The name was Shippingport Atomic Power Station (SAPS). This plant has been replaced by Beaver Valley Nuclear Plant and the now closed Bruce Mansfield Plant.
"The Shippingport Atomic Power Station was designed to operate as both a power plant and a site for experimental reactor designs. Built with flexibility in mind, the power plant was able to accommodate multiple types of reactors. The first reactor produced 68 MW of power from 1957 until 1964. It was then replaced with a second core that pushed electrical output to approximately 100 MW. Finally, a third reactor of different design was implemented in 1977. The core was changed to a light water breeder reactor. This design innovation allowed the reactor to produce more uranium than it consumed, and the plant could consume thorium (a cheaper and more available fuel) rather than uranium as the primary fuel source." The plant was taken offline in 1982, and it was gone by 1989. [Jack Craddock III via Stanford]
Bob Ciminel posted three images with the comment: "Shippingport Atomic Power Station site in 1939, 1958 and 1967."
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| energy.gov December 23, 1957: The Shippingport Atomic Power Station, the world's first full-scale nuclear power plant, becomes operational at Shippingport, Pennsylvania. [The steel mill across the river in the background is the ATI/Allegheny Ludlum Steel Plant.] |
"The Shippingport Atomic Power Station was designed to operate as both a power plant and a site for experimental reactor designs. Built with flexibility in mind, the power plant was able to accommodate multiple types of reactors. The first reactor produced 68 MW of power from 1957 until 1964. It was then replaced with a second core that pushed electrical output to approximately 100 MW. Finally, a third reactor of different design was implemented in 1977. The core was changed to a light water breeder reactor. This design innovation allowed the reactor to produce more uranium than it consumed, and the plant could consume thorium (a cheaper and more available fuel) rather than uranium as the primary fuel source." The plant was taken offline in 1982, and it was gone by 1989. [Jack Craddock III via Stanford]
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| ASME Power was sent to the grid in 1957. (This source says Dec 18.) But many sources use 1958 because President Dwight D. Eisenhower "opened it on May 26, 1958." "The reactor plant was designed by the Westinghouse Electric Corporation in cooperation with the Division of Naval Reactors of the Atomic Energy Commission. The design effort had been redirected to peace-time power generation from a large-scale light water reactor for a proposed aircraft carrier. Constructed to advance nuclear fission technology in general, the plant was flexible in accommodating cores of different types. Various manufacturers with different designs and materials for components were used. Water in the primary system, heated by nuclear fission, flows to the heat exchanging system, which absorbs the heat. This heat turns water in the secondary system, a relatively low pressure system, to steam. This steam is sent to the turbine generator to drive the turbine." |
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| ASME-brocure, p9 and p10 THE AGE OF NUCLEAR POWER came to the Pittsburgh area on Wednesday, December 18, 1957 at 12:39 a.m. Duquesne Light engineers synchronized the turbine-generator at Shippingport with the Duquesne Light system as the first commercial electricity produced by nuclear energy was sent out to customers in the Pittsburgh area. By 7:00 a.m. that morning, the turbine-generator fed by steam produced from the heat of the nuclear reaction waas generating more than 12,000 kilowatts of electricity. |
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| ans Shippingport Atomic Power Station as pictured in original press package; photo PR-19109 The reactor went critical on Dec 2, 1957. |
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| 1969 Hookstown and Midland Quads @ 24,000 |
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| pabook2, First Energy Corporation The core of the reactor being lowered into place [There was 0.06" clearance between this core and the pressure vessel into which it was lowered. [ASME-brocure, p8]] "On December 2, 1957, the Shippingport plant “went critical” (the nuclear fission reaction became self-sustaining) and began generating electricity throughout the Pittsburgh area sixteen days later. On December 23, it reached its full generating capacity, 68,000 kW of energy....Originally, the Shippingport plant was built as a pressurized water reactor (PWR). This type of reactor uses two separate piping systems of water to absorb heat generated by a nuclear fission reaction; the steam produced is then used to power a turbine, creating electricity. The nuclear fission reaction takes place in the nuclear core. Thirty-two neutron-absorbing rods control the speed and extent of the reaction, therefore controlling the amount of heat generated. This heat is absorbed by the first piping system containing highly-pressurized water; the pressure prevents the water from turning into steam. The heated water then enters a heat exchanger, where it transmits the heat to a second system of pipes also containing water. Because this second system is not highly pressurized, steam is produced. It is then used to turn a main turbine, generating electricity." "In 1982, the Shippingport reactor went off-line and began its decommissioning a year later. The disassembly of the reactor sparked much controversy over storage of the highly radioactive fuel rods and the reactor’s cylindrical hull. When deciding where and how to store the material, the 'not in my back yard' mentality grew as citizens protested the placement. The reactor was shipped intact down the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, through the Panama Canal, and back north again to Washington State where it was finally buried at the Hanford Military Reservation." But this "ship it intact" disposal technique can't be used for larger reactors that are much larger. |
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| ans Shippingport Atomic Power Station under construction. Photo PR-18392 from the original press package. Westinghouse designed the reactor, but Combustion Engineering built it. Rob Johnson posted Pretty close to the river Bob Ciminel: It was built by a government that detonated atomic bombs in the air, ground, space, and underwater at a time when our best measurements were in milliCuries. Today, we worry about picoCuries. Different times; different concerns. Bob Ciminel posted Plants where I've worked. Shippingport Atomic Power Station, Shippingport, PA, 1970 to 1973. Rad Tech and Station Operator. Neil Mor: This was during construction in the mid 1950’s. Jimmy Sakis: A Navy design and still relevant today . SAPS was the first commercial nuke in the United States maintained by Duquesne Light and Boilermakers local 154 .Admiral Rickover’s pet project . Tom Lipari: Things were a lot different then, ALARA wise. Bob Ciminel: Tom Lipari OMG, yes! We used film badges and held a scintillation detector to incoming personnel throats in the counting room for a whole body count. |
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| Little Beaver Historical Society posted Aerial view Shippingport Atomic power station under construction . In the upper center is Midland and Crucible Steel. From the Erin Piccinini Majors photo collection in memory of her grandfather Sam whose company worked on many major construction projects in the county. JoAnne Wohlmuth Saylor: Can you tell me if this memory is correct? In 6th grade I went to a birthday party in Shippingport and I remember seeing the large towers.. is that true? John Lee: JoAnne Wohlmuth Saylor The three Bruce Mansfield Units in Shippingport each have a cooling tower. So do the two Beaver Valley nuclear units in Shippingport. The original SAPS nuclear plant never had a cooling tower. It operated as a breeder reactor from 1976 to 1979 using thorium extracted from coal waste as fuel. Coal is highly radioactive. So are tomatoes. Patrick Martin shared |
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| Little Beaver Historical Society commented on their post In 1953, US President Dwight D. Eisenhower gave his Atoms for Peace speech to the United Nations. Commercial nuclear power generation was cornerstone of his plan. A proposal by Duquesne Light Company was accepted by Admiral Rickover and the plans for the Shippingport Atomic Power Station started. Ground was broken on Labor Day, September 9, 1954. President Eisenhower remotely initiated the first scoop of dirt at the ceremony. |
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| Bob Ciminel posted The reactor vessel for Shippingport Atomic Power Station being interchanged from the N&W Railroad to the PRR at Hagerstown, MD. The vessel was manufactured by Combustion Engineering in Chattanooga, TN and shipped by rail to Shippingport, PA. Gregg Sandor: The steam locomotive got me questioning when the nuclear plant was built. My surprise was that it started producing electric in 1958. I had no idea that nuclear reactors were even viable then. Brandon Pena: Gregg Sandor They followed very very quickly after the success of Nautilus as they were being developed pretty much in tandem with one another. Admiral Rickover himself personally oversaw the design and construction of the Shippingport Plant. Louis Peter: Great photo! Westinghouse had the STP reactor vessels and heads manufactured at CE in Chattanooga. Probably the first and one of the last commercial reactor vessels in the USA were made there. Brandon Pena: I never thought I'd ever see a photo with a Pennsy H-10 2-8-0 Consolidation posing next to a flatcar that was carrying the very first Westinghouse Designed, Combustion Engineering Built, Commercial 4 loop Pressurized Water Reactor. Bob Righter: The old CE flame logo |
Bob Ciminel posted three photos with the comment:
Here is more information on the movement of the Shippingport reactor vessel on the PRR.
The load arrived at Hagerstown, MD from CE at Chattanooga on July 30, 1956 behind an N&W 2-8-0 Consolidation steam engine.
The direct route to Shippingport would've been 391 miles, but the high-wide load routing took 529 miles at 10 mph behind a PRR diesel locomotive. (By 1953, PRR was dieselized)
The vessel was 12 feet 11 inches wide, 17 feet 7 inches tall and weighed 153 tons. It was carried on a PRR F-38 24-wheel flat car with a combined weight of 497,000 lbs (248.5 tons). The train also included a gondola with 46,000 lbs of studs and nuts.
Because to the weight and the need for additional braking power the RV was separated by three empty flat cars on each end.
The train arrived at Shippingport on October 6, 1956. The PRR charged $4,504 for the movement.
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| Gregg Max commented on Bob's post Possibly the same vessel? In the CE shop, Chattanooga. With cold legs in lower vessel: no downcomer!? There couldn't have been many like that - can't keep vessel full after a cold side pipe break. I looked in a book I have about shippingport. In the section on LOCA it says, "if the rupture ...were located below the core, the SI system would take considerably longer to cover the core, because the reactor chamber of the plant container would also have to be filled." Interesting. |
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| William Davis posted Shippingport Atomic Power Station under construction. Turbine deck is at left. |
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| Bob Ciminel posted A great photo showing the Shippingport Atomic Power Station under construction in 1956. The reactor chamber is beneath the cranes with the reactor coolant loops on the left and right. The center chamber was the Auxiliary Chamber that contained the pressurizer and all support systems. The turbine building is at the bottom. All the chambers, except the reactor chamber were accessed by airlocks. The Ohio River is at the bottom of the photo. Neil Mor: Bob Ciminel SAPS was located just west of BV-1. The location where SAPS was located has been converted to Dry Fuel Storage since both BV-1 & 2 have run out of storage space in their fuel buildings. |
Bob Ciminel posted three images with the comment: "Shippingport Atomic Power Station site in 1939, 1958 and 1967."
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Shippingport Atomic Power Station. (The SAPS Plant.)
Construction started in 1955. First "criticality" December 2, 1957.
First electricity synced to the grid: December 18, 1957.
The "Electric Boat" Plant was designed around an "enriched" Aircraft Carrier Reactor Core, and looked like a "submarine" buried in the ground!
World's First Full-Scale Commercial Nuclear-Powered Electric Generating Station. Shippingport, Pennsylvania.
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