Category Archives: Cold War

September 2025 Atomic Tourism calendar

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EBR-1 near Arco, Idaho
Experimental Breeder Reactor 1 (EBR-1) outside Arco, Idaho.

This month’s calendar features the Experimental Breeder Reactor I (EBR-1) which is just a short drive from Arco, Idaho, across from the Idaho National Laboratories.

EBR-I began power operation on August 24, 1951, and was decomissioned in 1964. It was dedicated as a Registered National Historic Landmark on August 25, 1966, by President Lyndon Johnson and Glenn Seaborg, chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission. On June 4, 2004, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) dedicated the facility as a Milestone in Electrical Engineering and Computing.

EBR-1 National Historic Landmark
Lyndon Johnson and Glenn Seaborg
IEEE Milestone plaque

EBR-1 was the first operating breeder reactor, which produces more fuel for the fission process than it consumes. The breeding process involved converting uranium-238 into plutonium via fast neutrons. This then heated a liquid metal (sodium-potassium alloy) through a heat exchanger for coolant, in turn heating water into steam for turbine electrical generation.

The reactor was completed in 1951, and on December 20, 1951, it became the world’s first nuclear power plant, generating enough electricity to power four 200-watt light bulbs.

EBR-1 generator
EBR-1 Generator with replicas of the four 200-watt light bulbs.
EBR-1 light bulb
One of the four original light bulbs lit by nuclear power on December 20, 1951.

EBR-1 is a museum in which visitors can wander throughout the building on a self-guided tour (May through September) to see various exhibits and information about the breeder reactor. These two exhibits note that on December 21, 1951, all of the electrical power in the building was supplied by atomic energy.

Be sure to download this month’s calendar featuring significant atomic events from 1933 to 1994 as well as 80 atomic shots conducted during September since 1945, including the last nuclear shot on September 23, 1992 (Julin: Divider).

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April 2025 Atomic Tourism Calendar

Download April 2025 Atomic Tourism Calendar

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This month’s featured image looks southeast across the Columbia River to the B Reactor on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation and the Hanford Reach.

The Hanford Reach is a free-flowing section of the Columbia River which is the only section that is not tidal nor part of a reservoir. Most of this flows through the Hanford Site. The Reach was created as a National Monument in 2000 encompassing the original security buffer surrounding the Hanford Nuclear Reservation.

The image was taken from a pullout on northbound WA-24 on the north side of the Columbia River, just east of the Vernita Bridge. From this vantage point, visitors can see nearly all of the remaining buildings, processing plants, and reactors of the Hanford Site.

Also this month, you’ll find some interesting atomic events that occured in April over the years as well as 88 atomic shots that occured organized by day.

If you visit the Hanford Reach, be sure to visit the REACH museum in Richland which provides geographical, biological, and historical displays of the area from Ancestral land usage, through early settlements, to the Manhattan Project, and current communities and wildlife.

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March 2025 Calendar download

Download March 2025 Atomic Tourism Calendar

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March’s calendar features the M65 Atomic Cannon (“Atomic Annie”) which is right off I-70 outside Junction City, Kansas. This view shows Fort Riley in the distance. The calendar also features some interesting March Atomic Events as well as a complete listing of all atomic shots during March from 1955 through 1984.

This Atomic Annie is located in Freedom Park near Junction City, Kansas, at exit 301 on I-70. The trail to the top of the hill with the cannon has recently been improved and was reopened for visitors.

Atomic Annie Kansas
M65 Atomic Cannon (“Atomic Annie”) atop a hill in Freedom Park, Junction City, Kansas

The M65 Atomic Cannon was built by the United States and capable of firing a nuclear device. It was developed in the 1950s during the Cold War and fielded between April 1955 to December 1962 in West Germany, South Korea, and on Okinawa.

On May 25, 1953, the Atomic Annie was tested at the Nevada Test Site as part of the Upshot-Knothole series of nuclear tests. Codenamed “Grable,” it resulted in the detonation of a 15kt shell at a range of 7 miles. This was the first and only nuclear shell to be fired from the cannon.

Of the 20 M65s produced, seven are on display. Only two have their original prime movers:

Atomic Annie in Albuquerque
Atomic Annie at the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History, Albuquerque, NM

You can visit any of these Atomic Annie cannons. However, if you’d like to visit the one featured, and you’re traveling through Kansas, be sure to stop and take the hike to the top of the hill.

Download your calendar for March:

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