History

Enrico Fermi first experimented with nuclear fission in 1934 when he bombarded uranium with neutrons. Scientists soon realized that the neutrons split the nucleus of the uranium atoms and that if the resulting fission could release more neutrons, a sustainable nuclear chain reaction would result. Major governments around the world began to invest in the nuclear research.
On December 2, 1942, the first man-made nuclear reactor came on line in Chicago as part of the Manhattan Project, a widespread attempt by the U.S. government to research nuclear power. The implementation of plutonium led to creation of the first nuclear weapons. A uranium based explosive named "little boy" and the plutonium based "fat man" were dropped on Japan in 1945 to end World War II.

Significance

The existence of the atom bomb ushered the world into a new age of energy research. In the United States, the research was kept confidential as to hide the information from enemy governments. Scientists in the early days worked primarily on military applications. In 1951, energy was produced by a nuclear reactor, prompting President Dwight D. Eisenhower a few years later to give his "Atoms for Peace" speech in which he called for the peaceful implementation of nuclear power for the world.
By 1954, the U.S.S.R. Was generating electricity for its power grid. At the first Geneva conference in 1955, the European Economic Community and the International Atomic Energy Agency were launched in order to promote a safe and sustainable nuclear powered world.
By the 1970's and the oil crisis, countries were moving in the direction of establishing many nuclear power plants to meet the world's energy needs. France was on the forefront, ultimately creating a system that was responsible for 80% of its energy needs.

When fossil fuel costs fell in the 1980's, demand for nuclear energy wained with the fears of radiation and nuclear proliferation by rogue countries. Nuclear weapons became larger and deadlier in the throws of the Cold War, ultimately enough nuclear weapons were present to destroy the planet many times over. Other countries began to develop nuclear power for use and the IAEA began to monitor those countries to prevent the creation of weapons grade plutonium. Nuclear reactors had been being installed in submarines and naval ships in NATO and the Soviet Union for years, creating whole fleets running on nuclear energy.

The largest push back against nuclear power came after two events rattled public awareness of the dangers potentially posed by this form of power. In 1979, the nuclear reactor at Three Mile Island had a partial core meltdown which resulted in the release of a substantial amount of radioactive krypton. The lack of information by government sources during the initial panic, led many to question the future of nuclear energy.
The most disastrous event in took place at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in 1986 in the Soviet Union. Reactor number four exploded at 1:23 AM, releasing a plume of radioactive fallout larger than that left in the wake of the Hiroshima bombing. Initially, only two people died, but over a half million civilians were exposed to the radioactive fallout, making exact figures impossible to determine. The IAEA attributes fifty-six people directly killed by the blast with a possible additional 4,000 individuals with cancer.

After the effects of Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, the worldwide community questioned the safety of nuclear energy. Beyond the obvious worries of accidents, the questions about what to do with spent plutonium has yet to be determined. 95% of spent fuel can be reprocessed with modern technologies, however, the remaining 5% creates a burden of storage, as the spent fuel is deadly for thousands of years. Attempts to create a storage facility on Yucca Mountain have stalled and deals are trying to be made to store large amounts of spent fuel in Siberia with Russian assistance.