Historic Atomic Bombs & Nuclear Energy Films

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Historic Atomic Bombs & Nuclear Energy Films

Atomic power can be used both for destruction and creation. Although nuclear energy remains extremely controversial to this day, its has in the minds of many, proved to be a relatively clean and safe source of energy. Furthermore, some government official would argue that the atomic bomb can be used as a tool to scare off threats to America. On the flip side, the effects of atomic energy when used in war, the explosions and radiation exposure, are unconscionable. Is atomic energy a good thing? Is it a safe source of power? Watch the entire atomic bombs videos series and decide for yourself.

Included Films:

Atoms For Peace

Produced: 1950s

Length: 17 Minutes

A frightening look at how industrialists proposed to apply nuclear power to all facets of American life, Atoms for Peace is a nonstop promotion of nuclear energy that tragically stresses the harmlessness and efficiency of nuclear energy. Nuclear power was one of the fastest growing fields in the twentieth century and this film is a landmark in nuclear power history. For example, nuclear power was embraced by the oil industry by utilizing radioisotopes to save the industry nearly a half a million dollars a year through the use of atomic tracers in the oil. The film enumerates the uses of nuclear energy, which includes how particles can tell scientists about the affects of aging on car engines, the length of paper or sheet metal in a factory, and help find microscopic flaws in metals. Perhaps the biggest advancement with isotopes is in the energy sector. For example, atomic scientists tell the viewer, much more energy is stored in a small amount of uranium compared to coal. Nuclear energy can be an alternative energy form for places that currently have no electricity. It will take quite some time before nuclear energy can be a competitive form of energy in the United States. However, a promising study just took place in which test administrators shut off the electrical power in a mock city and replaced electric with nuclear power. The lights came back on. Nuclear research also has a big affect in American agriculture. Scientists are now able to study plants in all new ways. They can build stronger, better plants. Fertilizers are being tested and improved. Great strides have been made against disease. With the help of atomic energy, pharmaceuticals are developing medicines and possible cures for cancer, leukemia, and diabetes. Researchers have even found that atomic energy can shrink tumors and kill cancer cells. Atoms of Peace gives a fascinating historical sense of the perception of nuclear power and its projected uses. The advantages and disadvantages of nuclear power are not fairly weighed in this classically biased promotional video.

Atomic Energy As A Force Of Good

Produced: 1955

Length: 27 Minutes

Atomic Energy as a Force of Good is a pro-atomic energy film is meant to educate people on the safety of nuclear power plants. Painting itself as part of quality educational videos, the film utilizes Hollywood actor Paul Kelly. Kelly plays a rancher who gets an offer from a power plant company for his land so they can build a nuclear reactor. He is against nuclear power and its possible effects on life in a small town, so he gets his neighbors to sign a petition barring the plant from their town. The towns congressman then comes in with an atomic scientist who explains to the townsfolk why nuclear power is so safe and explains the multitudinous advantages of nuclear power and nuclear power plants. Other uses of radiation are discussed, like radiation uses in the medical field, using it to find brain tumors. The beneficial uses of nuclear radiation hits home with Kelly, whose granddaughter is dying of terminal brain cancer. Atomic Energy as a Force of Good is a brilliantly revealing melodrama from an age in American history where people were scared of new and intimidating technology. The lengths that large corporations were willing to go to reassure them is well documented in this great film.

Atomic Power At Shippingport

Produced: 1958

Length: 28 Minutes

Atomic Power at Shippingport is a fascinating short documentary about the worlds first large scale nuclear power facility dedicated to peaceful applications. Not only is the film an example of peacetime nuclear power, but a detailed look at the technological and scientific details of nuclear reactors. A walk through documentation of actual 1950s large scale power plant equipment is interspersed amongst scientists hard at work. This well assembled collection amounts to a fantastic piece of scientific and technological history. Atomic Power at Shippingport is a wonderful historic educational resource and just plain interesting.

Plowshare

Produced: 1961

Length: 28 Minutes

This 1950s film outrageously suggests that nuclear bombs could be used to mine for resources! Plowshare is an incredible film that captures the onslaught of nuclear weapons propaganda from the US government. With happy-go-lucky music in the background, viewers are treated to the bright side of atomic bombs, where United States industry can replace dynamite with nuclear bombs to save time and money! The dangers of radiation, fallout, and extreme destruction is not even lightly touched upon. One of the most astonishing government films on atomic bombs ever made, Plowshare is simultaneously frightening and hilarious.