Shippingport Reactor

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The Shippingport reactor was the first full-scale nuclear power plant in the United States.

The Shippingport reactor, located at the Beaver Valley Nuclear Generating Station on the Ohio River in Beaver County, Pennsylvania about 25 miles from Pittsburgh. The reactor first went critical on December 2, 1957, and was in operation until October, 1982.

The reactor was a pressurized water reactor capable of an output of 60 MWe. Specifically, it was a Pressurized Light-Water Breeder Reactor (PLWBR) designed to run on 93% enriched uranium (normal reactors use no more than 5% enrichment in any fuel rod). The reactor had originally been designed for a large aircraft carrier, and was adapted to commercial use.

Construction

In 1953, US President Dwight D. Eisenhower gave his Atoms for Peace speach to the United Nations. Commercial power generation was corner stone of his plan. The US Navy was tasked to work with the commercial power industry. A proposal by Duquesne Light Company was accepted and the plans for the Shippingport Atomic Power Station started.

Ground was broken on Labor Day, 1954-09-06. President Eisenhower remotely initiated the first scoop of dirt at the ceremony. The reactor first went critical at 4:30 AM on 1957-12-02ibid., pp. 9. On 1957-12-18, the first power was generated and full power achieved on 1957-12-23, although the station remained in test mode. Eisenhower opened the Shippingport atomic power station on May 26, 1958. The plant was built in 32 months at a cost of $72.5 million .

Decomissioning

On October 1st, 1982, the reactor ceased operations after 25 years. In September of 1985 dismantlement of the facility began. In December, 1988, the 956-ton (870-T) reactor pressure vessel/neutron shield tank assembly was lifted out of the containment building and loaded onto land transportation equipment in preparation for removal from the site and shipment to a burial facility in Washington State. The site has been cleaned up and released for unrestricted use.

The $98 million (1985 estimate) cleanup of Shippingport has been used as an example of a successful reactor decomissioning by proponents of nuclear power. However, critics point out that Shippingport was both smaller and a different type than most commercial nuclear power stations.

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