At 1:50 PM on December 20, 1951, about 18 miles southeast of Arco, Idaho, four 200-watt light bulbs were illuminated by the world’s first breeder reactor as an experiment as an electricity-generating nuclear power plant. The Experimental Breeder Reactor (EBR-1) was the first time that a reactor created in-house available electricity.

The next day, December 21, 1951, the reactor produced enough electricity to power the building and the parking lot.

The world’s first electricity produced by a nuclear reactor occured in September, 1948, at the X-10 Graphite Reactor in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. A small steam turbine connected to the reactor lighted a single light bulb.

Later in 1955, the BORAX-III experimental boiling water reactor, also in Idaho, was connected to external loads which powered Arco, the first time a city was powered solely by nuclear power.

On December 21, 1951, the male “project” EBR-1 staff members chalked their names on the wall. In 1995, the female “support” personnel’s names were added on a plaque to the right of the signed names.

You can visit EBR-1 which is set up as a self-guided museum from Memorial Day to Labor Day. During Arco’s Atomic Days celebration (3rd weekend in July), past INL employees provide guided tours.