Power Reactor Demonstration Program
The Power Reactor Demonstration Program (PRDP)[a] was an initiative of the United States Atomic Energy Commission to fund the research and development of nuclear power in the United States.[3] Review and funding of projects took place between 1955 and 1963[4] over three distinct rounds.[1][3]
The program co-funded the following facilities:
| Round | Facility name |
Type | Capacity (MWe) |
State | Commissioned |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yankee Rowe | PWR | 180 | Massachusetts | 1961 |
| Hallam | SGR | 75 | Nebraska | 1963 | |
| Fermi 1 | SFR | 150 | Michigan | 1966 | |
| 2 | Piqua | OCR | 45 | Ohio | 1963 |
| Elk River | BWR | 22 | Minnesota | 1964 | |
| 3 | Big Rock Point | BWR | 67 | Michigan | 1963 |
| Pathfinder | BWR | 59 | South Dakota | 1966 | |
| Peach Bottom | HTGR | 40 | Pennsylvania | 1966 | |
| San Onofre | PWR | 436 | California | 1968 | |
| Connecticut Yankee | PWR | 560 | Connecticut | 1968 | |
| La Crosse | BWR | 50 | Wisconsin | 1969 |
Notes
References
- ^ a b Gillespie, Christopher W.; Johnson, Robert A.; Martinez, Marty; Taylor, Emmanuel (2016-04-29). Innovation Pathway Study: U.S. Commercial Nuclear Power (PDF) (Report). Energetics Incorporated. Task Order No. DE-BP0004706. Retrieved 2026-02-25.
- ^ Program on Technology Innovation: Government and Industry Roles in the Research, Development, Demonstration, and Deployment of Commercial Nuclear Reactors (Technical report). Electric Power Research Institute. 2017-12-11. Retrieved 2026-03-12.
- ^ a b Allen, Wendy (1977). "Nuclear Reactors for Generating Electricity". RAND Corporation.
- ^ Mazuzan, George T. (1982). "Atomic Power Safety: The Case of the Power Reactor Development Company Fast Breeder, 1955-1956" (PDF). Technology and Culture. 23. Johns Hopkins University Press: 341–371. JSTOR 3104483. Retrieved 2026-03-13.