Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Maine Yankee Nuclear Power Plant: A Technological Utopia In Retrospect, Howard P. Segal

Maine History

The Maine Yankee nuclear power plant, built in 1968 and closed in 1996, provides a revealing case study of the rise and fall of the nuclear power industry in the United States. At its inception, the plant generated a great outpouring of optimistic superlatives promising electricity “too cheap to meter” and a solution to Maine’s longstanding energy problems. Its promoters envisioned a technological utopia for Maine communities based on cheap and efficient energy, and based on these promising prospects, the town of Wiscasset welcomed the plant. This article traces the changes in public thinking that led to statewide referenda on …