Prometheus at Large

Atomic Films and Videos

Wed, 07 Jul 2021 17:31:37 GMT

I have been spending a considerable amount of time and money acquiring nuclear–energy–related ephemera, scanning them, and making them available on–line.

( A little explanation of what has brought me to this point, before I get to the good stuff )

Films transferred so far

Energy : the Nuclear Alternative, early 1970s, focusing on the debate (16 mm sound, faded colour)
Fuel for the Future, 1961, animated (BFI listing) — concentrates on thermonuclear fusion, but does cover fission in the second half (16 mm sound, good colour, 26 minutes)
L’Effort Atomique Française, 1961, English language version — sadly missing the first couple of minutes — covers uranium production, laboratories at Saclay and elsewhere, the plutonium facilities at Marcoule, the power plants under construction at Chinon, et cetera, in a very distinctive early–1960s style (16 mm sound, good colour, 12 minutes as–is)
The Atom : Big Boom in Natural Gas Recovery — Project Rulison, 1969 — thermonuclear fracking! (16 mm, sound, colour, 12 minutes)
For the Good of Man, Soviet propaganda film from the 1960s (16 mm, sound, monochrome, 4 minutes)
Solar Energy : To Capture the Power of Sun and Tide, early 1970s, some coverage of nuclear energy and decent shots of Pickering (16 mm sound, faded colour, 21 minutes)
The Atom and Archeology, circa 1970, demonstrating uses of nuclear technology such as carbon dating, authentication, and geochemical tracing by isotopic methods (16 mm sound, faded colour, 16 minutes)
Pellicule et Noyau, French language, 1976, shows the operation and something of the construction of a French–built PWR nuclear plant in Belgium, as the first of the Messmer Plan stations, Fessenheim, had not yet opened (16 mm sound, good colour, 20 minutes)
U comme Uranium, 1ère Partie, De la Mine à la Centrale, French language, 1970s — partly animated, covers mining, refining, and enrichment of uranium, and fabrication of LWR fuel — presumably there is somewhere a Part 2 covering topics including, dare we say it, reprocessing? (16 mm sound, good colour, 17 minutes)
Electricité Nucléaire, French language, early 1960s, shows details of the UNGG stations at Chinon (16 mm sound, somewhat faded colour, 7 minutes)
Fessenheim : An 1, French language, 1978, newsreel about the first large PWR station in France (16 mm sound, monochrome, 3 minutes)
La Separation des Isotopes de l’Uranium (Diffusion Gazeuse), French language, circa 1970, shows the Pierrelatte plant (16 mm sound, good colour, 16 minutes)
Touchés par l’Uranium (Drabbad av Uran), 1980, anti–nuclear TV production from well–known Swedish documentarians Hedlund and Tengroth, dubbed into French but with the original language still faintly audible (16 mm sound, good colour, 38 minutes)
La Scoperta della Radioattività, Italian language (produced in Germany), 1960s (16 mm sound, somewhat faded colour, 16 minutes)
Atomic Electroenergetics, Russian language, 1980s, extensive views of nuclear power plants plus manufacturing facilities, enrichment plant, reprocessing plant, et cetera (16 mm sound, monochrome, 17 minutes)
The Electric Power Industry and a View of its Development, Russian language, 1980s, some views of nuclear power plants (16 mm sound, monochrome, 21 minutes)
Industrial Production of Electric Power — Alternating Current, Russian language (produced in Kiev), 1988, some shots of power plants of various kinds, including nuclear and power–tower solar (16 mm sound, monochrome, 15 minutes)
Kernfusion — Erforschung einer neuen Energiequelle, German language, 1983 topic is the Wendelstein stellarator at Garching near Munich (16 mm sound, good colour, 20 minutes)
Nuclear Fission of Uranium (Super–8, silent with German title cards, badly faded colour, FWU, 1970, 4 minutes)
Operation of a Nuclear Power Plant (Super–8, silent with German title cards, badly faded colour, FWU, 1970, 4 minutes)
Energy Problems of the Federal Republic of Germany — Energy Consumption, only peripherally nuclear–related (Super–8, silent with German title cards, badly faded colour, 1974, 6 minutes) — Teacher’s booklet

Films yet to be transferred

Atomic Energy : Inside the Atom, Britannica film not in the group on the Internet Archive (16 mm sound, monochrome)
Everyday Radiation, American school film, 1970s (16 mm sound)
How Much is Enough?, American school film about radiation measurements, 1970s (16 mm sound)
A reel of promo films for upcoming issues of Reader’s Digest from the early 1960s (what audience were these meant for?), including one on nuclear power (16 mm sound, faded colour)
An Italian news program from about 1963 referring to the opening of their first atomic power stations (16 mm sound)

VHS cassettes transferred

A Nuclear Power Plant Tour — Millstone, Connecticut (Northeast Utilities, 1991)
Teacher’s guide
Nuclear Power : Electricity Generation at Millstone Nuclear Station — appears to be a mediocre transfer of a film shown in the visitor center (Northeast Utilities, 1989)
Teacher’s guide
Radiation and You (Northeast Utilities, 1989)
Teacher’s guide
Nuclear Energy — Energy from the Atom — I haven’t gotten around to scanning the booklet with this one, because it’s 100 pages long (Northeast Utilities, 1994)

Extracted from DVD

Wolf Creek Generating Station : 20 Years of Commercial Operation, 1985—2005

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The Fort Worth controversy

Sat, 24 Oct 2020 23:16:51 GMT

Posted by: delosharriman

The combined print edition of the Fort Worth Star–Telegram for Friday and Saturday, 16 & 17 October, 2020, carried a headline article, above the fold on the front page, entitled Activists protest plan to transport nuclear waste through DFW. The quality of reporting evidenced in this article was shockingly poor. It consisted almost entirely of quotes from various people, the most prominent being former State Senator Lon Burnam, mouthing the tired old antinuclear positions. No attempt was made to challenge any of these statements. But don’t take my word for it (as LeVar Burton would say), read for yourself.

( Scans of the article, my letter to the editor in response, and more! )

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Book Review : “Canada Enters The Nuclear Age” edited by Donald Hurst

Fri, 01 Nov 2019 03:48:19 GMT

Posted by: delosharriman

The subtitle of this book is A Technical History Of Atomic Energy Of Canada Limited As Seen From Its Research Laboratories.

Review posted on the book-selling site Alibris, where I gave the book a score of 4/5. (I make no recommendation of any book marketplace over any other — this one gives me Amtrak points, so I tend to shop there.)

( A splendid work, about splendid work )

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Book Review : “The Atomic Energy Deskbook” by John F Hogerton

Thu, 31 Oct 2019 19:37:54 GMT

Posted by: delosharriman

( Super thorough, very useful )

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Book Review : “The Nuclear Impact” by Frank Kreith and Catherine Wrenn

Thu, 31 Oct 2019 16:27:35 GMT

Posted by: delosharriman

The subtitle of this book is A Case Study of the Plowshare Program to Produce Gas by Underground Nuclear Stimulation in the Rocky Mountains.

( Advancing Nuclear Energy Demands Understanding )

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Book Review : “Nuclear Milestones: A Collection of Speeches” by Glenn Seaborg

Mon, 28 Oct 2019 23:05:33 GMT

Posted by: delosharriman

( Sincere, Witty, Educational )

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Book Review : “The Nuclear Age” by Jacques Leclerq and Michel Durr

Mon, 28 Oct 2019 20:50:51 GMT

Posted by: delosharriman

Review posted on the book-selling site Alibris, where I gave the book a score of 5/5. (I make no recommendation of any book marketplace over any other — this one gives me Amtrak points, so I tend to shop there.)

( A thing of beauty )

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Book Review : “Atomic Energy” by R.M.E. Diamant

Mon, 28 Oct 2019 18:52:10 GMT

Posted by: delosharriman

( Hard going, but informative )

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Reading List

Sat, 28 Sep 2019 08:35:59 GMT

Posted by: delosharriman

The Internet is such a vast repository of information that it can sometimes become a total morass. To get properly introduced to and informed on a subject, it is often better to have recourse to books and other printed matter. This list will remain under cultivation — comments with suggestions are welcome.

( Space Books )
( Atomic Energy Books )

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The Big Climate Strike

Wed, 25 Sep 2019 11:07:18 GMT

Posted by: delosharriman

As part of the ongoing “Fridays for Future” campaign, the 20th of September had been announced some time back as a date for major rallies in many places, Munich among them. I had been promising myself for some time that I would get involved, in support of evidence-based, implementable solutions, & in opposition to the anti-science which is as prevalent among the campaigners as among their opponents.

( The miraculous inventiveness of mankind shall not be dedicated to his death, but consecrated to his life )

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