View of the Naval Reactors Facility at the Atomic Energy Commission’s National Reactor Testing Station in Idaho, circa 1957. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Department of Energy on Flickr. BY DILLON MAXWELL
In the early 1950s, the U.S. Navy was keen on developing nuclear-powered engines to propel submarines and aircraft carriers. The prototyping and testing of these reactors took place far from any ocean—on the sagebrush steppe of eastern Idaho at the Nuclear Propulsion Program’s Naval Reactors Facility. Over the next four decades, the NRF became home to some of the world’s firsts, such as prototype reactors for the first nuclear submarine, Nautilus, and first nuclear aircraft carrier, Enterprise.
Since 2020, Colorado State University’s Center for Environmental Management of Military Lands has supported the NRF in several historic preservation and cultural resource management projects. CEMML has helped survey and inventory historical buildings and has developed projects meant to help Idahoans and researchers across the country learn about the cradle of naval nuclear propulsion.
For one of these projects, an oral history collection, CEMML staff and student researchers at CSU’s Public and Environmental History Center in 2022 interviewed 33 Navy veterans and civilians who worked at the NRF to capture their experiences at the site. Seventeen of the oral histories will be housed at the Library of Congress and all 33 will be at the Idaho State Museum. These interviews were also incorporated into a recent documentary by Idaho Public Television highlighting the Cold War research at NRF.
CEMML Principal Investigator and historian Amanda Wallander enjoyed hearing the personal accounts that brought the time period and the facility’s history to life. “These are all men that were engineers,” said Wallander. “The level of intelligence of these folks is off the charts.” As Wallander also observed, they were very dedicated to their work. The oral histories captured their recollections of the repetitive, arduous nature of the research and the long hours required. Many participants noted that even now, 20 or 30 years later, they could still perform exactly the tasks they had learned.
Some of the men eventually served on Navy submarines using the nuclear propulsion technology that they helped develop in Idaho. In the interviews, they shared vivid memories of the acrid smell of grease, the searing heat of the engines, and the many sounds of the submarine’s inner workings. Their work lives on—today, more than 40% of the Navy’s major combat vessels are nuclear powered.
In addition to the oral histories, CEMML also helped Navy staff develop two wayside exhibits detailing the history of NRF and the nuclear ships they helped develop. The exhibits are in Arco, Idaho and at the Big Lost River Rest Stop between Idaho Falls and Arco, enlightening travelers who probably have no idea that they are passing by a birthplace of naval nuclear power. CEMML historian Dillon Maxwell remarked, “It’s super cool to have contributed to a project and have such a tangible result. Most of what I work on ends up on a bookshelf at a resource manager’s office. It’s nice to have something this physical, with such a unique story, to point to.”
The oral histories are being reviewed by NRF staff, who will then send them to be processed by the Library of Congress for public access, while the wayside exhibits are already in place.
Watch the Idaho Public Television “Idaho’s Nuclear Navy” documentary: https://video.idahoptv.org/video/idahos-nuclear-navy-yim5lq/