Sixty nine years ago, on this day, October 10th, 1957,
Problems of atmospheric diffusion and pollution were also tackled in the late 1950s, notably an investigation into the incidence of sulphur dioxide pollution near a generating station of the Central Electricity Authority. And a very serious occurrence was the serious fire that occurred in the nuclear reactor at Windscale in Cumbria on 10 and 11 October 1957. As a consequence of the release of radioactive material, a study was made of the Atomic Energy Authority’s requirements for meteorological observations and forecasts.
Source – Walker History of the Met Office
The amount of carbon dioxide in the air was 314ppm. As of 2025, when this post was published, it is 425ppm. This matters because the more carbon dioxide in the air, the more heat gets trapped. The more heat, the more extreme weather events. You can make it more complicated than that if you want, but really, it’s not. Fwiw, I have a tattoo of the Keeling Curve on my left forearm.
The broader context was that atomic energy was going to be too cheap to meter. There was nothing the men (and it was men) in lab coats could not do. Oh yes.
What I think we can learn from this – technology goes wrong. For many reasons, but there are such things as “normal accidents.”
What happened next – the British Government has spent further billions on nuclear power, for various reasons (hint – it’s about maintaining the “independent” nuclear deterrent).
What do you think? Does this pass the ‘so what?’ threshold? Have I got facts wrong? Interpretation wrong? Please do comment on this post, unless you are a denialist, obvs.
Also on this day: