There was no big bang, but this humble beginning was the true dawn of the nuclear age.
Nevertheless, it was a radiation hazard to everyone in the vicinity.
The reactor was renamed Chicago Pile-2.
CP-2 was joined by another reactor Chicago Pile-3.
Both reactors operated for ten years before they outlived their usefulness, and was shutdown in 1954.
All buildings on Site A were torn down and were also buried.
The excavation was then backfilled, leveled, and landscaped.
The top of the CP-3 reactor shield is approximately 23 feet below ground surface.
Rubble and building debris fill the excavation both laterally and vertically to within a few feet of the surface.
Burial area is marked by six corner markers 100ft from this center point.
There is no danger to visitors.
U.S. Department of Energy 1978.
A sketch of Chicago Pile-1.
Photo credit:fpdcc.com
A mountain biker rides past the stone marking at Site A.
Photo credit: Philip Scott Andrews/The Wall Street Journal
Marker at Site A.
Photo credit:Federal Government of the United States
Sources:Pruned/Wikipedia
