Nuclear’s history is even longer

OPINION:

Rep. Jeff Duncan points out in his recent commentary piece that American physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer is remembered for his work on the Manhattan Project (the development of the nuclear bomb).

He then gives the reader the impression that nuclear power generation began in 1944 (“U.S. nuclear power leadership started with Oppenheimer,” web, Aug. 2).

Nuclear power, however, was first demonstrated when Enrico Fermi led the University of Chicago team that designed and built Chicago Pile-1 (a nuclear reactor), which went critical Dec. 2, 1942. It demonstrated a self-sustaining nuclear-fission chain reaction.

But why quibble? Mr. Duncan’s article should be under every climate activist’s pillow. 

JAMES GEKAS

University Park, Maryland