Since the beginning of the atomic age, nuclear power has been tainted by accidents and incidents. But when dealing with nuclear power, the scale of accidents and incidents is far wider and more dangerous than with other energy sources, and affect not only current generations, but those to come. They also render entire areas uninhabitable for decades. The worst nuclear accident on record is the Chernobyl explosion of 1986, from which Belorussia, Russia and Ukraine are still reeling (Photo shows the Chernobyl Shelter today). The United States averted a similar scenario when a near meltdown occurred at its Three Mile Island facility in 1979. And in 2005, the THORP reprocessing plant in the UK was discovered to have been leaking plutonium for months. Aside from these industrial accidents are always military accidents, like the sinking of Russia’s Kursk in 2000, the sinking of Russia’s K-159, and a number of US submarines running aground or sinking, like the 2005 incidents off of Italy and Guam. These last two incidents were contained, but wherever there is nuclear power, there is the potential for catastrophe.