Ohio inventions and firsts · First · 1963
Piqua Nuclear Power Facility
A 45.5-megawatt (thermal) organic-cooled and moderated reactor that supplied power to the city of Piqua from 1963 to 1966. Atomics International designed and built it with the Atomic Energy Commission, which put up half the $8 million construction cost; the city paid the other half for land, building and facilities.
At a glance
- Year
- 1963
- Company
- Atomics International / City of Piqua / Atomic Energy Commission
- Place
- Piqua, Miami County ZIP 45356 · Piqua · Miami County
Why it matters
It tested a reactor cooled by terphenyl oil. It shut down in 1966 because of technical and economic problems, and it was dismantled in 1967-1969. Piqua called itself 'The Atomic City'.
Who gets the credit is disputed
The Ohio claim. WYSO public radio describes it as the first municipal nuclear power plant, and the Atomic Energy Commission's announcement said a municipally owned power plant was using steam produced by nuclear energy.
The other claims. The Atomic Energy Commission owned the reactor building and leased it to the city, and Atomics International ran the reactor as a contractor, so how 'municipal' it was depends on how the word is read. Wikipedia's article on the facility does not use the 'first municipal' wording.
Sources
Confidence. Medium: the main facts were confirmed, but some details (often an address or ZIP code) were not.