Starting on May 24 an Idaho National Laboratory opens a facility, the Experimental Breeder Reactor One, that you can tour, interact with preserved equipment, and hear from those who were a part of its beginnings. Summer Joy took a tour and found out some of the amazing highlights that this museum has to offer.
Experimental Breeder Reactor One or also known as EBR-1, was completed in 1951 and produced the world's first usable amount of electricity using atomic energy.
"I think it's very neat. For science it was the birth of the first reactor and I think that is a big deal. A lot of people don't relize it, but it happened in this area and this is it, where nuclear science began," said Corinne Dionisio, a Tour Guide.
More than a quarter of a million visitors from every state and dozens of foreign countries have come through these doors to see EBR one and two's preserved equipment, replicas of control rooms, how they were designed safely and had effects on improved efficiency, economics, and recycling for nuclear fuel.
"To preserve this science's history and to preserve the attitudes and enthusiasm in nuclear energy and learning more about the world around us and I think that is what this represents," added Dionisio.
This museum offers an up close look into how researchers and scientists, in simply terms, made atoms spilt, which produces neutrons and then when they strike other uranium 235 atoms they will also spilt; this helps create a chain reaction, and a lot of energy, which can help produce new fuel or generate electricity.
Many of the visitors I spoke with said they were pleasantly surprised on how interesting and interactive the museum really was. One example is, it gives you a chance to learn how to activate a reactor.
"I would hope that it would help educate people. Even if you don't like science you should still definitely come check it out. It will give you an idea of how nuclear energy works and it seems like many people are not familiar with it, but really, it is a simple concept. So we help make it more familiar to you," said Dionisio.
To learn more about the Experimental Breeder Reactor One Museum, you can click on the link below. http://www.inl.gov/ebr/