This new AREVA enrichment facility will be very near DOE Idaho National Engineering Laboratory built in the late '40s.
This part of Idaho was irradiated years ago.
The norm of health ailment issues from families in the surrounding area is Thyroid Dis-orders.
Most everyone has no idea the first commercial generation of Nuclear powered Electricity was from The ARCO facility.
Plus it had The Worlds First Nuclear Core Melt-Down in 1955.
-BlackFoot and Bannock Natives of the Area used to tell my Dad of Ancient Haunted Tunnels that led deep into the earth to the South of The Snake River, Not far too far from Pocatello.
tangodog
World's First Nuclear Power Plant - Tour
http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2960
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Arco, Idaho
Looking out over the flat expanse south of Arco, its understandable why it has been used for nuclear reactor experimentation and development. Any slip ups would render uninhabitable a plain already devoid of trees or towns. It's pretty empty here still, with most of the 900-square mile Idaho National Engineering Laboratory still closed to the public.
A historical marker at a scenic pulloff brags that "Since 1949, more nuclear reactors -- over 50 of them -- have been built on this plain than anywhere else in the world."
The world's first peacetime use of nuclear power occurred when the US Government switched on Experimental Breeder Reactor #1 (EBR1) near Arco, Idaho on December 20, 1951. The town of Arco first got its electricity from the reactor on July 17. 1955. It was only temporary, but the way was paved for commercial use of nuclear power later in the decade. The Arco reactor suffered a partial meltdown -- another World's First, in 1955. There's no highway sign bragging about that.
At EBR1, tours are self-guided. See "the hot cell" protected from you by 34 layers of oil-separated glass! They made plutonium-239 in this blocky building. Photography is allowed, and you can act out your own China Syndrome in the main control room.
Outside, picnic tables are thoughtfully provided under a pair of house-sized atomic jet engines, another experiment. Nowadays the site likes to promote its peacetime mission and environmental charter.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EBR-I
As part of the National Reactor Testing Station (now known as the Idaho National Laboratory), EBR-I's construction started in late 1949. The reactor itself was designed by a team led by Walter Zinn at the Argonne National Laboratory. Installation of the reactor at EBR-I took place in early 1951 and the first reaction went critical on August 24, 1951. On December 20 of that year, atomic energy was successfully harvested for the first time. The design purpose of EBR-I was not to produce electricity but instead to validate nuclear physics theory which suggested that a breeder reactor should be possible. In 1953, experiments revealed the reactor was producing additional fuel during fission, thus confirming the hypothesis. However, on November 29, 1955, the reactor at EBR-I suffered a partial meltdown due to operator error. It was subsequently repaired for further experiments.
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Atomic City
http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/11360
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Atomic City, Idaho
At one time, the glorious road to the nuclear future bisected Atomic City, Idaho. But today, all this place has going for it is a funny name. About 25 people live in a flat, isolated ghost town-to-be, and the main road in is unpaved. The gas station is also the post office and bar. The weedy and faded Atomic City Raceway may be ironic or just abandoned. Still, the signs around town do provide for one of the country's best photo opportunities.
The few locals we met were friendly enough, offering cool beers from a nearby double-wide trailer instead of killing us and burying our corpses under the raceway. No one commented about our anti-radiation suits, perhaps a common site in town.
Other attractions help justify the 50 mile drive from Idaho Falls. Nearby Butte City is still home to secret government research, and not far away, Arco offers tours of the World's First Nuclear Power Plant. Picnic tables are thoughtfully provided under a pair of house-sized experimental atomic jet engines.
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