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This Day in Nuclear History
February 24th
Notable nuclear events that happened on this date throughout history.
๐ On February 24th
1953
Eisenhower's 'Atoms for Peace' speech
President Dwight Eisenhower delivers his landmark 'Atoms for Peace' address to the UN General Assembly, proposing the creation of an international atomic energy agency to promote peaceful uses of nuclear technology - leading to the founding of the IAEA in 1957.
1968
NPT opened for signature
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty is opened for signature in Washington, Moscow, and London. It represents the international community's commitment to preventing the spread of nuclear weapons.
1986
RBMK reactor design flaw revealed
Following Chernobyl, Soviet scientists acknowledge that the RBMK reactor's positive void coefficient - which made it dangerously unstable at low power - was known but not communicated to operators.
๐ Browse Nuclear History
January 1
1942
Manhattan Project formally established
1957
EURATOM Treaty signed
January 17
1966
Palomares B-52 crash - 4 H-bombs lost
January 21
1954
USS Nautilus - world's first nuclear submarine launched
January 22
2021
Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons enters into force
February 3
1958
Tybee Island nuclear bomb lost
March 5
1970
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty enters into force
March 11
2011
Fukushima Daiichi accident begins
March 28
1979
Three Mile Island accident
April 2
1979
TMI emergency declared over
April 26
1986
Chernobyl Reactor 4 explodes
May 22
1968
USS Scorpion sinks with 99 crew
June 1
1946
Operation Crossroads announced
July 16
1945
Trinity - the world's first nuclear explosion
July 26
1963
Partial Test Ban Treaty signed
August 6
1945
Hiroshima atomic bomb dropped
August 9
1945
Nagasaki atomic bomb dropped
August 29
1949
Soviet Union tests its first nuclear bomb
September 29
1957
Kyshtym disaster
October 1
1958
NASA established
October 8
1957
Windscale Pile No. 1 catches fire
October 30
1961
Tsar Bomba - largest nuclear explosion ever
November 1
1952
USA detonates first hydrogen bomb
December 2
1942
World's first nuclear chain reaction - Chicago Pile-1
December 5
2022
First nuclear fusion ignition achieved
December 20
1951
First electricity generated from nuclear power