Search the development of atomic and nuclear physics, reactor technology, civilian nuclear power, nuclear weapons, international safeguards, arms control, accidents and the people who shaped the nuclear age.
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A short orientation to the three interlocking strands represented in the archive, followed by selected milestones and contributors.
Modern nuclear physics grew from work on atomic structure, spectra, isotopes and radioactivity. Quantum models clarified electron energy states, while experiments with heavy nuclei led to the 1938–39 interpretation of uranium fission. Neutron behaviour, chain reactions and reactor physics then connected fundamental research directly to energy production and weapon design.
The controlled chain reaction demonstrated by Chicago Pile‑1 in 1942 established the reactor principle. Experimental and production reactors followed, then electricity generation at EBR‑I, Obninsk, Calder Hall and Shippingport. Civil nuclear power expanded internationally, while accidents such as Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima reshaped regulation, safety engineering and public debate.
Fission discoveries and wartime fears led to government weapons programmes, culminating in the Manhattan Project, the Trinity test and the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. The post-war arms race added thermonuclear weapons and strategic delivery systems, alongside test-ban negotiations, the Nuclear Non‑Proliferation Treaty, safeguards, disarmament initiatives and continuing proliferation disputes.
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