Further down Hwy 26 from EBR1 (the world’s first working nuclear reactor) is Atomic City, Idaho a ghost town on the edge of the Idaho National Laboratory.
The small town had a population of 140 in 1960 and then decreased to 20 and after THE WORLD’S FIRST DEADLY NUCLEAR ACCIDENT.
WHAAT?!
Atomic City (previously named Midway) sits on the edge of the Idaho National Laboratory land. In the 1950s when EBR1 was operational, the military was trying to develop a portable nuclear reactor to provide a mobile power source to remote areas. SL-1 was built five miles from Atomic City and became operational in 1958.
SR1 nuclear reactor
On 1/3/61, SL-1 exploded when the core overheated, killing the three soldiers who were operating the reactor. The bodies of the three men were so radioactive they had to be buried in lead coffins.
