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this channel is a hidden gem

I love how you really put into perspective the sheer horror of the situation those firefighters walked into. Many people focus on the atftermath, or the reactor itself, but not the men who are the only ones who know what truly happened.

Never thought I'd hear "ASS-KISSING" and "VERY SHIT" spoken seriously in a Imprial video.

Speaking of Atomic Town, I highly recommend 'Plutopia' by Kate Brown. A comparative study on two atomic cities: Richland, WA and Ozerk, Russia; both the world's first cities to exclusively produced plutonium. Yet the development and housing of the inhabitant are different based on 'permanent housing' and 'temporary workers' despite sharing equal access to the comfort of consumer goods. Its a fascinating look at both Cold War adversaries approach to their vision of the ideal community while concealing the truth of its purpose.

Wow. I've heard the tale of SL-1 many times before, but noone else has touched upon the politics and competition that took place before the disaster. Amazing job mate! P.S. The reason why SL-1 was designed to be controlled by only one control rod is because it was an experiment by the US military into field-deployable nuclear power source, so they were trying to make it as cheap and simple as possible, which is certainly in-character for any military

It’s a real shame you don’t get more recognition for your work on these videos. I would say your up there with Lemmino in the quality of your videos.

As an kid living just ten miles from Idaho Falls, I'm honestly surprised I've never heard this story as much of my family works at the site. Very good work!

ashamed to say i'd never heard of this but glad i have now! fascinating!

This story sounds like the screenplay of a 1950's movie (black and white of course). Parties, beautiful women, personal animosity, unstable characters and some poor bugger pinned to the ceiling! It's amazing how cavalier the attitude was to safety back then, even in the development of peaceful applications.

Legendary work, as always. A super intriguing mystery well-told.

Never would have thought imperial would drop a video about my home town 😅

I have grown up in Idaho Falls and still live and go to school here! A ton of people work at the site but I never really knew the history behind it. Thank you for some insight into this little city!

As an native Idahoan, hearing PAWcatello really hurt instead of POEcatello

Idaho Falls, ID is not the first Atomic city, It was Arco, ID. About 50 minutes west of Idaho falls on the other side of the INL site. Arco was the very first city to be powered by nuclear power, being run off of the BORAX-III reactor in 1955.

Fun fact Idaho falls has a garden dedicated to it's sister city, Tokai Mura in Japan, Tokai Mura is known as the nuclear capital of Japan, and the most irradiated human in history Hisashi Ouchi.

I grew up in Idaho Falls & never knew about this disaster until now, what a story!

Woah imperial dropped a video

Crazy how cavalier people had around nuclear power back then. If you want an indepth video about the actual reactor then watch Plainly Difficult. His breakdown of it is really good

Its interesting learning about this after working on a job in Idaho Falls this week. I've driven past the facility a couple of times to various jobsites across Idaho and Montana. I believe they will be updating their facility after the massive success of the Livermore National Laboratory, who created a nuclear reaction that achieved "Net Energy" which means they created more energy than they used to initiate it. Fingers crossed I can work on that project and learn more about this little bit of history. Great work on this video! Definitely going to be subscribing so I can tune in on my longer drives.

I worked at the INL for 10 years. It's really cool to see the story get told in this format on KZfaq!

Fascinating! My parents lived there in the 60s & then went to Hawthorne NV, where the AFB was doing secret pane tests. They were just trying to find a nice quiet town lol. I am fascinated by IdahoFalls, as it seems to have way more going on than is normal for a 20k town. Internet celebs, internet scammers, murder, millionaire secret santa, cultists, major MLMs, and a huge Mormon population that absolutely does not explain this particular oddness. But they certainly do have a backstory, maybe that's the root lol...

Very interesting. I am originally from Pocatello, with family in Idaho Falls and was completely unaware of this history.

Great video, Its always great to learn about the early days of nuclear and how many things have changed since then. Another thing that I was suprised wasnt touched on was how common untrained operators were in those days. Back when the AEC was buying up farm land they were struggling to find qualified and trained individuals that were willing to move out to south-eastern Idaho, as a result a lot of the farmers sons were offered high paying and pretty important jobs and a large portion of them were trained as reactor operators even though they never had any university training and a lot of them had little to no schooling. A large section of the workforce back then was really underqualified to be operating such devices so its suprising that this was the only disaster that happened out there and it was relatively tame. Also theory #2 is almost certainly the most likely cause, they were withdrawing the control rod to attach it to a new automatic control system, but as stated in the video with 300 pulls only 250 of them occured without any sticking, over 50+ times the control rod stuck in the reactor when it was attempting to be withdrawn and considering this was done in the dead of winter most people are confident it was simply him yanking the control rod too hard. Ofcourse that doesnt really get the media going as much so most of the reporting was done taking the personality conflict angle rather than the more likely scenario of it being a design flaw. A design flaw like that in such a critical component nowadays would be unheard of (I hope)

It is a crazy story. I lived in Idaho my whole life so I can say the Atomic Age is a core part of Idaho though it started to lessen in the 80s once fear mongering began around anything atomic. I hope to see the Atomic Age come back to Idaho. It really is a great State here, somewhat isolated from the US at large and often only feels the problems of national issues if its a large economic one.

drove through idaho falls last january while driving from bozeman montana to salt lake city utah, definitely one of the places of all time

Dude I've been to Idaho Falls, its honestly so beautiful. The canyon is awesome and stretches for miles and its all around pretty cool.

Earned a new a sub! I live in this area of Idaho/Montana and I learned so much from this video that I didn’t know. Top tier production too. Well done!

I'd be remiss if I didn't suggest to you the story of the McCluskey Room, which is the forever sealed-off Americium Reclamation facility attached to the plutonium finishing plant at the Hanford site in Washington State. A horrifying event with a bittersweet ending.

Drove through that area in Idaho, it's pretty eerie, it's like a weird small desert hwy that a Deth claw would come running out of. Plus there was a dust storm happening when we were going through.

I rode my motorcycle through Idaho, right through that area. It is still SUPER barren. They chose the right place.

This channel is the definition of quality. I honestly cannot believe how underrated your videos are.

My dad has worked at INL (what this site is now called) for like 20 years now, he trained in one of the reactors there that is sadly being torn down in the coming years. I've been to multiple family days up there and it is really a cool place. They do a decent amount of other stuff there aswell as training navy men on the reactors that will be put intk the aircraft carriers and subs that they will be serving on. The reactors ate meant to mimick what it will be like on the ship so the building is built to be a replica of the ship with pipes and large pieces of what would be the enigine going through the room and conplete with bulkhead doors that you have to duck through and everything.

Check out Rocky Flats in Arvada, Colorado. It was a plutonium trigger plant. The cleanup was a joke. Furthermore, the surrounding area was never cleaned.

I live in the state and most of this I’ve never heard of. Nice work man

As a line haul driver who used Interstate 15 From Canada to San Diego, Los Angeles and Yuma i have bad memories of the winter slog from Lima MT to Idaho Falls in the winter in the middle of the night, it was Always comforting to see Idaho Falls coming into view as a safe haven for rest and fuel

I live in Idaho falls but never knew the history here thanks for the video

11:33 “Pocatello parties often excluded women…” Particularly hilarious that a potential factor to the choice of locale for a new atomic energy testing grounds could’ve been based off of which district was able to “bring the hoes”, so to speak. Science is an art.

You are still way underrated, ill keep sharing until you make it, the content is incredibly polished! 👍

Oh wow! I’ve read stuff about SL-1, but somehow totally forgot where it happened. The backstory on the selection process was very intriguing. Keep up the good work!

Tbh, considering this reactor design I'm honestly surprised the damage was not worse

Both a gripping and illuminating tale. Thanks for compiling and posting. Great content channel.

I graduated from the A1W prototype class in 1974. Though a Navy base SL1 was an Army project.

When I went through the Navy’s nuclear training program, the “best” prototype stories came from guys (I was in one of the last classes to go through before women were admitted into the program) who had gone through Idaho Falls!

I lived there as a Navy man back in the '70s and worked on the S5G-3 experimental reactor. Loved the town, but hated the job.

I grew up in the Idaho Falls area, and I never learned about SL-1 until later. I also never knew about the competition for being the headquarters of the site. That was very interesting!

I grew up in Idaho falls but moved while still a kid, I NEVER knew this!!!! My parents literally worked at the site haha. Fascinating man, thank you! New sub here!

24:22 I was not expecting you to describe it like this LMAO

I loved your little wordplay on “nuclear families”. That was a nice touch. By the way, I really hope your channel takes off! Your content is truly top notch, and I love your narration. I’m an American, but am somewhat of an Anglophile, and I’ve always been drawn to British produced documentaries. People like David Starkey, Lucy Worsley, Suzannah Lipscomb, etc. And thanks to KZfaq, I’ve been introduced to 'Time Team'; a show which ran for 20 years and we neither hide nor hair of it here in the States. I guess they thought we were a bunch of rubes and wouldn’t be interested in our own history.😉😆

One minute of the editing and presentation put into this is more than most KZfaq videos.

That is an interesting area. I checked it out a little when I was up in Yellowstone and Craters of the Moon last year. There's a small rest stop on one of the roads passing through the site that has some interesting history boards about the testing and the original reactor.

I went to college in Rexburg, just 30 minutes away from Idaho Falls. I did not know this and this is so fascinating to learn.

This video was brilliant. So well made! 👍

My grandfather who passed away from liver cancer in 2005 was a navy guard for this experiment! It’s super cool learning about it and I always wish I could ask him about it

Dude this video is really really good. You'll be the real deal with this quality.

This was fascinating and intriguing, Thank You for sharing this.

I had no idea that this took place! Thanks.

Hey, I'm the grandson of one of the nuclear submarines' researchers' grandson. (what a mouthful) Just wanted to say that this is a cool video. Fun fact, I got one of those nuclear paint watch, (That is broken) from him. It is a really cool piece of history and, this video was really eye opining for what I didn't know.

I was stationed at INL (once NRTS, once INEL, and I think once INEEL) with the Navy at one of the prototypes out there when the story of SL-1 was still a mainstay of bar room conversations. And congratulations on getting all of the technical details right, as well as many of the theories as to how this happened! But I also have to congratulate you on somehow finding all of this detail on the initial siting of NRTS and how Idaho Falls was selected to be the administrative headquarters. We were always told that it was all Hyman Rickover, who supposedly pushed all of the initial siting based upon what he needed for the USS Nautilus prototype. All of your info on the Navy's gunnery testing site is correct . . . . and many of the buildings where the Navy either built or refurbished 16" gun barrels for the WWII battleships were still standing in Pocatello where I lived. We were told that what became NRTS met Rickover's specific recommendations for distance to the nearest population centers and that the geography was favorable to "trapping" atmospheric contamination in that area in the event of an accident. That could very well have been true, as we would get airborne radiation alarms consistently during temperature inversions at the site. But your detailed descriptions of the government machinations behind the Idaho siting sounds far more realistic. Good job!

I live in this town and the first town to actually get powered my nuclear energy by the SL-1. Arco, Idaho. Midway point from challis and Idaho falls, or Boise to Idaho falls

Also worth mentioning that there is a town actually called atomic city, its not far from the site and was the first city powered entirely by nuclear power. It was used to house of of the workers from the site and i believe theres still like 100 residents that live there. Im not sure if its powered by the reactors however

I grew up in Pocatello and still live in Idaho. I was definitely aware of the INEL, but I never knew what actually happened there! Great video, nice to see my humble little state get some attention 😊

Whenever I drive by the site I get a sense of wonder. Not only because of the reactors there, but all the top secret military activities that happened there. I've also seen some weiiirrrd stuff out there while hiking. I can help but wonder if it's somehow related to the site. Btw if you go by Arco be sure to stop by Pickle's Place.

The quality of your Videos in Awesome

I grew up 30 minutes north of IF. Lol in Idaho state history they taught us that Arco was the first atomic powered city. I had no idea IF had anything to do with the INEEL. For reference I've been to Arco twice, I've spent hundreds od days in IF.

It's ridiculous that this channel doesn't have at least 2 million subscribers

The INL! I've done work there before, very neat place! So is EBR-1 across the highway from it. ARCO was actually the first place ever powered by nuclear power 😀

I travelled through the Atomic City area in the 1970s and 1980. I never saw so many dead jackrabbits in my life! The road was carpeted for miles with their bodies and fur.

It’s a great day when Imperial drops a video!

amazing video!!! never disappoint

Man if you make these videos 15-20 minutes longer. You will have 1M subs by next December. No doubt. Keep it up! Amazing work!

I was there a week ago, thanks for the info.

HOW DO YOU ONLY HAVE 141K SUBS, U DESERVE WAYYY MOREEEEEE

All my friends dads worked for EG&G in Idaho Falls. It was easy to tell who worked at the sites vs. the townies. An interesting thing was I used to deliver newspapers for the Post Register when I was a kid, I would see the Navy servicemen waiting for their transport to the reactor sites for training each morning. All piled into a big charter bus each day.

Had to look it up and yeah it’s SL-1. Ho’boy. Kyle Harris has a great video on the actual reactor failure if anyone is curious.

You are absolutely making an incredible work i don't know how but the only thing I know that those videos takes a big amount of time and effort to create I don't wish software but i think aftereffects am I right? If so that's mean that it takes money also so thanks for the videos even if those words isn't enough

IMPERIAL is a top 1 visual narrator on the platform right now.

Wow i never knew about this about Idaho falls, I've been there the times as a kid when i lived in Elko,NV

Bro may i know the software you are using and the course that you take because you style is amazing

There's quite the amount of towns in the US that have been abandoned due to environmental disasters and toxic spills alongside mining. This is one that's been obscure on my radar.

Im from Arco and I heard this story alot as a kid, I was literally just telling my inlaws (they're from Poky) they never heard of this story. Then this awesome channel and just as great video get recommended to me! Cant wait to show this to them to fill in the holes from what I could remember. A few bits of info that may clear up things from other comments: Arco may have lost the bid for the HQ but was the first as we say "city" lit by atomic power (for 15 minutes) The site has gone by many names and you can age people by what they call it but it went from INEEL>INEL>INL No the area was not desolated after this event. The site employees many people under even more contractors. A pastime of Arco schoolchildren is leaving offerings to the local irradiated cryptids, in hope that they will visit justice upon the Idaho Falls chamber of commerce, in retribution for robbing their future of growing up in a prosperous Arco! Also check out the beautiful scenery at the Craters of the Moon!

That ambulance is at our local fire department here in blackfoot. I have a KZfaq video of it driving in our state fair parade.

Left to die in an abandoned, irradiated ambulance... now that's creepy.

The INL (Idaho national laboratory) is still based out there aswell and is working on the newest generation of Fusion technologies.

Thank you for covering my home town. For anyone interested, there is a museum outside of Idaho Falls that showcases a nuclear airplane engine. Fallout potatoe edition lol!

I’ve just found this channel but the production is unmatched! Deserves more attention

Bravo..Bravo...hats off...amazing narration...fuel rods....cadmium.....uranium 235....all into one cohesive story....👏👏👏

Working on early nuclear reactors before all the kinks are worked out would be terrifying. If anything goes wrong, fixing it would not only be very difficult, but likely fatal to the person doing it.

As an Idahoan whenever Idaho is mentioned I get excited

commenting for algorithm, amazing high quality video as always. this channel will hit 1M within the next year

Another great video! Any chance that you are comming to Nebula at some point? Would love to support you there!

There was no redundancy in protocol to prevent this incident. This is why we have redundancy. This is also why we don’t just choose an average person for the job. We try to instill safety in order to acquire somebody who trusts the system fact that there wasn’t any trust in the system so you had to hire somebody who didn’t really care.

Good stuff, you got my subscription.

What a great channel!

what software do you use for the editing animation and effects

Loved the video! If anything, I'm a bit sensitive to audio quality and yours seems to have very pronounced consonants. I'd recommend looking into a D-Esser 👍

Grew up in IF in the 90s. There was a lot of odd happenings happening too often

jesus CHRIST this video gave me chills.

Jfc, that scene in the silo was terrifying.

I stayed in Idaho falls as part of a trip last summer, I had no idea it was involved in such a story.