Shippingport nuke plant turns 50
SHIPPINGPORT, Pa. — If you live in eastern Ohio or western Pennsylvania, chances are good that some of your electric power is generated at the nuclear power plant in Shippingport, Pa.
This week marks the 50th year that nuclear power began flowing from that facility.
The nation’s first nuclear power plant, Shippingport Atomic Power Station, sent its first batch of electricity out on Dec. 18, 1957, to homes in Pittsburgh. As the years progressed, the plant increased in size and capacity and now contributes to the national power grid.
What started 50 years in this Beaver County, Pa., community, which borders Columbiana County, has spawned a network of 104 nuclear power generating units at more than 60 locations nationwide. Today, 20 percent of the nation’s electricity comes from nuclear power.
“There’s a lot of pride here in relation to the Shippingport Atomic Power Station,” said Scott Waitlevertch, community relations director for what is now called the Beaver County Power Station, “When you talk to folks from Beaver and Columbiana counties, there’s a deep rich history of people who worked at the plant or those who helped build the plant.”
Being the first meant the plant set operating standards for all plants to follow, Waitlevertch said.
For more, see Sunday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com