1982
The Shippingport nuclear powerplant, built in 1957 (see
December 1957), was retired. Congress assigned the decontamination and
decommissioning of this commercial reactor to DOE. This was the first complete
decontamination and decommissioning of a reactor in the United States. The
reactor vessel was shipped to a low-level waste disposal facility at the
Hanford Site in Richland, Washington. The reactor site was cleaned and released
for unrestricted use in November 1987. Government officials proclaimed the
seven-acre site is suitable for picnicking or for a children's playground.
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