Free Screening of "Idaho's Nuclear Navy" and Panel Discussion - Egyptian Theatre in Boise - March 11, 2024

Tue Feb 20th, 2024

You are invited to attend a free screening of the Idaho Experience documentary "Idaho's Nuclear Navy" on Monday, March 11, at the Egyptian Theatre in Boise.

Register here to attend

Doors open at 5:30 PM. Presentation and Q&A begin at 6:15 PM

In the early 1950s, the U.S. Navy, under the leadership of Admiral Hyman Rickover, was hard at work developing a nuclear-powered engine to drive submarines and aircraft carriers. The Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program (NNPP), also known as Naval Reactors, a joint program of the U.S. Navy and Department of Energy, has operated since 1949 at the Naval Reactors Facility (NRF) located at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL).

The NNPP is responsible for all matters of Navy nuclear propulsion, from design through operations and end of life. The nuclear propulsion plant prototype S1W at NRF served as the prototype for the first nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Nautilus (SSN 571). The prototype A1W was subsequently constructed at NRF and provided the prototype for the first nuclear-powered surface ship propulsion plant designs. In 1965, the submarine reactor plant prototype S5G was built in a submarine hull that floated in a water basin to simulate a ship's motion while at sea. These prototypes were used both to test new naval nuclear propulsion plant technology and to train nearly 40,000 Navy sailors, officers and civilian nuclear operators until 1995.

As the NRF prototypes reached the end of their lives, NNNP worked closely with the Idaho State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) and Idaho Public Television to document and preserve this important part of our history in the Idaho Experience documentary "Idaho's Nuclear Navy."

Please register here to join us on March 11 at the Egyptian Theatre for a free screening of "Idaho's Nuclear Navy." Doors open at 5:30 PM, and the presentation begins at 6:15 PM, followed by a Q&A discussion.