More than 60 years ago this Saturday, a string of bulbs lit up courtesy of Argonne National Laboratory. What was the big deal? The electricity used to power the bulbs was generated by an experimental breeder reactor and was the first electricity produced using the heat of nuclear fission.
Photo from the Department of Energy
U.S. NRC Blog 
They are also talking about using nuclear fission to heat the space suits that will be used on the first mission to mars.
DO I HAVE TROUBLE WITH TRUTH AND FICTION?
Afraid so gmax. I think it sometimes goes with old age. Although, I think, even young folks can be affected. It is too often a side effect of having to deal with harsh reality. I just wish that we were celebrating the birth of something truly beneficial to mankind that wasn’t fraught with so many dangerous side effects. For example, the flip side of fission power, fusion power. I have anxiously waited for a laboratory to give birth to the power of the Sun, fusion power. I have been disappointed by failure after failure to make it so. Remember the cold fusion hoax that was perpetrated years back? I do like the emergence of alternative energy sources. But we still have to rely on large central power plants to provide the backbone of our electric grid. So I’ll keep dreaming in my make believe world. I want real hope and change.
Having trouble distinguishing truth from fiction?
The Experimental Breeder Reactor-I (EBR-I) was the first liquid metal cooled fast reactor and the first reactor built on the National Reactor Testing Station (NRTS) in Idaho. The reactor was designed, built, and operated by Argonne National Laboratory. Argonne-West was established in Idaho to test designs and theories developed at Argonne-East in Chicago. More information can be found here: http://www.ne.anl.gov/About/reactors/frt.shtml
Moderator
Reblogged this on Niki.V.all.ways.My.way. and commented:
whoo hooo and we still do not have an answer for the nuclear poop that results. #RealNuclearWasteConfidence should be our top priority before doing anything more to support the expansion in this industry.
and while that is TOTALLY cool … we still haven’t found a solution to Nuclear Waste. #SafetyFirst priority and let’s push for some #RealNuclearWasteConfidence, shall we … we really cannot be not so smart about that part of this energy source any longer. #fuqafukushima, after all, is still . . . . .
Do you mean Illinois?
Frankenstein also came out of a laboratory.