November 18th, 2009 | 12:57 pm

Image of the Day


Sign on the front of the Arco, Idaho city hall, which is located miles from the historic landmark of the Experimental Breeder Reactor I (EBR-I).

Wikipedia calls the EBR-I “a decommissioned research reactor and U.S. National Historic Landmark located in the desert about 18 miles (29 km) southeast of Arco, Idaho. At 1:50pm on December 20, 1951 it became the world’s first electricity-generating nuclear power plant when it produced sufficient electricity to illuminate four 200-watt light bulbs.[3][4] It subsequently generated sufficient electricity to power its building, and continued to be used for experimental purposes until it was decommissioned in 1964.”

  • http://weblog.greenpeace.org/nuclear-reaction Justin

    You forgot to mention the partial meltdown at ERB-1 in November 1955.

  • http://atomicinsights.blogspot.com Rod Adams

    If you want to hear the story of lighting ARCO from someone who was there and played an integral role in the event, go and listen to my interview with Ray Haroldsen for The Atomic Show episode #70.

    http://atomic.thepodcastnetwork.com/2007/09/30/the-atomic-show-070-lighting-arco-idaho/