Throughout the history of nuclear power, women have played a critical role, being the creators of various applications and advances. In the past female scientists have faced opposition, not been recognized or driven out for the scientific positions they held, but nevertheless each of them fought courageously to the end.
Thanks to their persistence and strong spirit there are many recognized great female nuclear engineers, project managers, inspectors, chemists, physicists, environmentalists that the world can be proud of.
One of the most prominent female nuclear scientists is Maria Curie. Born in 1867, from an early age she followed in her father’s footsteps, being keenly interested in mathematics and physics. She graduated from the physics department, becoming the best student of the graduating class, and a year later she already received a diploma of the mathematics department. Maria Curie became best known for discovering radioactivity. She rose to become a two-time Nobel Prize winner and helped change the fields of physics and chemistry with her pioneering work.
Curie was the first woman to ever win the Nobel Prize. However, not only was she the first woman ever to win a Nobel Prize, but she was also the first to win two Nobel Prizes after winning the second for her work in chemistry in 1911. While studying radiation in uranium, Curie discovered two new elements, radium and polonium, based on Henri Becquerel’s discovery of radiation in potassium uranyl sulfate. It was thanks to her that the term “radioactivity” appeared. This further opened up the field of nuclear science to the study of the radioactivity of atoms, as she discovered that radiation is an atomic property.
The chemical element curium, several universities and schools, an oncology center in Warsaw, an asteroid, geographic objects and even a clematis flower were named after her; her portrait decorates banknotes, stamps and coins around the world.
Irène Joliot-Curie, her daughter, born in 1897 also became a key figure in nuclear science. She discovered the concept of artificial or induced radioactivity. Working together with her husband, Frederic Joliot, they discovered that the production of γ-rays from polonium caused protons to be released from paraffin wax. Later another scientist, James Chadwick, discovered that the radiation observed in these experiments was actually a neutron. Joliot-Curie’s experiments led her and her husband to the creation of a new radioactive substance, P-30.
During this time, another great scientist, Lisa Meitner, born in 1878, was working on her pioneering research on radioactivity . Meitner’s research was supported by her mentor, Ludwig Boltzmann, a theoretical physicist under whom she studied at the university in 1901. He believed that all atoms were fissionable, and his work, as well as that of Marie Curie, inspired Meitner’s later study of alpha particles in 1906. For a long time she was studying the chemistry of radioactivity.
It is worth saying that at that time women were not yet respected as scientists and were not allowed to work in the Chemical Institute. Not letting that stop them, the couple decided to build an office for Meitner in an unused basement. However, the couple was interrupted, but succeeded in discovering a new element, protactinium. Afterwards Meitner shifted her attention to the natural and artificial transmutation of elements.
She played a huge role in the discovery of nuclear fission, demonstrating that barium was the product of the reaction created by bombarding uranium with slow neutrons. Lisa Meitner was not only a key woman physicist, but also the leading physicist of her time.
In the history of nuclear power, there are many bright stories of hard-working, courageous and strong women. One of the modern representatives to be proud of is Senamile Masango, a South African nuclear physicist that presents her work at some of the world’s largest scientific stages and is watched by hundreds of girls, whom Senamile mentors through the foundation, urging them to participate as well.
Masango was 11 years old and it all started when her high school geography teacher told her about astronauts. That’s when she fell in love with science. She began to actively study everything, reading books and excelling in school. She is now 33, but her love of science has only grown. Moreover, in addition to Masango’s decision to pursue science, she also set herself another goal that fateful day at school. “I also learned that no one in Africa had ever traveled to space.” She wanted to be the first African and woman in Africa to venture into space.
She was the first African woman to conduct the first African experiment at CERN, the world’s most respected scientific research center. This boosted her confidence as a researcher and she began to study the structure of the nucleus using a method called Coulomb excitation. Now, she is one of the best female scientists in South Africa and is also a board member of the Nuclear Energy Corporation of South Africa (NECSA). She solves problems related to women as a role model.
Senamile has ambitious plans for the future as well. “I want to have my own educational show that teaches young people about science and emphasizes the importance of education. I see myself traveling the world as a motivational speaker. I see myself sitting on various boards all over Africa”, said Senamile Masango.
