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First Nuclear Power Reactor to Generate Electricity Built in Idaho
A nuclear reactor produced useful electricity for the first time.
It was barely enough to power a simple string of four, 100-watt light bulbs, but the 16 scientists and engineers recorded their historic achievement by chalking their names on the wall beside the generator. -
First Commercial Nuclear Power Plant Begins Operation in Shippingport, Pennsylvania
The first large-scale nuclear power plant in the world began operating in Shippingport, Pennsylvania, on December 2, 1957 - exactly 15 years after Enrico Fermi demonstrated the first sustained nuclear reaction. -
Formation of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in Baghdad, Iraq
The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is a permanent, intergovernmental Organization, created at the Baghdad Conference on September 10-14, 1960, by Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela. -
Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act of 1973 Passed to Increase Domestic Oil Supplies in Wake of Oil Embargo
After the discovery of a large oil field in Prudhoe Bay, Alaska in 1968, U.S. Congress decided to construct a pipeline transversing Alaska as a means of transporting the oil to the nearest ice-free port at Valdez, Alaska. Congress passed the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act in 1973 as an authorization for the building of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS). -
Federal Surface Mining Control Act Signed to Lessen Environmental Impacts of Surface Coal Mining
The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) was enacted in 1977 after the US Congress recognized the need to regulate mining activity, rehabilitate abandoned mines, and protect society and the environment from the adverse effects of mining operations. -
Department of Energy Organization Act Is Signed, Creating the US Department of Energy
In 1977, with the Nation facing its most severe winter in decades, natural gas shortages caused thousands of factory and school closings and threatened cutoffs to residential customers. The rapidly escalating global energy issues convinced the U.S. Government that a sharper focus should be applied to federal energy programs. On August 4, 1977, President Carter signed the Department of Energy Organization Act. -
Exxon Valdez Disaster in Alaska Becomes the Largest Oil Spill in US Waters
Early in the morning on Good Friday, March 24, 1989, the Exxon Valdez struck Bligh Reef in Prince William Sound. The grounding ripped the bottom of the single-hulled vessel, resulting in the rupture of 11 of the vessel’s crude oil tanks and the release of nearly 11 million gallons of crude oil into the environment. It was, and still is, the largest oil spill in United States waters. -
Plans Announced to Build FutureGen, the Worlds First Zero Emissions Coal Power Plant
On February 27, 2003, the President announced FutureGen as a cost-shared project between DOE [Department of Energy] and industry to create the world's first coal-fired, zero emissions electricity and hydrogen production power plant. -
Worst Coal Ash Spill in US History in Kingston, Tennessee
In the early morning hours of December 22, 2008, the earthen wall of a containment pond at Tennessee's Kingston Fossil Plant gave way. The breach released 1.3 million cubic meters of fly ash - a coal-combustion waste product captured and stored in wet form... The spill infiltrated the Emory River, buried some 300 acres in sludge, and even knocked a nearby home completely off its foundation. -
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 Contains Billions of Dollars for Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Developments
In support of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, President Barack Obama stated: "The investment we're making today will create a newer, smarter electric grid that will allow for broader use of alternative energy."
