A curious landmark, this green dome poking out from behind the palm trees north of Rincón town behind the Punta Higüero Lighthouse once housed the Caribbean's first nuclear-powered electricity-generating facility. Back when the Beach Boys led the surfin’ safari, the Boiling Nuclear Superheater Plant (known half-sarcastically by the acronym of Bonus) was a prototype of the superheater reactor. In its short life from 1960 to 1968, it suffered a reactor failure and drew scorn from environmentalists.
The US government tried converting the building into a museum, only to discover – shocker – that a failed nuclear power facility wasn’t popular with tourists.
Subsequently Bonus became a rusting relic of the Atomic Age and a favorite canvas for graffiti artists, who scrawl slogans to vilify nukes or praise marijuana.
