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Oak Ridge

(Encyclopedia)Oak Ridge, city (1990 pop. 27,310), Anderson and Roane counties, E Tenn., on Black Oak Ridge and the Clinch River; founded by the U.S. government 1942, inc. as an independent city 1959. For years Oak ...

Szilard, Leo

(Encyclopedia)Szilard, Leo sĭˈlärd [key], 1898–1964, American nuclear physicist and biophysicist, born in Hungary. He was educated at the Budapest Institute of Technology and the Univ. of Berlin, receiving a d...

hydrogen bomb

(Encyclopedia)hydrogen bomb or H-bomb, weapon deriving a large portion of its energy from the nuclear fusion of hydrogen isotopes. In an atomic bomb, uranium or plutonium is split into lighter elements that togethe...

power, electric

(Encyclopedia)power, electric, energy dissipated in an electrical or electronic circuit or device per unit of time. The electrical energy supplied by a current to an appliance enables it to do work or provide some ...

Brookhaven National Laboratory

(Encyclopedia)Brookhaven National Laboratory, scientific research center, at Upton (town of Brookhaven), Long Island, N.Y. It was founded in 1947 by Associated Universities, a management corporation sponsored by ni...

Argonne National Laboratory

(Encyclopedia)Argonne National Laboratory, research center, based in Argonne, Ill., 27 mi (43 km) SW of downtown Chicago, with other facilities at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, 50 mi (80 km) W of Idaho...

Aiken

(Encyclopedia)Aiken, city (2020 pop. 32,025), seat of Aiken co., W S.C.; inc. 1835. A resort and polo center and a training area for Thoroughbreds, Aiken has apparel, printing and publishing, drug, and ...

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

(Encyclopedia)Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, scientific research centers run by the Univ. of California, located in Berkeley, Calif., and Livermore, Calif., respec...

Bethe, Hans Albrecht

(Encyclopedia)Bethe, Hans Albrecht bāˈtə [key], 1906–2005, American physicist, b. Strassburg, Germany (now Strasbourg, France), educated at Frankfurt and Munich universities. Fleeing Nazi Germany in 1933, he c...

Three Mile Island

(Encyclopedia)Three Mile Island, site of a nuclear power plant 10 mi (16 km) south of Harrisburg, Pa. On Mar. 28, 1979, failure of the cooling system of the No. 2 nuclear reactor led to overheating and partial melt...