"The Pause" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov.
It was first published in August Derleth's 1954 anthology Time to Come and reprinted in the 1975 collection Buy Jupiter and Other Stories.
Alexander Johannison, a nuclear physicist working at the United States Atomic Energy Commission, is mystified when his Geiger counter starts failing to detect radioactivity.
Over a period of time, his colleagues also notice the same strange events, but when he finally reports them to his boss, no one will take him seriously, and he realises that he is the only one who is still aware of the existence of radioactivity.
After the pause, about one hundred people, including Johannison, will have the task of re-educating humanity in the peaceful use of nuclear power.