Contributions of the group Nuclear

Satsop

nobody@ipernity.com (slgwv) — Sun, 02 Jun 2019 05:36:13 +0000

slgwv has posted:

Cooling tower for the never-finished Satsop nuclear power plant, near Elma, Washington state. This was one of 5 nuclear plants under construction by what was then the Washington Public Power Supply System (WPPSS--yes, "whoops!") in the late 70s-early 80s. (The name was later changed to Northwest Energy.) Gross mismanagement, huge cost overruns, and lower than expected electricity demand led to abandonment of 4 of the reactors in the early 80s, and in turn to what was then the largest municipal bond default in US history. (So much for a "widows and orphans" investment!) See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy_Northwest
Obviously, the unfinished cooling tower was not demolished. It remains as a surreal centerpiece in an industrial park--which also rents the area out as a movie set! Presumably that helps with maintenance costs.

Atomic Safety Matches

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 14:16:01 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

"Atomic Safety Matches, supplied to PO Eng Trading Manila P.I. by Hong Kong Match Factory, manufacturers."

For other atomic ephemera, take a look over on Flickr to see Fire and Air Raid Signals / Survival Secrets for "A" Bombing and The Original Canned Radiation, Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania.

Super Atomic Supercharged Flashlight Crackers

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Tue, 25 Aug 2015 19:40:30 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

"Super Atomic Brand. Supercharged Flashlight Crackers. Super size, super report, super power, super flash. Made in Portuguese Macau. Lay on ground, light fuse, get away quickly."

Priscilla (? - or maybe Grable)

nobody@ipernity.com (slgwv) — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 12:28:29 +0000

slgwv has posted:

Priscilla, 24 Jun 1957, 40 kilotons yield. Another in the Operation Plumbbob series. However, although this picture was identified as Priscilla by the AEC, it actually looks to be Grable. Apparently the Priscilla pictures have been misidentified for years--see www.radiochemistry.org/history/nuke_tests/plumbbob/index....

Scanned from an official AEC (Atomic Energy Commission) photo that had been cleared for public release, and so is in the public domain.

As with Hood, I would have seen this as a small child, watching with my mom and kid sister from the Spring Mountains about 30 miles away. Of course, you can't watch the initial detonation without heavy-duty eye protection, but you can certainly watch the fireball afterward.

How to Use Your Atomic Espresso Coffee Maker

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Fri, 09 May 2014 15:10:03 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

"How to Use Your Atomic Espresso Coffee Maker. British Made." Cover of the instruction booklet for an Atomic coffee machine, which was designed by Giordano Robbiati of Milan, Italy, in 1946.

The title of this booklet sounds like a question to me: "How to use your Atomic Espresso Coffee Maker?" My answer would be the same for any kind of atomic device: "Very carefully, of course!"

"Goodbye T.M.I.," by Gary and the Outriders

nobody@ipernity.com (Alan Mays) — Tue, 25 Mar 2014 15:22:17 +0000

Alan Mays has posted:

Although "TMI" simply means "too much information" to most of us, residents of central Pennsylvania also use it to refer to the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station, a nuclear power plant situated on an island in the Susquehanna River that's three miles downriver from the borough of Middletown and twelve miles from the city of Harrisburg, the state capital.

Thirty-five years ago--on March 28, 1979--one of TMI's two nuclear reactors experienced a partial nuclear meltdown, which the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission still calls the "most serious accident in U.S. commercial nuclear power plant operating history." The partial meltdown resulted in a release of radioactive materials, and pregnant women and young children living within a 20-mile radius of the plant were advised to evacuate the area. It took several days until plant operators were certain that the situation was under control.

Gary and the Outriders, a local music group, recorded an original song, "Goodbye T.M.I. (The Ballad of Three Mile Island)," and released it as a 45 rpm record. Its catchy melody contrasts with its dire refrain: "Goodbye, goodbye to your life, T.M.I." To hear the song, check it out on YouTube: Gary & The Outriders - Goodbye T.M.I. (1979).

For another musical reaction to the TMI accident, see the cover of the record album, Potter County Was Made by the Hand of God But the Devil Made Three Mile Island, on Flickr.

Baneberry

nobody@ipernity.com (slgwv) — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 21:31:33 +0000

slgwv has posted:

An underground nuclear test ("event") that unexpectedly vented to the surface in 1970. This was a Big Deal, because public attitudes toward matters nuclear were undergoing a sea change at that time. Display at the Atomic Testing Museum, Las Vegas, Nevada.

"While you swelter/Down there in your shelter"

nobody@ipernity.com (slgwv) — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 21:25:33 +0000

slgwv has posted:

Mock-up of a late 50s-early 60s vintage fallout shelter, with the All American family (at least he's not wearing a tie!) Atomic Testing Museum, Las Vegas, Nevada. The title is a line from one of Tom Lehrer's satirical songs.

Office mockup

nobody@ipernity.com (slgwv) — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 21:21:19 +0000

slgwv has posted:

1950s vintage, Atomic Testing Museum, Las Vegas, Nevada. Except that there's no _way_ a senior manager at that time would have had a typewriter at his (and it would have been "his") desk!
Note, however, the ashtray off to the left of the desk. That _is_ authentic for the time!

Our Friend Mr. Atom

nobody@ipernity.com (slgwv) — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 21:22:41 +0000

slgwv has posted:

Toys and kitsch from the Atomic Testing Museum, Las Vegas, Nevada. Late 50s-early 60s vintage.
The title is shamelessly stolen from a line in an essay by science-fiction writer John ("Herb") Varley.

Atomic Testing Museum

nobody@ipernity.com (slgwv) — Mon, 21 May 2012 23:59:17 +0000

slgwv has posted:

On the grounds of the Desert Research Institute at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

B-53 Thermonuclear Weapon

nobody@ipernity.com (slgwv) — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 21:38:33 +0000

slgwv has posted:

Another view. At the Atomic Testing Museum in Las Vegas, Nevada:
www.nationalatomictestingmuseum.org/default.aspx
Here's some more information on the device:
www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/factsheets/factsheet.asp?id=1037

B-53 Thermonuclear Weapon

nobody@ipernity.com (slgwv) — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 21:39:26 +0000

slgwv has posted:

Display at the Atomic Testing Museum in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.

Hood

nobody@ipernity.com (slgwv) — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 12:28:22 +0000

slgwv has posted:

Hood, 5 July 1957, 74 kilotons yield. Part of Operation Plumbbob, a series of nuclear tests in mid-1957. This was the largest device (as they were called) set off aboveground at the Nevada Test Site. It was a thermonuclear device (i.e., a hydrogen bomb), despite the fact that the AEC denied for many years that thermonuclear devices had been set off aboveground in the US. I saw this one as a small child, watching from off Lee Canyon in the Spring Mountains about 30 miles away.

Scanned from an official AEC (Atomic Energy Commission--now absorbed into the US Dept. of Energy) photo that had been cleared for public release, and so is in the public domain. A little judicious Photoshopping has repaired some cracks in the original emulsion.