The head of the reactor vessel being lifted from the Shippingport nuclear reactor, USA. This photograph was taken during the decommissioning period of the reactor. Built in the mid-1950s, the Shippingport reactor was designed to demonstrate pressurised water reactor (PWR) technology and to generate electricity. It was shut down in October 1982, having been powered by three different cores during its life. The last of these was the Light Water Breeder Reactor (LWBR) core. Once all service piping and other items have been removed, the 200 cubic metre vessel will be moved in a shielded case to another site for disposal.