Postcard: Artist's conception of Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station

This undated postcard features an illustration of York County's Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station. Construction on the facility began in 1958 and it became operational in 1966. The caption on the back of the postcard states:

"Artist's conception of the Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station on the Susquehanna River, Peach Bottom Township, York County, Pa., built by Philadelphia Electric and fifty-two other investor-owned utility companies. This high-temperature, helium-cooled nuclear power station, with a capacity of 40,000 kilowatts, will be owned and operated by Philadelphia Electric Company."

The illustration was fairly accurate, if you compare it to this undated photograph of the power station — featuring a similar aerial view — from the U.S. Department of Energy.

The power station was built by Bechtel Corporation, which dates to 1898 and has been involved with the construction of Hoover Dam, the "Chunnel", King Fahd International Airport in Saudi Arabia, and the infamous Big Dig in Boston.

Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station, which is about 50 miles southeast of Three Mile Island, has three units. Unit 1 was in commission from 1966 to 1974. Unit 2 and Unit 3 went into service in 1974 and have been licensed to run in 2033 and 2034, respectively.

Here are links to some more information about Peach Bottom:

• "Inside Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station" by Carl Willis
• Exelon's Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station page
• "TMI and Peach Bottom prepared for Hurricane Sandy," a 2012 York Daily Record/Sunday News article by Sean Adkins
• "At Peach Bottom, TMI, sirens have no backup power," a 2012 York Daily Record/Sunday News article by Sean Adkins
• "About 50 workers at Peach Bottom nuclear plant exposed to low levels of radiation," a 2012 York Daily Record/Sunday News article by Sean Adkins
• "What happens when plans go wrong?" a York Daily Record/Sunday News investigative piece by Bill Landauer and Sean Adkins
• "Japan's nuclear woes don't hike Peach Bottom residents' worries," a 2011 York Daily Record/Sunday News article by Ted Czech
• "Commission finds long blackouts pose risk to Peach Bottom, all US reactors," a 2011 Associated Press article by Dina Cappiello
• "Peach Bottom fined for sleeping guards," a 2009 York Daily Record/Sunday News article by Sean Adkins
• "The Peach Bottom Syndrome," a 1988 New York Times article by Matthew L. Wald

Previous atomic-themed Papergreat posts

• Get your Kix rocket troopers!
• Hand-drawn and hand-colored QSL from Newport Beach, California
• Miscellaneous: Mine Spring School, a radiation record and making gold
• Three sci-fi paperback covers with UFOs (and one with a chimp)
• How would Delaware respond to a nuclear attack?