The '50s

Dec. 20, 1951 An experimental reactor produces electric power from the atom for the first time, lighting four light bulbs.

June 14, 1952 The keel for the Navy’s first nuclear submarine, USS Nautilus, is laid at Groton, Conn.

March 30, 1953 The USS Nautilus first starts its nuclear power reactors.

Dec. 8, 1953 President Dwight D. Eisenhower unveils his “Atoms for Peace” program, proposing an international agency to develop peaceful nuclear technologies.

Aug. 30, 1954 President Eisenhower signs the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, the first major amendment of the original Atomic Energy Act, giving the civilian nuclear energy program further access to nuclear technology.

Jan. 10, 1955 The Atomic Energy Commission announces the beginning of a cooperative program between government and industry to develop nuclear power plants.

July 17, 1955 The first U.S. town—Arco, Idaho, population 1,000—is powered by nuclear energy from the experimental boiling water reactor BORAX III.

Aug. 8-20, 1955 The first international conference on the peaceful uses of nuclear energy is held in Geneva, sponsored by the United Nations.

July 12, 1957 Electricity from a civilian nuclear reactor is generated for the first time by the Sodium Reactor Experiment at Santa Susana, Calif. The reactor provided power until 1966.

Sept. 2, 1957 President Eisenhower signs into law the Price-Anderson Act, legislation to protect the public, utilities and contractors financially in the event of an accident at a nuclear power plant.

Dec. 2, 1957 The first full-scale nuclear power plant at Shippingport, Penn., goes into service. Twenty-one days later it reaches full power, generating 60 megawatts of electricity (MWe).

May 22, 1958 The keel is laid for the first nuclear-powered merchant vessel, Savannah, at Camden, N.J. It is launched on July 21, 1959, and operates for 12 years, calling at most major ports of the world.

Oct. 15, 1959 Dresden 1 nuclear power station in Illinois, the first U.S. plant built entirely without government funding, achieves a self-sustaining nuclear reaction.