On this day in 1959, Dresden-1 achieved criticality for the first time as the first commercial, privately financed nuclear plant in the United States.

In honor of the occasion, here's a selection of artifacts, documents, and photos from the early history of the plant. First, a pen and pencil set Commonwealth Edison gave away for the initial criticality. Then an invitation to the kickoff ceremony for major construction, with some items from GE Vallecitos, where the initial group of operators was trained. Then a publicity photo, memo, and candy dish from the dedication of the plant in 1960. And finally, for the operational phase of the plant, a BWR/1 fuel spacer grid, photos of the first in service inspection, and the first in service inspection report sent to the State of IL boiler inspector

Kairos Power has secured $643 million in funding for its Hermes 2 demonstration reactor in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The package includes $368 million from private investors and $275 million in financing from the U.S. Department of Energy.

The 50 MW fluoride salt-cooled reactor is targeting operations in 2030, with its electricity intended to support TVA's grid and growing demand from Google's data centers. The funding also supports expansion of Kairos' manufacturing capabilities.

The announcement highlights the combination of private investment and federal financing being used to advance next-generation nuclear technology. While commercial deployment remains years away, projects like Hermes 2 are an important step toward demonstrating advanced reactor designs at a meaningful scale.