounts of energy. The first man to realise this was Leo Szilard - a Hungarian physicist. Szilard believed that if you could control atomic fission, you could boil water to create steam to drive the generators in power stations. If you deliberately set out not to control atomic fission, you could create a vast explosive force which, Szilard believed, could destroy a city. In later years, Szilard said that "there was very little doubt in my mind that the world was headed for grief."

Nuclear energy regarded as a source of power. Also called atomic energy.
Atomic power unleashed it full might on August 6th 1945 when the "Enola Gay" flew to its target Hiroshima. On board was one bomb - "Little Boy". It had enormous explosive power, more than anybody on board the ‘plane could ever have imagined.Hiroshima was flattened. On the 9th August, the same destruction happened to Nagasaki. This time, the bomb was known as "Fat Man". Why did both bombs have such colossal explosive power?
The UN and the nuclear age were born almost simultaneously.  The horror of the Second World War, culminating in the nuclear blasts at Hiroshima and...