UPDATE: U.S. Department of Energy selects sodium-cooled fast reactor design for a Versatile Test Reactor in Idaho. If appropriated by Congress, VTR would be the first fast spectrum test reactor to operate in the U.S. in nearly three decades. Read more: https://bit.ly/3PF2CBb | U.S. Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy

On this day in 1965, the U.S. launched its first and only space reactor into space. SNAP-10A was a sodium-potassium cooled fast reactor developed as part of a research project for the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) to power a satellite. The reactor produced 500 watts of power and operated for 43 days during its flight test and was prematurely shut down by a faulty command receiver. #nuclear #SpaceExploration | U.S. Department of Energy Office of Nuclear Energy

The Partial Meltdown of the Sodium Reactor Experiment at Santa Susana Field Laboratory in 1959 #historicaltidbits #history #meltdown #NuclearReactor #californiahistory #venturacounty | Historical Tidbits