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EBR-1 near Arco, Idaho — Experimental Breeder Reactor 1 (EBR-1) outside Arco, Idaho.

This month’s calendar features the Experimental Breeder Reactor I (EBR-1) which is just a short drive from Arco, Idaho, across from the Idaho National Laboratories.

EBR-I began power operation on August 24, 1951, and was decomissioned in 1964. It was dedicated as a Registered National Historic Landmark on August 25, 1966, by President Lyndon Johnson and Glenn Seaborg, chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission. On June 4, 2004, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) dedicated the facility as a Milestone in Electrical Engineering and Computing.

EBR-1 was the first operating breeder reactor, which produces more fuel for the fission process than it consumes. The breeding process involved converting uranium-238 into plutonium via fast neutrons. This then heated a liquid metal (sodium-potassium alloy) through a heat exchanger for coolant, in turn heating water into steam for turbine electrical generation.

The reactor was completed in 1951, and on December 20, 1951, it became the world’s first nuclear power plant, generating enough electricity to power four 200-watt light bulbs.

EBR-1 generator — EBR-1 Generator with replicas of the four 200-watt light bulbs.

EBR-1 light bulb — One of the four original light bulbs lit by nuclear power on December 20, 1951.

EBR-1 is a museum in which visitors can wander throughout the building on a self-guided tour (May through September) to see various exhibits and information about the breeder reactor. These two exhibits note that on December 21, 1951, all of the electrical power in the building was supplied by atomic energy.

Be sure to download this month’s calendar featuring significant atomic events from 1933 to 1994 as well as 80 atomic shots conducted during September since 1945, including the last nuclear shot on September 23, 1992 (Julin: Divider).

AtomicTourism September 2025 Download

Amtrak Southwest Chief through Lamy, NM

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We recently took the Amtrak Southwest Chief from Chicago to Los Angeles. We stopped in several locations along the way to break up the trip, but one of the highlights was passing through Lamy, NM.

The Lamy depot was originally built for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in 1909. The terrain around Santa Fe made running a direct line impossible, so they stopped at Lamy and built a spur line northward to Santa Fe.

For many of the Manhattan Project staff and families, Lamy was the first stop on their way to Los Alamos. Further, many of the scientists at the Chicago Met Lab (University of Chicago’s metallurgical laboratory) rode the Super Chief (now Amtrak’s Southwest Chief), which began regular scheduled service in May 1937, averaging 60mph for 36 hours and 49 minutes over 2,227 miles.

The recent Oppenheimer movie used original Pullman cars from Sky Railway, an excursion train venture owned by George R.R. Martin and others that runs on the old spur line previously owned by the Santa Fe Southern Railway. Some of the interiors were set dressed to look like they were from the 1940s.

Image credit: Oppenheimer/Universal Pictures

Although our Amtrak adventured started in Union Station in Chicago, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway departed from the old Dearborn Station, which discontinued rail service on May 2, 1971.

It was on this railway that the first shipment of uranium 235 (200 grams of 12% enrichment) traveled from the Y-12 plant in Oak Ridge to Los Alamos in March, 1944. From the Y-12 DOE web site files:

“A most unusual method was used to transport this extremely valuable material. It was carefully packaged in a small room in the center of Building 9733-1. Then the material was placed in gold-lined nickel containers about the size of coffee cups. Two of these containers were placed in a briefcase size container and the container strapped to an Army Lieutenant’s arm. He was dressed in a suit to look like a salesman and along with a couple of other Army personnel also dressed as salesmen, was driven to Knoxville where he boarded a passenger train to Chicago.

“At Chicago, the courier transferred his case to yet another Army Lieutenant also dressed as a salesman who took the material on to Los Alamos. A new set of escorts were assigned to this new courier and the original group returned to Oak Ridge by way of Knoxville.”*

*[Y-12 National Security Complex, Department of Energy. (2006, July 12). Operations start and shipments begin. https://www.y12.doe.gov/sites/default/files/assets/document/07-12-06.pdf]

07-12-06-Y-12 Shipments Download

We’ve been to Lamy depot numerous times. You can read about it here: Atomic Snapshots: Lamy Station.

From Hiroshima to Hope 2025

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August 6, 2025, marks the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, followed by the bombing of Nagasaki on August 9.

From Hiroshima to Hope is a nonprofit organization in Seattle, WA, dedicated to commemorating the victims of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and all victims of war and violence. Each year on August 6, the organization sponsors an event at Green Lake, Seattle, that includes speakers, music, dance, art, and lantern floating (Toro Nagashi).

The Heron Siege Peace Procession is inspired by peace dances at Buddhist Temples in Asakusa Tokyo. The costumes were designed by artist Chantal Uto. A siege is a persistent effort to overcome; it is also the name of a group of herons. Hence, herons are a symbol of perserverance. The Kintsugi Somatic Art group is encouraging perserverance for peace.

Blades of Change is an equitable arts and community storytelling initiative transforming industrial nuclear fan blades into monumental canvasas for artists. The nuclear fan blads (6×4 feet) originated at the never-completed Satsop Nuclear Power Plant in Elma, WA.

“The Wild Rose of Hiroshima” is etched with paper cranes and crowned in native plants from Wanapum land. The wild rose is a symbol of protection and cleansing. The figure honors Sadako Sasaki and contains further images that link Hiroshima and Hanford, WA. This blade was created by Lauren Iida and Johnny Buck.

Little Boy and banner — “Little Boy” sculpture and organization banner.

Yukiyo Kawano is a third generation hibakusha (nuclear bomb survivor). In her sculpture “Little Boy (folded)”, ishe has sewn silk kimono fabric with strands of her hair (to include her DNA as a third generation hibakusha) to form a suspended full-scale sculpture of Little Boy, the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

The lantern floating ceremony is an adaptation of an ancient Japanese Buddhist ritual, the Toro Nagashi, in which lanterns representing the spirits of the dead are floated out to sea and prayers are offered that they might rest in peace. The ceremony is in remembrance of the victims of the atomic bombings. In Seattle, the lanterns have come to represent not only those victims but also those who have died in violent conflict anywhere. The calligraphers of Beikoko Shodo Kenkyukai prepared many lantern sleeves with words of remembrance, peace, and hope.

The procession to launch the lanterns in Green Lake, Seattle, WA, was led by Norimitsu Tosu, a hibakusha (survivor of the Hiroshima atomic bomb). Mr. Tosu and his son, Fumiaki Tosu, brought a young adult pilgrimage (The Fierce Nonviolence Pilgrimage) from Spokane focused on nonviolence and nuclear abolition.

Lantern Floating in Green Lake, Seattle, WA

Launching the floating lanterns in Green Lake, Seattle

Volunteers launched the floating lanterns into Green Lake, Seattle, WA, on the public dock on behalf of the attendees.