The last days of Hallam

October 23, 2025, 7:00AMNuclear NewsJeremy Hampshire
Sheldon Station (left), a coal plant, and the Hallam power plant, a sodium-cooled, graphite-moderated nuclear reactor. They shared a common turbine generator set. (Photo: U.S. AEC/public domain)

The Hallam nuclear power plant, about 25 miles southwest of Lincoln, Neb., was an important part of the Atomic Energy Commission’s Reactor Power Demonstration Program. But in the end, it operated for only 6,271 hours and generated about 192.5 million kilowatt-hours of electric power during its short, 15-month life.

The short life of the Hallam plant

August 29, 2024, 3:06PMNuclear NewsJeremy Hampshire
Aerial view of Hallam nuclear power plant (toward right) and Sheldon Power Station (toward left). (Photo: U.S. AEC/Wiki Commons)

The Hallam nuclear power plant in Nebraska, about 25 miles southwest of Lincoln, was a 75-MWe sodium-­cooled, graphite-moderated reactor operated by Consumers Public Power District of Nebraska (CPPD). It was co-located with the Sheldon Power Station, a conventional coal-fired plant. The facility had a shared control room and featured a shared turbo generator that could accept steam from either heat source.