Three Mile Island - 35 years later

At the time of the accident I had been at the NRC not quite 7 months. This was certainly the "significant emotional event" in the history of nuclear energy in the US and also had an impact internationally on nuclear safety.

Although the NRC was barely 4 years old at the time of the accident, some called for the abolition of the agency in favor of an agency run by a single administrator.  President Carter stuck with the Commission form of governance, but issued a Reorganization Plan in 1980 that enhanced the power of the Chairman in NRC's emergency response functions.  Improvement in emergency preparedness and response was one of the lessons learned from the TMI accident. Here's an information brochure issued by Pennsylvania after the accident:

Three Mile Island Unit 1 continues to operate today.

But I doubt we will see this wag's prediction come true for Unit 2!

Atomic laughs

Long before the Simpsons we can find examples of nuclear humor. I've found a number of old postcards that have radioactive stuff at the center of the humor.  The first card is from a set Tout au radium (Everything radium) by an early 20th century illustrator Ph. Norwins. The card shows an exchange between a young man and the father of the object of his affection. The father says that the suitor, penniless as he is, has some nerve asking for the hand of his daughter. The young man agrees that he's penniless but notes he has 10 grams of radium. Dad has a change of heart in the face of such "wealth" and welcomes the young man into his arms.


The card dates from a time when radium seemed to be a miracle substance - but before an understanding of the dangers of excessive radiation exposure. Radium seemed to be a miracle substance, useful for heating homes and useful in any number of radium consumer products from the 19th and early 20th century that would be unthinkable today.

Our second card shows a lady apparently getting her hair done - or at least getting an atomic wave! I hope the Eiffel Tower (seen through the open window) survives the shock waves!

                                 Your faithful blogger,

 

Mr. Burns

Greenpeace at Oskarshamn

A number of Greenpeace activists scaled the fence at the Oskarshamn Nuclear Power Plant in Sweden last week.  The entry was related to a protest against the age of the reactors, the first of which began operation in 1972.

Three of Sweden's ten operating nuclear reactors are at the Oskarshamn site. The others are at the Ringhals and Forsmark sites.

The Father of the Indian Nuclear Program

I am off to India Sunday to attend a wedding in Calcutta, my second trip in the past few months, the first being in November to lecture at a nuclear law course at National Law University, Delhi. In anticipation of the trip, I thought appropriate this first day cover from 1966 honoring Homi Bhabha, the nuclear physicist who is considered the "father" of the Indian nuclear program. The stamp was issued in April 1966, only a few months after his death in January in an airplane crash into Mount Blanc.

Bhabha founded some key Indian institutions, including the Atomic Energy Establishment Trombay, now named after him as the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre. He was the first chair of the Indian Atomic Energy Commission and represented India at the IAEA. Bhabha is credited with developing India's approach to nuclear energy -- civilian and military -- including the emphasis on the thorium fuel cycle given India's rich thorium reserves.

Happy New Year - Atoms for Peace

Happy New Year! I've been away from the blog for a couple months, but hope to post more in 2014. Let's start off with this image from the IAEA's official holiday card.

Nuclear Furlough

My old friends and colleagues at the NRC got the word today that the agency is out of money due to the appropriations impasse, so the furlough process has begun for all but the "excepted" or "essential" employees - mostly resident inspectors at power plants, emergency operations center staff, and the like.  I thought I'd pull out a few oddball items from my NRC past -- old envelopes that came into the office.

 I'm not sure how BNA had the impression that NRC had something to do with toys!

Apparently GANE (now Nuclear Watch South) and the Catfish Alliance confused us with the FDA, though admittedly NRC does regulate nuclear medicine. GANE was probably sending something about Vogtle Units 1 and 2.

And finally, you've got to give the sender credit. He or she picked the stamp and added the sentiment before sending in what was probably one of the many petitions to close San Onofre 1.

Well, if you can't work, my furloughed friends, it's time to hit the bar! 

How 'bout we meet at...

Drinks on me!

50 Years Ago - US Senate Ratifies the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the US Senate's ratification of the Treaty Banning Nuclear Weapons Tests in the Atmosphere, Outer Space and under Water, commonly known as the Limited or Partial Test Ban Treaty. The treaty had been formally signed in Moscow on 5 August 1963 by the US, the USSR, and the United Kingdom. The treaty was the culmination of efforts that began in the mid 1950s and efforts to reach an agreement were given new impetus after the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962.

The postcard shows the US Senate in session, purportedly the first official photograph of the Senate in session as it voted on the treaty. The Senate approved a resolution of ratification of  the treaty by a vote of 80 to 19, greater than the required two-thirds majority vote under the Constitution.

A Comprehensive  Nuclear-Test Ban Treaty was signed in 1996 but has yet to enter into force for the lack of ratification by a number of countries, including the United States.  The web site of the CTBTO organisation has this sobering video of the history of nuclear testing by artist Isao Hashimoto: