Shippingport Atomic Power Station

nuclear power station, Beaver County, Pennsylvania, United States

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Last updated

July 20, 2026

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The Shippingport Atomic Power Station, located in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, was the first large-scale commercial nuclear power plant in the world. It began operation on December 2, 1957. The plant, built and operated by the Duquesne Light Company, supplied electricity to the Pittsburgh area starting in 1960.1

Shippingport was retired in 1982 and became the first commercial reactor in the United States to undergo complete decontamination and decommissioning. The Department of Energy managed this process, and the reactor vessel was transported to a waste disposal facility. The site was cleaned and made available for unrestricted use by November 1987.2

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nuclear reactor
From production reactors to commercial power reactors
…build a civilian prototype at Shippingport, Pennsylvania. This reactor, the largest of the power-reactor prototypes, went online in 1957; it is often hailed as the first commercial-scale reactor in the United States.
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…build a civilian prototype at Shippingport, Pennsylvania. This reactor, the largest of the power-reactor prototypes, went online in 1957; it is often hailed as the first commercial-scale reactor in the United States.
Read More