The Mighty Atom: Demystifying the Scale and Safety of Nuclear

Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.

- Marie Curie

I want to start with a simple wish: for everyone to understand the atom, not as a whole, but as parts that are of interest to this energy hungry world. The intention is to write a series of articles on understanding the scale and safety of nuclear energy, and how this source of energy is currently harnessed for peaceful purposes. No one has ever doubted the massive energy that is contained in the atom(s) in question here (U, Th, Pu), or the safety concerns if that massive energy is unleashed in an uncontrolled manner. However, in this battle of scale vs safety, the humanity was able to create controlled fission reaction in the year 1942¹, and celebrated it with a bottle of Chianti brought to the group by Eugene Wigner and distributed in paper cups.

Bottle of Chianti, signed by 48 men and one woman to celebrate the controlled chain reactor. Source: Argonne National Lab

The story of fission is no less fascinating. The origin of word ‘atom’ comes from the greek word ‘atomos’ (a- ‘not’ + temnein ‘to cut’), which means something that cannot be divided, however, in 1938 the definition was proven wrong, and the mighty atom was split², however, the name still continues as a reminder that something is considered impossible till it is done.

Source: Adventures inside the atom

Neutron, a sub-atomic particle completely unknown to humankind until 1932 was discovered³ by Professor Chadwick. After 2 weeks of experiments, he published ‘The Possible Existence of Neutron’, and then verified his findings through a definitive paper ‘The Existence of Neutron’. Until then, the atom was known to consist only two sub-atomic particles, electron and proton. Scientists, who are still eager to probe something with another, soon realized that this newly discovered particle, neutron, as an uncharged but fairly massive particle, could be used to probe other nuclei.

While this probing continued by many scientists including Fermi, it was in December 1938 when Hahn and Strassmann were continuing their experiments of bombarding Uranium with neutrons, they found isotopes of Barium amongst the decay products. There was no explanation for that, they were wondering if they have cracked open the Uranium nucleus? How is that possible! So, Hahn then sent a letter to Meitner. Meitner, over the Christmas break, shared this letter with her visiting nephew Otto Frisch. Soon after doing the calculations to make everything fit, they published the article in January in Nature, and called the process ‘fission'⁴.

Then within next 4 years, the humans were able to control the fission. And since then, this source of energy has been producing massive amount of clean energy for last 75 years, and powering the world.

Within a decade, a particle [neutron] completely unknown to humankind, made it possible to harness the most powerful source of energy on the planet.

The world we live in now, is very different from then. The challenges that our society faces today are different. Together, we will explore how this source of energy can plan a major role in today's world. When we talk about energy transition, what role nuclear has in that. While it is natural for me to go into physics whenever it is required, I intend to explain it in an empowering way, so that we can fear less and become bold in our ambitions. Let's make peace with nuclear, by understanding it and by understanding the way we can utilize it.

The articles on this space will be full of numbers, data, graphs, equations on aspects of technology and economics. We will talk about new and old technology, large, small, micro, floating reactors and anything and everything from fascinating to bizzare. If you are interested, consider subscribing to this newsletter.

1. Promethean Boldness https://www.ne.anl.gov/About/legacy/probo.shtml

2. ADVENTURES INSIDE THE ATOM, General Electric, National Archives (1948): www.osti.gov/opennet/manhattan-project-history/Resources/adventures_atom.htm

3. May 1932: Chadwick Reports the Discovery of the Neutron: www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/200705/physicshistory.cfm

4. Discovery of nuclear fission: https://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/200712/physicshistory.cfm