St. Louis Science Center: Astronomy Fact Of The Day: November 25, 2021

St. Louis MO

26 November, 2021

9:31 AM

Description

Press release from St. Louis Science Center: November 25, 2021 Today in 1960, the first atomic reactor for research and development began operation at Richland, Washington. The plant was built to determine the suitability of plutonium as a reactor fuel. There was a need to recycle plutonium resulting from weapons production. Plutonium would go on to be used as a power source in deep space missions, including the Voyager space probes. This press release was produced by St. Louis Science Center. The views expressed here are the author's own.