Piqua Nuclear Power Facility Historic Marker

Across the Great Miami River to the left of the wastewater treatment plant, the Piqua Nuclear Power Facility once stood. It operated from 1963 to 1966 and provided the city of Piqua with as much as 20 percent of its power. At the time, Piqua nicknamed itself "The Atomic City."

Piqua Nuclear Power Facility (PNFP), circa 1961. PNFP was the first reactor to use a mixture of aromatic hydrocarbons called terphenyls as the primary coolant, rather than water. The reactor produced 150,000 pounds of 550°F superheated steam per hour at a pressure of 450 pounds per square inch. Steam from PNFP powered turbines that provided energy throughout the city.

History
The Piqua Nuclear Power Facility was part of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission Power Reactor Demonstration Program: The program fostered the development of experimental nuclear reactors that could generate power for the public.

In 1956, Director of Municipal Utilities John P. Gallagher submitted a proposal to the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission to have a demonstration reactor built in the city of Piqua and a year later Congress set aside $11,465,000 for the project.

The Piqua Nuclear Power Facility was the first 45.5-megawatt, organically cooled and moderated, thermal reactor developed by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission with an electrical output of 11.4-megawatts. In 1964, when the city of Piqua took over full responsibility for operations, it became the first nuclear power plant run by a municipal utility.

Plant Closing
The reactor was shut down in 1966 because of economic and technical considerations. Decommissioning was completed in 1969 and the reactor vessel was entombed on-site. In 2023, the facilities were demolished, and the entombment was further protected with additional water-proofing concrete.

Present Day Use
Today, the city uses the site as a laydown yard for equipment and materials. The U.S. Department of Energy Office of Legacy Management continues to provide long-term stewardship of the onsite waste entombment to ensure that human health and the environment remain protected.