The Piqua Nuclear Power Facility was an organic cooled and moderated nuclear reactor which operated just outside the southern city limits of

Piqua, Ohio Piqua ( ) is a city in Miami County, southwest Ohio, United States, 27 miles north of Dayton. The population was 20,522 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area. It was founded as the village of Washington in ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. The plant contained a 45.5-

megawatt The watt (symbol: W) is the unit of power or radiant flux in the International System of Units (SI), equal to 1 joule per second or 1 kg⋅m2⋅s−3. It is used to quantify the rate of energy transfer. The watt is named after James ...

(thermal) organically cooled and moderated nuclear reactor (

terphenyl Terphenyls are a group of closely related aromatic hydrocarbons. Also known as diphenylbenzenes or triphenyls, they consist of a central benzene ring substituted with two phenyl groups. There are three substitution patterns: ''ortho''-terpheny ...

, a

biphenyl Biphenyl (also known as diphenyl, phenylbenzene, 1,1′-biphenyl, lemonene or BP) is an organic compound that forms colorless crystals. Particularly in older literature, compounds containing the functional group consisting of biphenyl less one ...

like oil). The Piqua facility was built and operated between 1963 and 1966 as a demonstration project by the Atomic Energy Commission. The facility ceased operation in 1966. It was dismantled between 1967 and 1969, and the radioactive coolant and most other radioactive materials were removed. The remaining radioactive structural components of the reactor were entombed in the reactor vessel under sand and concrete.

Background

The plant was first proposed February 1, 1956 when the local public utility company in Piqua, Ohio proposed to build a 12,500 kilowatt nuclear power plant using an organically moderated reactor by asking to join the U.S. government's small reactor construction program which provided joint government-utility participation. It was in response to the second round of the Atomic Energy Commission's (AEC) Power Demonstration Reactor Program. The six other municipalities who applied were revealed when Senator

Clinton P. Anderson Clinton Presba Anderson (October 23, 1895 – November 11, 1975) was an American politician who represented New Mexico in the United States Senate from 1949 until 1973. A member of the United States Democratic Party, Democratic Party, he pr ...

of New Mexico accused the AEC of trying to impose an 'absolute Iron Curtain around thought' regarding nuclear secrecy. At the same committee meeting the locations of the seven proposed power plants were announced: * Anchorage, Alaska *

Elk River, Minnesota Elk River is a city in Sherburne County, Minnesota, United States, approximately 34 miles northwest of Minneapolis. It is situated at the confluence of the Mississippi and Elk Rivers. The population was 25,835 at the 2020 census, making Elk ...

* Gainesville, Florida * Hersey, Michigan * Holyoke, Massachusetts * Piqua, Ohio * Orlando, Florida By September 27, 1956 the AEC authorized contract negotiations for the $8M plant. $4M would come from the AEC to finance the reactor construction and $4M would be from the city of Piqua for facilities, land and building. The

Atomics International Atomics International was a division of the North American Aviation company (later acquired by the Rockwell International company) which engaged principally in the early development of nuclear technology and nuclear reactors for both commercia ...

division of North American Aviation was selected to design the plant. Their experience building and operating the Organic Moderated Reactor Experiment uniquely qualified them for the job.

Plant operating events

As the plant was only in operation for three years, a summary of key operating events is included
Evaluation Report Summary: SEC-00126, Piqua Organic Moderated Reactor (dated 4/27/2009)

Technical problems

In 1966, problems with control rods and fouling in cooling surfaces led to ceased operations. The neutron flux within the reactor core induced polymerization of Terphenyl, leading to increased viscosity of the coolant and fouling.

Plant decommissioning

Cross Section of the Piqua Decommissioned Reactor Building

After the plant ceased operations in 1966, Atomics International was performing work that would allow the plant to restart operations. However, the AEC decided to terminate the operating contract, citing higher-priority needs for manpower and funding, lack of programmatic interest, and technical problems. The site's buildings were decontaminated, except for the containment vessel, which was entombed in concrete. Ongoing environmental inspections and dose reconstruction projects have been undertaken by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CDC and other entities.

Site today

The facility's buildings that were not entombed are now used as a warehouse and office space for the City of Piqua. The US Department of Energy has proposed removal of the dome. The facility is currently being torn down by the City of Piqua.

References

External links

* https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/ocas/piqua.html * https://web.archive.org/web/20100829160656/http://www.em.doe.gov/bemr/bemrsites/pnpf.aspx
A video describing the Piqua reactor
{{U.S. Nuclear Plants Energy infrastructure completed in 1963 Buildings and structures in Miami County, Ohio Nuclear reactors Nuclear power plants in Ohio Former nuclear power stations in the United States Former power stations in Ohio