Callaway County
On December 19, 1984, the Callaway Nuclear Power Plant went into operation. Missouri’s first and only nuclear power plant had been debated for years before ground was broken in September of 1975. Even after the facility got the necessary approval following the federal government’s evaluation process, it was nearly a decade before it began operating near Fulton in Callaway County.
I drive down a rural country road in Callaway County toward the home and studio of artist Jane Mudd. Jane lives with her husband Tom in a log home deep in the woods, about seven miles from Fulton. I turn up the driveway to the Mudd’s home and notice that the recent rain has left the countryside lush and beautiful. “You caught us dancing!” Jane laughs as I approach, stepping into their outdoor room with a million-dollar view of a verdant valley surrounded by Callaway County’s wooded hills.