For late-night threaders, something of interest that caught my eye recently while exploring Wiki... the original (and perhaps goriest) nuclear reactor disaster to occur... and it happened "right here," in Idaho.
SL-1 - from Wikipedia
the SL-1 was one of the first ever prototype electricity-generating nuclear reactors ever.
developed by the U.S. in an early prototype-grounding site, the very very
first nuclear reactor, the ELP-1, made enough electricity in 1951 to power four 200-watt lightbulbs. perhaps even more amazing now, is that this decommissioned site is open for self-guided tours. (or, perhaps even even more amazing, is that the SL-1 site is open for visitation, not far from the ELP...)
the SL-1 was intended to prototype a generator facility sufficient to electricitrify an army garrison. instead, over the new-years holiday restart 1961, it catastrophically exploded and instantly killed two of the three onsite personal instantly; the third to die later (perhaps more from his injuries and not necessarily radiation overdose, but small difference).
one of the onsite engineers was not found in the immediate aftermath. later, he was discovered - in the ceiling - driven and imbedded there by the reactor explosion and a piece of the reactor head.
Pages 56-57
the onsite fire department put themselves to great risk retrieving the first two bodies. the third, in the ceiling of the reactor silo, had to be retrieved about two days later after emergency-rigging a cherry-picker style worklift for the operation.
SL-1 The Accident: Phases I and II
take or leave the 1960's government take on the event as you'd like; i'm suspicious of the residual radiation around it... however, it was a "small" reactor prototype, and that the reactor "blew apart" enough that the fuel was not able to continue to react in a "fuseable" way, is interesting to consider for it.
i am not at all ready to take the design of the SL-1 in as an example of the "safety" or effectiveness of the Japanese reactor plant(s)... not to mention even the preparation of their fuels. (probably the most frightening event i can think of is how that one time that plant started a reaction in a bucket...) but it is a rather interesting story, and everyone i mention it to, seems to have never heard of it.
sorry i don't have many ready-to-post images to go along with this story, but if you follow the links, you can discover more for yourself. something interesting to consider.