Today is the 50th anniversary of the first nuclear meltdown in the U.S.

[ColbertWatcher]

From the Los Angeles Times
Marking the 50th anniversary of the first U.S. nuclear meltdown
A reactor in Chatsworth began leaking radioactive gas on July 14, 1959. Some area residents blame the facility for their health issues and say the site remains contaminated.
By Louis Sahagun
July 13, 2009

On the morning of July 14, 1959, Sodium Reactor Experiment trainee John Pace received the bad news from a group of supervisors who had, he recalled, "terribly worried expressions on their faces."

A reactor at the Atomics International field laboratory in the Santa Susana Mountains had experienced a power surge the night before and spewed radioactive gases into the atmosphere.

(...)

Today, on the 50th anniversary of America's first nuclear meltdown accident, Pace will join federal regulators and former lab workers in a commemorative gathering at the Aerospace Cancer Museum of Education in Chatsworth.

(...)

In August 1959, about five weeks after the accident, the Atomic Energy Commission published a press release indicating that "a parted fuel element had been observed," a reference to damage. But it added that there was no evidence of radioactive releases or unsafe operating conditions.

"They wanted to keep it secret," Pace said.

(more at the link)

--Los Angeles Times

Here is a link to http://www.rocketdynewatch.org/index.php">Rocketdyne Watch, a group that describes themselves as

"... members of the communities surrounding the Boeing/Rocketdyne Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL) to centralize information, update community members and provide information on the critical issues surrounding the investigation and cleanup of the radiological and chemical contamination at the SSFL."

And, here is a brief snippet of some of the last steps taken by the federal government under the stewardship of the Bush/GOP regarding SSFL:

* May 25, 2007 a federal judge rules that the Department of Energy's (DoE) cleanup at SSFL is inadequate, DoE stops cleanup (http://articles.latimes.com/2007/may/25/local/me-rocket25">wah)

* July 27, 2007 local Los Angeles regulatory groups http://articles.latimes.com/2007/jul/27/local/me-rocket27">threatens to fine Boeing

* September 05, 2007 http://articles.latimes.com/2007/sep/05/local/me-rocket5">new rules for clean up set

* September 22, 2008 EPA finds rocket fuel in drinking water is perfectly okay

in April, 2009, the EPA teams up with the DoE to http://yosemite.epa.gov/r9/sfund/r9sfdocw.nsf/ce6c60ee7382a473882571af007af70d/27aebc3de0dac08888257515005dbdef!OpenDocument">investigate contamination in the area.

[Captain Hilts]

1. The Navy yanked the sodium-cooled reactor out of USS SEAWOLF.

[ColbertWatcher]

2. Did anyone give a reason why? n/t

[Statistical]

4. Operating cost and percieved benefits did not materialize.

The navy believed the entire fleet eventually would use similar reactors. It just didn't pan out. Operating costs were higher, uptime was lower, the longer expected fuel lifespan didn't materialize.

Basically it was more complex, expensive, and fragile without sufficient benefit compared to a pressure water reactor using light water.

The USN replaced the Sodium reactor on first Seawolf subs with "traditional" PWR (S6W).

[Captain Hilts]

5. Nicely put. nt

[defendandprotect]

3. Rachel Maddow did this last night . . .

[ColbertWatcher]

6. Yes, and the LA Times article I linked to was from Monday as well.

I'm posting today, because today is the anniversary.

[defendandprotect]

8. I never had heard this story before and imagine a lot of others haven't heard it --

Really like the job RM is doing --

I would also suggest that our atomic bombs and tests didn't do much for the environment !!

[ColbertWatcher]

7. Maddow kick. n/t

[hunter]

9. I remember they hauled that beastie away.

All the stupid secrecy around anything nuclear is what killed the U.S. nuclear power industry. First thing anybody did whenever there was a screw-up was say "shhhhhhh... be vewy quiet... nuclear secrets," and everyone would think about those evil communist bastards who wanted to steal our God-given secrets, and nod their heads.

The saddest thing about this all was the anti-nuclear activists who turned this sort of secrecy into some kind of mystery cult.

Most of the crap at Santa Susana has a "half life" of forever because it isn't radioactive. Rocketdyne was pretty careless with toxic aerospace wastes. But the site's nuclear history is a bright shiny thing that mesmerizes the cultists.

Criticism of the 1995 epa survey may or may not be valid, I don't wade into that sludge pit any more, but it certainly did upset a lot of people, not for what was found, but for what wasn't found:

"There was no evidence of significant, widespread contamination of Area IV as a result of radiological operations at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory."

http://www.etec.energy.gov/Health-and-Safety/Rad-Survey.html

I never worried much about radioactivity in my wanderings around there, or even about being caught. At some primitive level of consciousness I really was chasing rabbits.