Spontaneous fission was discovered in 1940 by Flyorov, Petrzhak and Kurchatov in Moscow, when they decided to confirm that, without bombardment by neutrons, the fission rate of uranium was indeed negligible, as predicted by Niels Bohr; it was not.
Spontan fission blev opdaget 1940 af Flyorov, Petrzhak and Kurchatov i Moskva, da de ville bekræfte at fissions-raten for uran var negligerbar uden neutronbombardement, som forudsagt af Niels Bohr; det viste sig, at det var den ikke.