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1
The first U.S. town is powered by nuclear energy—Arco, Idaho, population 1,000—by the experimental boiling water reactor BORAX III. -
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2
August 8 to 20, 1955, The first international conference on the peaceful uses of nuclear energy is held in Geneva, Switzerland, sponsored by the United Nations. -
3
The first power from a civilian nuclear unit is generated by the Sodium Reactor Experiment at Santa Susana, California. The unit provided power until 1966. -
4
President Eisenhower signs into law the Price-Anderson Act, legislation to protect the public, utilities and contractors financially in the event of an accident at a nuclear power plant. -
5
The first full-scale nuclear power plant at Shippingport, Pennsylvania, goes into service. Twenty-one days later it reaches full power, generating 60 megawatts of electricity. -
6
Keel is laid for the first nuclear-powered merchant vessel, Savannah, at Camden, New Jersey. She is launched on July 21, 1959, and operates for 12 years, calling at most major ports of the world. -
7
Dresden-1 Nuclear Power Station in Illinois, the first U.S. plant built entirely without government funding, achieves a self-sustaining nuclear reaction. -
8
The Atomic Energy Commission publishes its 10-year plan for nuclear energy. -
9
In the early 1960s Small nuclear-power generators are first used in remote areas to power weather stations and to light buoys for sea navigation. -
10
The third U.S. nuclear power plant, Yankee Rowe Nuclear Power Station, achieves a self-sustaining nuclear reaction.