Early US and Russian Power Reactors

Early Reactors in the United States and Russia

The first nuclear reactors for commercial civilian applications were developed in the early 1950's. In 1951, Experimental Breeder Reactor (EBR-1), located at the National Reactor Testing Station in Idaho, was completed and was operated by Argonne National Laboratory. In the first demonstration of nuclear-generated electricity in the United States, 4 light bulbs were supplied (Right hand photo) . EBR-1 was a prototype of the metal cooled reactors. The BORAX III reactor, a BWR prototype, actually lit the town of Arco in a 1955 demonstration. (More on Argonne history). Argonne-West is a division of the national laboratory operated by the University of Chicago.

Stagg Field at the university was home of the world's first nuclear reactor, which was completed in December 1942 by a team of scientists headed by Enrico Fermi. Subsequently, the Graphite Reactor was built at Oak Ridge to demonstrate that plutonium could be produced from uranium. This pilot scale reactor was a predecessor to the production reactors built at Hanford, Washington and is attributed to be the first to generate electricity.

In the 1950's and 1960's, a number of smaller reactors of different designs (PWR, BWR, metal cooled, organic coolant, gas cooled) were built and operated. Eventually, in the US, the PWR and BWR designs were the only survivors of the pilot plant stage. The table below shows the history of the early reactors.

EBR-1 Reactor - first US Reactor to supply electricity

Photo by J.A. Gonyeau

1stl-lite.jpg (34381 bytes)

Courtesy Argonne National Laboratory - West

In Russia at about the same time, the Institute of Physics and Power Engineering developed a 10 MW graphite moderated reactor at Obninsk. This reactor commenced operation in 1954 and was the precursor of the RBMK design. The reactor was used to provide district heating for many years. The reactor is now shutdown.

First Russian Graphite-Moderated Reactor

Photo by J.A. Gonyeau

During the 1960's, a number of smaller prototype reactors were designed and operated by utilities and/or government agencies. These included:

Year	Unit	MWe	Location	Utility	Reactor Type	Shutdown
1957	Shippingport	60	Shippingport, PA	Duquesne Light	PWR / LWBR	1982
1960	Dresden 1	200	Morris, IL	Commonwealth Edison	BWR	1978
1961	Yankee Rowe	160	Rowe, MA	Yankee Atomic	PWR	1991
1962	Big Rock Point	60	Charlevoix, MI	Consumers Power	BWR	1997
1963	Indian Point 1	250	Buchanan, NY	Consolidated Edison	PWR	1974
1963	Humboldt Bay 3	60	Eureka, CA	PG&E	BWR	1976
1963	Hallam	75	Hallam, NB		LMGMR	1964
1964	BONUS	70	Rincon, PR		BWR	1968
1966	Fermi 1	60	Monroe, MI	Detroit Edison	LMFBR	1978
1966	Hanford-N	860	Richland, WA	AEC/WPPSS	LGR	1988
1966	Pathfinder	60	Sioux Falls, SD	Northern States Power	BWR	1967
1967	Peach Bottom 1	40	Peach Bottom, PA	Philadelphia Electric	HTGR	1974
1969	LaCrosse	50	Genoa, WI	Dairyland Power	BWR	1987

Legend

*Abbreviation*	Meaning
BWR	Boiling Water Reactor
LGR	Light Water Cooled - Graphite Moderated Reactor
LMFBR	Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor
LMGMR	Liquid Metal (Cooled) -Graphite Moderated Reactor
LWBR	Light Water Breeder Reactor
PWR	Pressurized Water Reactor

Subsequently, larger reactors were designed and operated starting with the San Onofre 1 and Connecticut Yankee PWRs in 1967 and Oyster Creek and Nine Mile Point 1 BWRs in 1969. These newer reactors were rated at 400 to 600 MWe. Argonne and Oak Ridge National Labs, DOE and NRC have each provided short histories of nuclear power.