The nuclear age began in Germany in the 1930s in the lab of chemist Otto Hahn. Hahn was attempting to produce radium (In great need during the war) by bombarding uranium atoms with neutrons. To his surprise, he ended up with a much lighter element, barium.
That was 1938; This started the race for the power of the atom. Just four years later, Canada entered the nuclear age in cooperation with the British. Wartime, 1942: The British wanted a safe place to conduct nuclear experiments; Since their country feared invasion by the nazi's or bombing attacks, Canada provided the haven the British needed in return for an opportunity to work in the project.
The leader of the team that crossed the Atlantic to Canada was Hans von Halban, who
, along with Dr. Lew Kowarski, had escaped from the Institute Du Radium in Paris one step
ahead of the invading German army. They took the world supply of 200 Kg of heavy
Having pioneered the chain reaction using uranium and heavy water, the scientists
applied their knowledge and their heavy water to the new Canadian nuclear industry.
On September 5th, 1945, near Ottawa, the team started up the first operating nuclear
reactor outside the USA. Of course, the output was minuscule, but the significance was
immense; the principle of getting energy from splitting atoms in a controlled chain
reaction (fission) was established beyond doubt. It was now the job of the scientists and
engineers to put it to practical use.
A nuclear reactor is a device that produces heat. In a nuclear power station, the
reactor performs the same function as a boiler in conventional coal, gas, or oil-fired station. Whether from a conventional
boiler or a nuclear reactor, heat is required to turn water into steam. The steam is used to
spin large turbines, which in turn drive generators that produce electricity. A reactor
creates heat by splitting uranium atoms. This is called 'Nuclear reac...