[Wonder Warthog]

"In the U.S.A., deaths inside a nuclear reactor are slightly behind deaths in cars driven by Ted Kennedy. TMI killed no one with the possible exeption of guys who lost their jobs in its wake."

Not "quite" true. As far as CIVILIAN nuclear power goes, you are correct, but there was ONE incident (a small Army experimental reactor back in the 1950's) that did result in at least one fatality. I don't recall all the details, but it seems to me that it was a sergeant and a couple of privates on an off shift, and they somehow screwed up moving a control rod into or out of the reactor. The reactor overpressured, blew the control rod out, and (I think) impaled one of them to the ceiling (he certainly died). The other two had high radiation exposure, and I don't recall whether they died or not.

I think the Army left the reactor business to the Navy after that.

[Westlander]

SL-1 ACCIDENT, 1961, IDAHO, USA

http://www.geocities.com/jimgreen3/RRaccidents.html

[grundle]

Can you verify or debunk this? I'm pro-nuclear power, by the way.

http://www.lutins.org/nukes.html

24 July 1964

Robert Peabody, 37, died at the United Nuclear Corp. fuel facility in Charlestown, Rhode Island, when liquid uranium he was pouring went critical, starting a reaction that exposed him to a lethal dose of radiation.