The entire United Kingdom had an unscheduled holiday, occasioned by the opening of the Calder Hall, the world’s first industrial-scale nuclear power plant. Queen Elizabeth took part in the grand opening ceremonies in March of 1956, along with various other dignitaries, promising electricity that was “too cheap to meter”. The four reactors put out a combined 194MW, enough at the time to power 200,000 homes. It more than doubled its expected life span of 20 years, and could have kept on going, if not for the supporting structures.

On this day, September 29, 2007, four years after it ended operations, Calder Hall was demolished.

Calder Hall did indeed provide electricity for nearby homes, but civilian power production explanation was just a cover for the military production of plutonium, needed to make atomic weapons. The British leadership admitted as much five years after the plant started operations. With the Cold War over, so much most of the reason for the plant’s existence.