Put a screen on that thing!
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Article didn’t state the proportion of animals that are harmed or killed. I wonder if they use exclusion systems like some hydroelectric dams?
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Atomic Scare Films Vol 2
Here are more vintage nuke-themed ditties to watch in the comfort of your own reinforced concrete basement.
It all begins with Pattern for Survival, narrated by Chet Huntley, who draws an analogy between nuclear war and some stuffed shirt pushing a crippled kid through a weaponry museum. Enter clichéd journalist William Laurence who reads off cue cards and spouts off about the “psychological terror weapon” as we get a simple science cartoon on Atom Splitting 101. The short then paints an unusually happy face on the prospect of Armageddon – so long as you have a cellar packed with raisins, chocolate bars, and Lava soap, you’ll be okay! Oh, and simply cover your eyes upon impact. Then before you know it, as the final shot allows, you’ll be back enjoying corndogs in no time.Its polar opposite is One World or None, which goes so far as to animate little skulls in the various nuclear blasts as NYC is decimated in cute cartoon fashion. Real footage includes Hiroshima kids sporting their trendy new “heat blast” hairdos.
Operation Q puts a home-ec spin on the horror, with June hanging around Civil Defense as they test how things might be affected by an atomic blast. The guys build houses and stuff them with mannequins, only to tear them to shreds with a nuclear test. She’s more interested in the canned foods, though. With her lackadaisical narration, I half-expected her to say, “I dreamed I toured a nuclear testing ground in my Maidenform bra!”
Should the bomb drop, at least your communications system in Syracuse will be A-OK, so goes the message of And a Voice Shall Be Heard! It’s a kick to see citizens scatter at the sound of a warning siren, especially the guy at the barber shop getting a shave. Moral of the story: Two-way radio rules!
According to the animation in The Medical Aspects of Nuclear Radiation, the human body is run by dwarves wearing funny hats – a prospect that bothers me as much as the threat of nuclear war. Equally disturbing is the demonstration of gamma rays entering the body, because they look like mean tapeworms. The narrator says that "extensive use of atomic energy might eventually result in an overabundance of freaks, suitable for sideshows. " Following are a load of shelter survival tips, where a routine world of chopped ham and saltines awaits!
Then it’s on to Shock: Medical Self-Help Training, which aims to shock on its own with opening narration like, “This is a dead man. This man may die. She, too, may die.” It quickly gets graphic with shots of a woman’s hemorrhaging arm and burns, and you get to see some old coot vomit.
Lastly, there’s Infant & Child Care, in which an ugly suburban housewife, whose breasts you really don’t want to see, pops out an udder, swabs it clean, and lets her baby start to suck. The narrator notes that preemies often look “like wrinkled old men” and then advocates giving boiled water to newborns. AA-AAAIIIIIEEEEE!!!
From 16mm duck-and-cover prints.
– Rod Lott, Hitch magazine
Atomic Scare Films Vol 3
Hoard that Spam and head for the hills with this third go-round of friendly fallout films for the whole family!
Volume 3 kicks off with Fallout and Agriculture, illustrated with a plethora of Crayola drawings. Against a painted farmhouse background, our host gives the straight dope to Old MacDonald, like what happens when Bessie gets bombarded with gamma rays, and why a little Strontium 90 in your bacon and eggs is not a good thing.
The Navy-backed Industrial Radiological Decontamination of Ships details step-by-step the process for approaching, surveying, and cleaning a tainted naval vessel. If only the cast of Virus had seen this, we’d have been spared that cinematic monstrosity.The Medical Effects of the Atomic Bomb is wonderfully tacky enough to do an amateurish re-enactment of Hiroshima at ground zero, complete with inserts of generic disaster footage.
Medical Services in Atomic Disaster features more explosions than the Tommy Lee and Pamela tape and more mass destruction than a weekend at their house.
Watching The Atom and Agriculture is like passing by a car accident – you simply cannot divert your eyes from the carnage! There’s mutant corn, anemic cows, and nerd-o chemists forcing radioactive phosphorous down a hen’s throat. It may all be in the name of science but don’t tell me they don’t get a sadistic kick of it, too.
Finally, there’s Occupying a Public Shelter, which covers a lot of the shelter-survival tips from Volume 2, but with more paperwork, hard labor, group calisthenics, an all-child rendition of “Frere Jacques” and, thankfully, no saggy, middle-aged librarian titties.
From 16mm glow-in-the-dark prints. – Rod Lott, Hitch magazine
ATOMIC SCARE FILMS VOL 4
America’s favorite bomb returns in this 4th Volume of Something Weird’s nerve-wracking Atomic Scare Films, which not only ratchets up the paranoia but makes it seem like Civil Defense will actually accomplish something in the wake of a nuclear attack….One World or None (B&W) sets the stage with a grim primer on Atomic Power that could have also been called “Atom Bomb 101.” With its footage of the bombing of Hiroshima combined with a very pro-UN approach to politics, this is a very nervous little short….
The Price of Liberty (B&W) plays like a Fifties science-fiction film gone all too real as we witness a Civil Defense test that shows what might have happened if the bomb hit New York City in the middle of the night on November 14, 1951. Sirens, searchlights, a “Radiac team,” fires, and “victims” with fake burns are all on display this particular evening. (But where’s the giant radioactive dinosaur?)
Alert Today – Alive Tomorrow (1956; B&W) is another one that shows how to prepare for The Bomb dropping on us – specifically on Redding, Pennsylvania, the “typical target city.” Since Civil Defense volunteers all “have a stake in survival,” we see average citizens learning First Aid, being shown how to put out fires, using Geiger counters to monitor fallout, keeping fallout shelters full of equipment and supplies, and firing guns in order to best control “a jittery populace.” Released theatrically by RKO Pictures.
To Live Tomorrow (B&W) uses a train as a metaphor for America as a passenger thinks about panic. Especially the kind of “mass panic” that could envelop his fellow passengers in the event of an atomic attack and thereby “complicate” things. Seriously, pal, if atomic bombs were dropped on us, wouldn’t mass panic be a downright sensible reaction?
Your Civil Defense (B&W) is blunt about targeting the Communists as The Enemy and how we watch those cunning bastards night and day. But, just to be on the safe side, we’d better have shelters against “the strange menace of fallout.” And we should be ready to stay in them for at least… well… two weeks.
New Family in Town (B&W) is narrated by ROBERT PRESTON (The Music Man) who warns us about Trouble – with a capital T and that rhymes with B and that stands for Bomb! Which is why every family should have its very own fallout shelter. Either in the basement or in the backyard! And fill it with food and books and games – and don’t forget the can opener! In between atomic attacks, use it as a playroom!
Fire Fighting for Householders (b&w) details how to fight fires in the event of an atomic attack. Which is a little like trying to stay dry while swimming in the ocean.
About Fallout (color) reminds us that we need two items to survive an atomic attack: a fallout shelter and a “dosimeter.” Yes indeed, fallout could very well be the New Weather of tomorrow! – Mr. Daddy-O
Atomic Scare Films Vol 5
Are you prepared for an imminent nuclear or natural disaster? If not, watch these educational survival shorts and thumb your nose at The Bomb!Communications for Civil Defense (b&w) – Bell Telephone presents a fictitious account of a feature film production made to encourage people to become Civil Defense volunteers. The film recreates the effects of an atomic blast on a community and the mayhem that ensues. We learn how the phone company does its part to help. Will communications hold up when the A-bomb gets dropped? You betcha!
Planning for Public Shelter Entry (b&w) – The Department of Civil Defense wants you to know how to manage your local community fallout shelter. A group of volunteers become acquainted with the layout of the shelter and the various duties they’ll be responsible for: registering the occupants, checking food, sanitation, and medical supplies, communications, and making sure there’s no radiation contamination. Because that would just suck.
Individual and Family Actions on Warning (color) – Fred asks his wife and snotty kids if they know what to do and where to go if The Bomb drops on their town. The family takes pause and each discusses their options, depending on if they’re at school, outdoors, or at home when and if it happens. Fred visits a friend who built his own bomb shelter and wishes he had one too. Lucky!
Day Without End – Duties of a Civil Defense Director (1964, b&w) – Bill wants his town to be ready when the Big One strikes. So he spends nearly all his time formulating a disaster plan to protect and educate the community. Bill also needs to convince the powers that be that they need better communications and more equipment. After all, Civil Defense is not a one man job!
Local Civil Defense (1964, b&w) – Everybody’s got to step up to the plate when it comes to safeguarding the population from Atomic Attack. Emergency operations must already be in place including the military, law enforcement, public works, sanitation, communications, and the ever-ready Red Cross!
Self Preservation in Atomic Bomb Attack (1951, b&w) – Best for last. A cranky no-nonsense sergeant informs his soldiers that the Atomic Bomb is like a woman: never underestimate its power! He has many words of wisdom. “Find the closest hole and make like a mole!“ “The A-bomb is hot, so when you get the warning don’t ask what’s cooking – it might be you!” And his advice on radioactive fallout? “Be quick or be sick!” Listen to Sarge and you’ll be a-okay! – Lisa Petrucci
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If you’re into this, then Threads (1984) Threads 1984 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive is a must. Docu-drama focussing on the day-to-day lives of folks before and after the blast.
Don’t make the mistake I made and watch it on your own. It might be because I share the accent of the region, but I needed a hug afterwards.
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A feel-good romp if ever there was one!
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Bit vague. After clicking around for a couple of minutes, including several of Holtec’s own sites, it’s still not clear which derivative(s) of the Holtec Inherently Safe Modular Underground Reactor are to be manufactured, the SMR-160 or the SMR-300 (sometimes referred to as the SMR-160+), or both.
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Surprise!
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Narrator: She’s not surprised.
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OpenAI reportedly in talks with Helion Energy to ‘buy vast quantities’ of fusion power
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“ Helion is developing technology to produce renewable energy from nuclear fusion — a potentially limitless source of power, but one that no one has been able to harness in a commercially viable manner.”
I’m sure that A.I. will be viable within 20 years now.
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I think people actually could get commercially viable energy from fusion if instead of using a contained reaction, they just put it millions of miles away…something about the name Helion gave me the idea…
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Yep. Shamelessly quoting myself…
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Additional information, links:
OpenAI to buy electricity from CEO Sam Altman’s nuclear fusion side hustle
Helion’s first customer was/is Microsoft. They are supposed to start getting power from Helion in… 2028. Seems somewhat ambitious to me.
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