According to most mass models, several of the best candidates for two‐proton radioactivity lie in theA= 50 mass region, at the proton drip‐line. Recent experiments using the fragmentation of a58Nibeam allowed us to reach this region and observe some of these candidates, like45Feand48Ni. During an experiment at the GANIL / LISE3 facility helded in 2000, we could identify 22 events of implantation of45Fenuclei. The energy distribution of the corresponding decay events shows a clear peak at (1.14 ± 0.04)MeVthat could be assigned to the direct 2‐proton emission from the ground state. This energy is in very good agreement with several theoretical predictions, and no coincident &bgr; particle has been observed experimentally. A half‐life of(4.7−1.4+3.4) mshas been measured for the decay of45Fe. © 2003 American Institute of Physics