Bonus Nuclear Power Plant
- Address
- off Hwy 413
Lonely Planet review for Bonus Nuclear Power Plant
The Bonus Nuclear Power Plant, the green dome poking out from behind the palm trees behind the Punta Higüero lighthouse, once housed the first nuclear-powered electrical generating facility in the Caribbean. To purists, Rincón and nuclear energy probably go together like Nixon and Brezhnev, but paradise is full of surprises.
Back in the days when the Beach Boys led the Surfin' Safari, the Boiling Nuclear Superheater Plant (known half-sarcastically by the acronym of Bonus) was a test facility that produced a minuscule 16,000kW of electricity in order to introduce Latin America to the benefits of nuclear power and to train visiting engineers.The plant never functioned properly, however, and in its short life from 1960 to 1968 it allegedly contaminated employees and suffered a reactor failure. Finally, the US government closed the plant and at the time claimed to have decontaminated it.
For 20 years Bonus became a rusting relic of the nuclear age and a favorite venue for graffiti writers, who had everything from anti-nuke to pro-marijuana biases. The locals even named a surf break after it: Domes, one of Rincón's most consistent breaks. In the mid-1990s cooperation between the town and the electrical company brought about the reopening of the building and total decontamination of the site.
Now, with the building 'clean,' dollars have been spent to paint and polish everything as a museum.
Traveller reviews for Bonus Nuclear Power Plant (1)
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Museo Tecnologico Dr. Modesto Iriarte
velezcm does not recommend this,
After working for PREPA , the last 22 surveying the Technological Museum (former BONUS Nuclear Station; name changed by virtue of Law 307 in 2000) I would like to clarify some issues. The Atomic Energy Commission (now Department of Energy; DOE) made only two prototypes with the superheater concept; BONUS and Pathfinder. It closed due to economical reasons (no more fundings). DOE used the entombment process as a safe and economical mean to ensure safe radiation levels exposure so that it could be open to the public. If you look at the newspapers of 1970, it was inagurated as a museum. Remember it was a prototype, the eight plant constructed by the US and was closely monitored by local agencies and scientists from around the world that visited it. Due to the new environmental regulations (EPA and EQB were created in 1970) which required more cleanup and the fact that there was no organizational structure to take care of the museum, it closed and went under radiological surveillance. Also, the Department of Health of PR made an study in 1975, due to the issue of cancer in Rincon, which concluded that the rate of cancer was normal for towns with the same population and exposures as Rincon and not due to the plant. In 1993, the former Mayor of Rincon requested to develop an historical museum, along with the technological museum. PREPA agreed and asked DOE's permission to grant access to the public (DOE is the owner of the radioactivity, PREPA is only the custodiant and owner of all the structures and land within the site). Cleanups, public meetings and environmental statements were done, residual radiation levels were taken to natural background levels (same levels you would find at your home or surroundings) and finally access to the public was granted; still no organizational structure to open. But groups can visit by appointment calling the Division Head of Enviromental and Quality Assurance of PREPA at (787) 521-4060. Hope this clarify more.
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