Puerto Rico Governor Jenniffer González Colón said on Friday, November 13, that she visited the former Boiling Nuclear Superheater (BONUS) reactor in Rincón with David A. Wright, a commissioner of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). In a post on her social media accounts, the governor highlighted the historic importance of the facility, described as the eighth nuclear power plant built in the world and the first in Latin America.
The BONUS reactor operated experimentally from 1964 to 1968 as part of a joint initiative between Puerto Rico’s then Water Resources Authority and the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, producing electricity from nuclear energy during that period. The site now houses the Dr. Modesto Iriarte Technological Museum, dedicated to preserving the project’s history and its contribution to electricity generation in Puerto Rico.
The reactor stopped operating in June 1968 because of technical difficulties and the high cost of the modifications needed to keep it running. Since then the facility has remained out of service and is subject to long-term monitoring and maintenance coordinated by local and federal authorities. González Colón did not detail the matters discussed at the meeting or announce projects related to restarting the facility or developing new nuclear plants in Puerto Rico.