in Deep River Plans for the construction of this
planned community began in 1944 by the federal government as part of the
Manhattan Project, to accommodate employees of the nearby Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories (CRNL). Along with
Los Alamos, New Mexico, and
Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Chalk River was an offshoot of the nuclear effort for the allies and scientists, engineers, and tradesmen from around the world who came to work on the Manhattan Project. After
World War II, Canada continued on with research into the atom, and dedicated the country to the peaceful uses that could be derived from putting the atom to use. Deep River was situated far enough upwind and upriver of the Chalk River research reactors to avoid radioactive fallout. John Bland, an architecture professor at
McGill University, developed the town's first master plan in 1944. Bland located the town between the existing Highway 17 and the
Ottawa River. He designed a system of streets that generally followed the contours of the area's topography. Residential neighborhoods stretched out from a commercial and service-sector core. Straight and broad avenues ran along contour lines, and narrower and winding streets lay at right angles to discourage non-local traffic from entering neighborhoods. Parks and schools were located strategically throughout the town. The streets were named after local flora, Canadian politicians and famous scientists such as
Ernest Rutherford and
Charles Darwin. At the same time, its economy and development were further boosted by the construction of the Des Joachim Hydroelectric Generating Station and dam on the Ottawa River at
Rolphton, which opened on June 28, 1950. The town was the subject of a ''
Maclean's Magazine'' article in 1958 by the noted Canadian journalist, editor, and author
Peter C. Newman. Entitled, "Deep River: Almost the Perfect Place to Live," the article took a sardonic take on the town as a very odd and isolated place populated by mostly young, male, highly-educated, and bored scientists and technicians struggling to find things to do with their time: "The Utopian town where our atomic scientists live and play has no crime, no slums, no unemployment and few mothers-in-law." Deep River was incorporated as a town in 1957. In 1962, the experimental
Nuclear Power Demonstration, or NPD power, reactor started up as a prototype for later
CANDU reactors. This was operated by
Ontario Hydro, which later used it as a training facility for new employees in its nuclear division. That brought many more temporary residents to the town. The NPD was shut down in 1987; the nuclear fuel was removed from the site, along with non-radioactive equipment, leaving in place only the building shell and the nuclear components (reactor, tanks, pipes etc.) that had become radioactive to wait for further decommissioning. The facility has been waiting for final demolition and permanent disposal of the radioactive nuclear components for over 30 years. == Geography ==