ABSTRACT
The discovery of fission in 1938 provided the basis of a new source of energy that was potentially greater than the entire world reserves of fossil fuels. The first experimental fission reactor was operated in a converted squash court in Chicago in 1942 by Enrico Fermi. This was followed by the rapid development in the 1950s and 1960s of higher-power reactor systems for the generation of electricity and also for marine propulsion. This slowed down in the 1980s and 1990s, and many of the early plants have now been decommissioned. However, nuclear energy still supplies a significant portion of the power requirements of most of the advanced countries of the world and further programmes of construction are being undertaken to complement other low-carbon energy sources.
