Saxton nuclear power plant
Saxton nuclear power plant is a nuclear site in United States with 1 unit on record. None is currently operating.
Units
| Unit | Status | Type | Model | Gross MW | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saxton nuclear power plant | Retired | PWR | - | 3 | 1967 |
Unit by unit
Each unit's rating, type and milestone dates as recorded by the Global Nuclear Power Tracker, with any correction we made to it. A dash or "not disclosed" means the source does not give the value.
Saxton nuclear power plant Retired
GNPT records commercial operation as 1 January 1967 and permanent shutdown as 1 January 1972, both bare-year placeholders. The IAEA PRIS record, as published in the World Nuclear Association database, gives commercial operation on 1 March 1967 (the same day as grid connection) and permanent shutdown on 1 May 1972. PRIS itself records the first of the month for this experimental unit, so the day is approximate.
commercial_operation:
1967-01-01 → 1967-03-01
· World Nuclear Association, Nuclear Reactor Database, Saxton (data credited to IAEA PRIS)
· verified 2026-10-28
GNPT records commercial operation as 1 January 1967 and permanent shutdown as 1 January 1972, both bare-year placeholders. The IAEA PRIS record, as published in the World Nuclear Association database, gives commercial operation on 1 March 1967 (the same day as grid connection) and permanent shutdown on 1 May 1972. PRIS itself records the first of the month for this experimental unit, so the day is approximate.
permanent_shutdown:
1972-01-01 → 1972-05-01
· World Nuclear Association, Nuclear Reactor Database, Saxton (data credited to IAEA PRIS)
· verified 2026-10-28
| Reactor type | Pressurised water reactor (PWR) |
|---|---|
| Model | not disclosed |
| Size class | Very small |
| Gross capacity | 3MW |
| Net capacity | 3MW |
| Thermal output | 24MWt |
| Enrichment | 3–5% U-235 |
| NSSS vendor | not on record |
| Owner | Saxton Nuclear Experimental Co100% |
| Operator | Saxton Nuclear Experimental Reactor |
| Construction start | 1 Jan 1960 |
|---|---|
| First criticality | 1 Jan 1967 |
| Grid connection | 1 Mar 1967 |
| Commercial operation | 1 Mar 1967 |
| Permanent shutdown | 1 May 1972 |
Saxton nuclear power plant in context
The one unit with both construction and grid dates on record took 7.2 years from construction start to grid connection; the median across all reactors connected in the 1960s is 5.0 years.
The nearest other tracked nuclear sites are Peach Bottom nuclear power plant (176 km), Beaver Valley nuclear power plant (191 km) and Susquehanna nuclear power plant (201 km).
Build time by unit
| Unit | Construction start | Grid connection | Years | Fleet median, same decade |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Saxton nuclear power plant | 1960 | 1967 | 7.2 | 5.0 (1960s) |
Nearest tracked nuclear sites
| Site | Country | Distance | Operating GW gross |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peach Bottom nuclear power plant | United States | 176 km | 2.8 |
| Beaver Valley nuclear power plant | United States | 191 km | 1.9 |
| Susquehanna nuclear power plant | United States | 201 km | 2.7 |
How these are worked out: ranks use gross operating capacity; ages count from the start-up year on record, as on the age page; build times run from construction start to grid connection, as on the build-times page; ratings are the tracker's net and design net capacity, as on the uprates page. Distances are straight-line between exact positions, so a site with only an approximate position gets none. A unit missing a date or a rating is left out of the figure that needs it.
| Location | Liberty Township, Pennsylvania, United States |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 40.2260, -78.2417 |
| Elevation | about 245 mabove sea level |
| Setting | About 170 km from the sea |
| Region | Northern America |
| Units by status | Retired: 1 |
Elevation is read at the listed coordinates from a 30 m terrain model (SRTM 30 m). Two independent models differ by a median of 6 m across our plants and by up to about 40 m on steep or coastal ground, and a point on a shoreline can read as sea level. Distance to the water is measured to a generalised 1:10 million coastline, so a few kilometres or less is not resolved. This is context, not a design-basis or flood-risk figure.
| Owners | Saxton Nuclear Experimental Co |
|---|---|
| Operators | Saxton Nuclear Experimental Reactor |
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Sources
- Global Nuclear Power Tracker, Global Energy Monitor, August 2026 release , CC BY 4.0 · retrieved 2026-09-06
- GEM.wiki entry (further reading) , CC BY-SA 4.0, linked, not quoted
How these sources are used, including the corrections applied on top of them and what is deliberately left blank · download the underlying data