THIS DAY – AT 10:36 A.M. ET:   December 2nd is a special day.  It was on this day in 1942 that scientists at the University of Chicago achieved the world's first self-sustained nuclear chain reaction, a major step in the development of the atomic bomb.  As a U of C student, I passed the plaque commemorating the achievement, done under the leadership of Enrico Fermi, each day. 

What is important to recall is how quickly we developed a nuclear weapon during World War II, before the age of modern computers.  It is important because we are today engaged in a negotiation with Iran that centers on how quickly the Iranians could "break out" to an atomic bomb from their current level of development.  After the Chicago experiment succeeded it took us little more than two and a half years to complete development, using technology that was horse-and-buggy by today's standards.  The first nuclear device was exploded on July 16, 1945, in New Mexico.  An operational bomb was used against Hiroshima only three weeks later, and a second against Nagasaki a few days after that. 

The bombs ended World War II.  They were ghastly weapons, but they probably saved millions of lives.  And "breakout" today by Iran could occur very quickly, before we realized it was happening.  A thought to remember.

December 2, 2014