1941
George C. Laurence designs one of the world’s first nuclear reactors at the National Research Council (NRC) laboratories in Ottawa.
1944
NRC builds a nuclear research facility in Chalk River, Ont.
1946
The Atomic Energy Control Board (AECB) is established as Canada’s federal nuclear regulator.
1947
The National Research Experimental (NRX) reactor — then the most powerful reactor in the world — comes into operation at Chalk River.
1952
The Government of Canada establishes Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) as a Crown corporation
1952
The NRX reactor suffers an accident with reactor-core damage — the first accident of this type. The reactor is decontaminated, rebuilt, and restarted after 14 months.
Liisa Tuominen – Ottawa Citizen – March 16, 2015.