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06 September 2008

Answer to Question #1662 Submitted to "Ask the Experts"

Category: Nuclear Power — Nuclear Energy

The following question was answered by an expert in the appropriate field:

When was the first nuclear power plant made in the United States?

Here are some dates:

1951 (Dec. 20) First electricity is generated from atomic power at EBR-1 Idaho National Engineering Lab, Idaho Falls. This is a government-funded demonstration project.
1954 (Sept. 6) Ground broken for Shippingport Atomic Power Station (Pennsylvania).
1955 (July) Arco, Idaho becomes the first U.S. town to be powered by nuclear energy.
1956 Ground broken for GE-Vallecitos, a boiling water reactor, near Pleasanton, California. Issued Power Reactor License #1 by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission.
1957 (July) The Sodium Reactor Experiment in Santa Susana, California, generates the first power from a civilian nuclear reactor.
1957 (Aug. 3) Vallecitos goes critical.
1957 (Oct. 19) Vallecitos connects to the electrical grid and becomes the first privately funded plant to supply power in megawatt amounts to the electric utility grid. It closed in 1963.
1957 (Dec. 2) Shippingport, a pressurized water reactor/light water breeder reactor, goes critical in Shippingport, Pennsylvania. It holds the honor as the first commercial nuclear power plant in the United States. It closed in Oct 1982.

Linda Sewell and J. Ellsworth Weaver

Answer posted on 20 February 2002. The information and material posted on this Web site is intended as general reference information only. Specific facts and circumstances may alter the concepts and applications of materials and information described herein. The information provided is not a substitute for professional advice and should not be relied upon in the absence of such professional advice specific to whatever facts and circumstances are presented in any given situation. Answers are correct at the time they are posted on the Web site. Be advised that over time, some requirements could change, new data could be made available, or Internet links could change. For answers that have been posted for several months or longer, please check the current status of the posted information prior to using the responses for specific applications.