Looking Back

The restart of the long-dormant Browns Ferry Unit 1 reactor in Alabama last year signaled a rebirth of commercial nuclear power in the United States. For Bechtel, which provided engineering services on the project, Browns Ferry continued a long tradition of industry leadership. The company built many of the first-generation nuclear plants in the 1960s and ’70s, and in recent years has helped maintain and renovate dozens of existing plants.

Following World War II, Steve Bechtel Sr. recognized the importance of nuclear power and steered the company into the nascent industry. Following work on early reactors for the U.S. government, Bechtel joined a consortium of utilities that in 1955 came up with the first design for a commercial nuclear plant. Two years later, Bechtel broke ground on Dresden 1 in Illinois—the first privately financed nuclear power plant in the country. The plant was completed in 1959.

“Dresden did more to establish commercial nuclear power than any other single project,” said Steve Sr. It established Bechtel as the pace setter for the new industry. The company soon had contracts to build nuclear power plants in California, Michigan, and Pennsylvania.

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