Nuclear Reactors

The sign's Nuclear Navy began with a submarine hull built in the desert. At the Naval Reactors Facility on the site, S1W, the land-based prototype for the Nautilus, went critical on March 30, 1953, and that summer ran for 96 hours at full power to simulate a submerged crossing of the Atlantic. Admiral Rickover sent the Nautilus's first crew here to train on it. Three prototypes ran at the facility until 1995, and nearly 40,000 sailors, officers and civilian operators trained on them, hundreds of miles from salt water. Demolition of S1W began in 2023.

What the plaque says

Nuclear Reactors Since 1949, more nuclear reactors - over 50 of them - have been built on this plain than anywhere else in the world. This 900 - square - mile Idaho National Laboratory is the birthplace of the Nuclear Navy. Commercial power reactor prototypes, including reactors that breed more fuel than they consume were developed here. Also, internationally renown for its materials testing reactors and reactor programs, this laboratory has become a major research center for developing peaceful uses of atomic energy. 297 Text prepared by the Idaho Historical Society Marker made & installed by Idaho Transportation Department

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Experimental Breeder Reactor I — 2.6 mi
  The reactor that lit four bulbs in 1951 also suffered the first accidental breeder meltdown, and two engines for a nuclear bomber sit outside.

More markers nearby

• Lost River — steps away
• Big Butte — 15 mi
• Three Buttes — 15 mi
• Atoms for Peace — 16 mi