"The History of Nuclear Power Plant Safety" WWW site is the product of many early mornings and late evenings of reading and compiling historical information. The primary sponsorship for this project comes from the Public Information Committee of the American Nuclear Society and its Past-Chairman, Gene Cramer. This site represents the second major Web-based PI project produced with the moral support of the ANS PI committee. The first WWW ANS PI project was "Chernobyl: An Update" completed in April 1996 in time for the 10th anniversary of the Chernobyl accident.

. The ANS PI committee has recently (Fall 2002) created The About Nuclear Web Site. The objective of this web site is to provide quick access to nuclear safety research information to serve students, historians, and support the nuclear power debate. The content of "The History of Nuclear Power Plant Safety" comes primarily from available literature. Many of these references can be considered "primary references," that is, the accounts were documented by persons intimately involved in the history. Some references simply compile the history performed by others. Whenever possible, primary references have been used. As this project evolves and is reviewed by others, the references will likely evolve to expand the use of more primary sources. Considering that nuclear power - beginning with the discovery of fission in 1939 - is only 60 years old, there are still plenty of people around that played a part in this history.

Robert Martin has championed this site for the ANS PI committee. He was the primary author for the "Chernobyl: An Update" web page and enjoys applying his interest in HTML and Javascript to something productive like public information. If you would like to comment on the content at this site, you can contact him at Robert_Martin@nfuel.com.

For HTML and Javascript authors: For this project I'm using a Javascript that imbeds the content of short topics links within the primary page. By selecting the link, the page is reloaded with additional content to complement the main page; however, the reader isn't distracted by going off to some new page. Additionally, the content of the web page series is contained in a minimum number of pages. The Javascript is experimental and may be buggy; however, I believe it will evolve into a particularly useful addition for web pages that want to deliver information to a diverse audience; such as in this case - providing both technical and (relatively) non-technical information.