The Unkept Promise of Nuclear Power

By

Daniel Pope

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No Nukes

A widely-used logo in Taiwan after the earthquake-induced nuclear disaster in Japan, 2011.

Three U.S. nuclear-powered ships.

Nuclear Powered Ships

Three U.S. nuclear-powered ships: (top to bottom) cruisers USS Bainbridge and USS Long Beach, and USS Enterprise, the first nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. The picture was taken in 1964 during a record setting voyage of 26,540 nmi around the world in 65 days without refueling. Crew members are spelling out Einstein's mass-energy equivalence formula E = mc² on the flight deck.

Three Mile Island personnel cleaning up radioactive contamination.

Radioactive Contamination

Three Mile Island personnel cleaning up radioactive contamination in the auxiliary building, 1979.

Protest art at an anti-nuclear power demonstration.

Protest Art

Protest art at an anti-nuclear power demonstration, 2011. Image by Gwydion M. Williams.

A view of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster memorial.

Chernobyl Memorial

A view of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster memorial with the No. 4 reactor site in the background.

Glenn Seaborg (left) attends Operation Plumbbob.

Glenn Seaborg

Glenn Seaborg (left) attends Operation Plumbbob as Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, 1968.

The nuclear reactors at the Hanford Site along the Columbia River as they appeared in 1960.

The Hanford Site

The nuclear reactors at the Hanford Site along the Columbia River as they appeared in 1960. The N Reactor is in the foreground, with the twin KE and KW Reactors in the background. The historic B Reactor, the world's first plutonium production reactor, is visible in the distance.

Americans view an exhibit on atomic power.

Atomic Power in a World of Peace

Americans view an exhibit on atomic power entitled “Atomic Power in a World of Peace” at the Alert America exhibition, 1952.

An anti-nuclear power protest in Berlin, Germany.

Protest in Berlin

An anti-nuclear power protest in Berlin, Germany, following the 2011 Fukushima disaster.

A 1947 Seagram’s Whiskey advertisement.

Deserts Will Bloom

A 1947 Seagram’s Whiskey advertisement using the promise of nuclear power to market their product.

A page from the companion book to Disney’s Tomorrow Land.

Our Friend the Atom

A page from the companion book to Disney’s Tomorrow Land television show, 1957.

David E. Lilienthal meets with General Leslie R. Groves.

David E. Lilienthal

David E. Lilienthal (right) meets with General Leslie R. Groves (left), Director of the Manhattan Project in 1946, to discuss the transfer of responsibility for atomic energy to the new Atomic Energy Commission.

The Saint-Laurent nuclear plant.

Saint-Laurent Nuclear Power Plant

The Saint-Laurent nuclear plant is one of the many in France to have a standard reactor design.

President Dwight David Eisenhower waved a ceremonial 'neutron wand' over a neutron counter.

Eisenhower's Neutron Wand

President Dwight David Eisenhower waved a ceremonial "neutron wand" over a neutron counter in Denver, Colorado, to signal a bulldozer in Shippingport, Pennsylvania to begin construction, 1954.

The Kola Nuclear Power Plant.

Kola Nuclear Power Plant

The Kola Nuclear Power Plant, near the Russian-Finnish border, was built between 1970 and 1973 and helped the USSR pull ahead of the U.S. in nuclear power production.

The Trojan Nuclear Plant at Ranier on the Columbia River.

Trojan Nuclear Plant

The Trojan Nuclear Plant at Ranier on the Columbia River. The plant, pictured in 1973, was built by the Portland General Electric Company Under an AEC Permit.

A sign at the famously uninterrupted decades-long anti-nuclear protest tent.

Stay The Course and This Will Happen To You

A sign at the famously uninterrupted decades-long anti-nuclear protest tent on the north side of the White House, pictured in December, 2015.

President Jimmy Carter leaving Three Mile Island.

Three Mile Island

President Jimmy Carter leaving Three Mile Island on April 1, 1979.

An anti-nuclear protest at the Pennsylvania State Capitol.

Anti-Nuclear Protest

An anti-nuclear protest at the Pennsylvania State Capitol in 1979 following the Three Mile Island accident.

A helicopter sprays a decontamination liquid near the Chernobyl reactor.

Chernobyl

A helicopter sprays a decontamination liquid near the Chernobyl reactor shortly after the disaster in 1986.

The city of Pripyat.

Pripyat

The city of Pripyat, pictured in 2017, sits abandoned against the background of a new confinement dome over the fourth nuclear power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. Image by spoilt.exile.

A natural gas flare in a Texas oil field.

Natural Gas Flare

A natural gas flare in a Texas oil field. Image by Jonathan Cutrer.

Wind turbines on the Bishop Hill wind farm.

Wind Farm

Wind turbines on the Bishop Hill wind farm in Illinois, 2017.

Illustration by artist DonkeyHotey depicting the earthquake and subsequent tsumani that caused the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster.

Fukushima Daiichi

Illustration by artist DonkeyHotey depicting the earthquake and subsequent tsumani that caused the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in 2011.

An image of a nuclear power plant in the United States.

U.S. Nuclear Plant

An image of a nuclear power plant in the United States with the nuclear reactors in full view, 1974.

A large anti-nuclear protest crowd at Hyde Park Corner, London.

Nuclear Power? No Thanks!

A large anti-nuclear protest crowd at Hyde Park Corner, London, c. 1978. A version of the "Nuclear Power? No Thanks!" logo can be seen on the woman's sign in the foreground.

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Cite this Site

Daniel Pope , "The Unkept Promise of Nuclear Power" , Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective

March, 2021

https://origins.osu.edu/index.php/article/unkept-promise-nuclear-power.