July 1957

On July 12, 1957, the Sodium Reactor Experiment in Santa Susana, California generated the first power from a civilian nuclear reactor. Southern California Edison bought the electricity generated by the sodium-graphite reactor. It was part of the Atomic Energy Commission's (AEC) Five-Year Reactor Development Program in the mid-1950's. The AEC tested five types of experimental reactors. This reactor used sodium rather than water as a coolant. The reactor provided power until 1966.