Topic summary
Atomic reactor
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Nuclear reactor.
Terminology
During early 1940s nuclear research, the phrase "atomic pile" was used to refer to any assembly involving uranium and attempts at neutron multiplication, most of which were subcritical. After Chicago Pile-1 demonstrated a self-sustaining chain reaction, the "reactor" terminology became more common. The phrases "nuclear pile" and "atomic reactor" were also common.