EBR-I Atomic Museum opens for the first time since pandemic
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The following is a news release from Idaho National Laboratory.
IDAHO FALLS — The Experimental Breeder Reactor-I (EBR-I) Atomic Museum, located 50 miles west of Idaho Falls on U.S. 20/26, launched its 2022 season on Friday. The museum will be open every day until Labor Day, Sept. 5.
“We have been closed the past two summers because of the COVID-19 pandemic so we are especially happy to welcome people back to the museum this year,” said Shelly Norman, tour ambassador at Idaho National Laboratory. “People visit from all over the world. I talk to people who are on the road between Craters of the Moon and Yellowstone National Park, and they see the signs and just stop in. For other people, it’s been on their bucket list for 30 years and they finally made the trip.”
New this year in the museum’s parking lot is a memorial plaque to honor the men who died in January 1961 at Stationary Low Power Reactor (SL-1).
EBR-I was completed in 1951. On Dec. 20, 1951, it became the first nuclear reactor to produce a usable amount of electricity. EBR-I was operated until late 1963 and decommissioned in 1964. It was dedicated as a registered National Historic Landmark on Aug. 25, 1966, by President Lyndon Johnson and Glenn Seaborg, chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission.
The museum is open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. No reservations are necessary and there is no cost. Tour guides will be on hand to provide tours and there is a self-guided tour option. Download the TravelStorys app before you leave home to take an on-demand tour of INL as you drive across the desert. If you have questions or want more information, check our webpage at inl.gov/ebr.