In 1952, Argonne National Laboratory engineer Samuel Untermyer formulated the idea that direct boiling reactors might be practical. To prove this concept, Untermyer and other Argonne engineers designed, built, and operated a series of experimental boiling water reactors, known as the BORAX experiment series, at the National Reactor Testing Station in Idaho. Using the results of these physics experiments, they then designed and built a prototype boiling water reactor power plant, the Experimental Boiling Water Reactor (EBWR), in Bldg. 331 on Rock Road at Argonne's Illinois site. Operations with EBWR proved that a direct cycle boiling water reactor system could operate, even at power levels five times its rated heat output, without serious radioactive contamination of the steam turbine. EBWR, sometimes referred to as CP-7, was operated until 1967.
EBWR, operated with a largely plutonium core, provided valuable information on plutonium recycle operation of water reactors-it generated plutonium-based electricity for Argonne's physical plant in 1966. When closed down the following year, EBWR had established a reputation as the forerunner of many commercial nuclear energy plants. One of those is the Commonwealth Edison facility at Dresden, Ill., which in 1960, became the first privately operated nuclear energy plant.
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