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Energy

Nuclear Energy

When did the first commercial nuclear power plant in the United States become operational?

The first commercial electricity-generating nuclear power plant in the United States was located in Shippingport, Pennsylvania. It became operational on December 2, 1957, supplying energy to the Pittsburgh area. It continued to supply power until 1982. Although the Shippingport power plant was the first large-scale nuclear power plant in the United States, it was not the first civilian power plant. A few months earlier, in July 1957, the Santa Susana Sodium Reactor Experimental in California began providing power.



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