220. Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Plant: The Promise and Peril of Nuclear Energy

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Oct 31, 2025

Paul Gionfriddo, a former state representative and mayor of Middletown, shares his deep insights on the Connecticut Yankee nuclear power plant. He discusses its early promise, public outreach efforts, and rising safety concerns that led to opposition. Gionfriddo highlights the formation of People's Action for Clean Energy and their activism against nuclear reliance. He also connects anti-nuclear movements with antiwar sentiments, and reflects on the long-term impact of nuclear waste on local communities. His perspective offers a crucial look at the balance between energy needs and environmental safety.

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INSIGHT

Nuclear Power As A Midcentury Promise

Connecticut Yankee symbolized early optimism that nuclear power was a clean, futuristic solution to pollution and energy demand.
The plant's sleek design and public exhibits helped normalize nuclear power as modern and benign.

ANECDOTE

Balloons To Reveal Invisible Risk

Paul Gionfriddo recounted releasing balloons from Haddam Meadows in 1976 to show how radiation could travel across state lines.
The visual stunt demonstrated that an accident at Connecticut Yankee would affect distant communities like Rhode Island hours later.

ANECDOTE

From School Tour To Opposition

Gionfriddo described touring the Connecticut Yankee visitor center as a kid and later rejecting nuclear power after studying its risks.
That personal journey led him to join and later lead People's Action for Clean Energy.

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The Connecticut Yankee atomic power plant was one of the earliest commercial nuclear reactors in New England. Though it was dismantled at the turn of the 21st century, its legacy remains, both for the landscape of the Connecticut River Valley where it once stood, and for contemporary debates about energy today. This episode explores the plant's life and afterlife, the activists who opposed it, and the promises and perils of nuclear power in the 1960s and today, through the reminiscences of Paul Gionfriddo, a former state legislator and longtime president of People's Action for Clean Energy, a group that has advocated for conservation and renewable energy in Connecticut since the early 1970s.

This episode is presented by Dr. Amrys Williams and Jon Kozak. Williams is a historian of science, technology,and the environment who serves as the Executive Director of the Connecticut League of Museums. Her recent research projects have focused on anti-nuclear activism, radioecology, and the public interpretation of nuclear places. Kozak is a graduate student in Public History at Central Connecticut State University and the Communications Manager for the Connecticut League of Museums. His recent research has focused on energy landscapes and the Connecticut Yankee plant.

Their guest is Paul Gionfriddo is a former state representative and mayor of Middletown, a graduate of Wesleyan University, and a retired nonprofit professional. He has advocated for mental health and renewable energy, and served as President of People's Action for Clean Energy from 1975 until 1999.

For more information, visit these sites:

-Connecticut Yankee website: connyankee.com/

-People's Action for Clean Energy website: pacecleanenergy.org/

-1960s film of the construction of the Connecticut Yankee Nuclear Power Plant: youtube.com/watch?v=AiCYVMboju8

-The Atom and Eve, 1960s film promoting CT Yankee plant and atomic power in New England: footagefarm.com/reel-details/communications/telephone/1966---colour-atomic-energy-usa--atom-and-eve ; https://catalog.archives.gov/id/88095

-US Department of Energy Flickr Photo Stream, with many images of the Haddam Neck Plant before and during its operating lifetime: flickr.com/photos/departmentofenergy/10822396434/in/photostream/

-Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Company, Haddam Neck Plant Records at the University of Connecticut Archives and Special Collections: archivessearch.lib.uconn.edu/repositories/2/resources/335

-Wesleyan Anti-Nuclear Protests Collection, Wesleyan University Archives and Special Collections: archives.wesleyan.edu/repositories/ua/resources/wesleyan_university_anti-nuclear_protests_collecti

-Connecticut Collections: ctcollections.org/

Production notes

-Projector sound effect: cine-projector SFX.wav by Rollo145 -- https://freesound.org/s/220348/ -- License: Attribution NonCommercial 3.0

-Archival audio from:

-Gene Starbecker, The Atom and Eve (Bay State Film Production Inc., 1966).

-Construction of Connecticut Yankee Atomic Power Plant, produced for Connecticut Yankee by Kevin Donovan Films, Glastonbury, CT, ca. 1968.

Photo Credit

Photo of CY when it was in operation from the Department of Energy.

Connecticut League of Museums: ctleague.org/

This episode of Grating the Nutmeg was produced by Amyrs Williams and Jon Kozak. GTN podcast engineer is Patrick O'Sullivan at highwattagemedia.com/ Follow GTN on our socials-Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and BlueSky.

Follow executive producer Mary Donohue on Facebook and Instagram at West Hartford Town Historian. Join us in two weeks for our next episode of Grating the Nutmeg, the podcast of Connecticut history.