Arco, Idaho
texture by joes sistah
Arco, Idaho
Looking out over the flat expanse south of Arco, its understandable why it has been used for nuclear reactor experimentation and development. Any slip ups would render uninhabitable a plain already devoid of trees or towns. It's pretty empty here still, with most of the 900-square mile Idaho National Engineering Laboratory still closed to the public.
A historical marker at a scenic pull-off brags that "Since 1949, more nuclear reactors -- over 50 of them -- have been built on this plain than anywhere else in the world."
The world's first peacetime use of nuclear power occurred when the US Government switched on Experimental Breeder Reactor #1 (EBR1) near Arco, Idaho on December 20, 1951. The town of Arco became the first city in the world to be lit by atomic power from a reactor built near EBR-I, the BORAX III reactor, on July 17, 1955. It was only temporary, but the way was paved for commercial use of nuclear power later in the decade. The Arco reactor suffered a partial meltdown -- another World's First, in 1955
Arco, Idaho
texture by joes sistah
Arco, Idaho
Looking out over the flat expanse south of Arco, its understandable why it has been used for nuclear reactor experimentation and development. Any slip ups would render uninhabitable a plain already devoid of trees or towns. It's pretty empty here still, with most of the 900-square mile Idaho National Engineering Laboratory still closed to the public.
A historical marker at a scenic pull-off brags that "Since 1949, more nuclear reactors -- over 50 of them -- have been built on this plain than anywhere else in the world."
The world's first peacetime use of nuclear power occurred when the US Government switched on Experimental Breeder Reactor #1 (EBR1) near Arco, Idaho on December 20, 1951. The town of Arco became the first city in the world to be lit by atomic power from a reactor built near EBR-I, the BORAX III reactor, on July 17, 1955. It was only temporary, but the way was paved for commercial use of nuclear power later in the decade. The Arco reactor suffered a partial meltdown -- another World's First, in 1955