CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, is a laboratory that studies particles and their interactions, but is not concerned with nuclear energy or weaponry. The name is derived from European Council for Nuclear Research, a provisional body founded in 1952 with the mandate of establishing a world-class fundamental physics research organization in Europe. At that time, pure physics research concentrated on understanding the inside of the atomic nucleus and the word ‘nuclear’ in the name reflects this. Very soon, the work at the laboratory went beyond the study of the atomic nucleus and onto sub-nuclear particles and their interactions. With the exploration of sub-nuclear scales, the field of research was renamed “particle physics” which describes more accurately the current work at CERN, even though the Laboratory kept its original name and acronym.

Nuclear power plants produce electricity from the heat released in nuclear chain reactions. CERN is not operating a nuclear reactor and it has only negligible amounts of fissile material, therefore no chain reaction can be sustained at CERN. The reactions studied at CERN are initiated by particle beams and cannot lead to a chain reaction.

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