[ Broadcast over radio and television from the White House ]
THIS PLANT--using the power of the atom to supply electrical power--represents what can be done, not only in America, but throughout the world, to put the atom to work for the good of mankind, not his destruction.
It represents the hope of our people that the power of the atom will be able to open up a vast new world of peaceful development--that atomic power will ease mankind's burdens and provide additional comforts for human living.
The United States is confident that this can be accomplished. Already sixty-five other nations have joined the International Atomic Energy Agency, which I proposed to the United Nations in 1953, to promote the peaceful uses of the atom and to reduce the threat of nuclear armaments. Thirty--nine nations have joined with us in bilateral agreements to share in peaceful atomic development.
This plant has a secure place in American history. It is the first of the world's large-scale nuclear power stations exclusively devoted to peaceful purposes.
It is with pride in what has been accomplished at Shippingport, Pennsylvania--and with equal confidence in the future--that I now dedicate this Shippingport Atomic Power Station to the cause of scientific progress--to the cause of peace.
Note: These remarks were part of a program broadcast over radio and television from 1:00 to 1:30 p.m. The President spoke at the White House, where he set in motion the power station's turbine-generator by using a neutron wand and a neutron counter to operate a series of remote control relays.
The Shippingport plant is a joint venture of the Atomic Energy Commission and the Duquesne Light Company of Pittsburgh.
Dwight D. Eisenhower, Remarks Dedicating the Shippingport, Pennsylvania, Atomic Power Station. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/233442
