Lemont, Illinois: Touch A Piece Of The First Nuclear Reactor
Rub your finger on atomic history. One of many displays in the Argonne Information Center at America's first national nuclear lab.
Argonne Information Center
- Address:
- Northgate Rd, Lemont, IL
- Directions:
- Argonne Information Center. I-55 exit 273A. Drive south on Cass Ave. a half-mile to Northgate Rd. Turn right (west) onto Northgate Rd and drive another half-mile to the Information Center.
- Hours:
- M-F 9-5 (reservations required). Must be 16 or older. (Call to verify) Local health policies may affect hours and access.
- Phone:
- 630-252-5562
- Admission:
- Free
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The world's first nuclear reactor was built at the University of Chicago under the direction of Nobel Prize winning physicist Enrico Fermi. A few months later the reactor and Fermi's team moved west to pursue nuclear reactor development, and the country's first national laboratory, Argonne National Laboratory, was born. You can touch a chunk of the graphite used for that reactor at the Argonnes Nuclear Energy Discovery Center. You won't have to worry about your finger turning into a mutant octopus tentacle because the graphite doesn't spew any radiation.
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