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The first visual inspection of the damaged areas of the Windscale 1 reactor core has been carried out, over 50 years since a fire ruined the military unit. The extra information should help workers dismantle it more quickly.

"Words have precise meanings. The French word "renaissance" is made up of two parts -- "re" to repeat and "naissance" birth. It achieved wide use in the medieval times to describe Western Europe's rediscovery of Greek and Roman art, literature and architecture. Note the word involves three stages, a time of greatness, followed by a loss and then a revival. In no way can the word be used to describe things nuclear. Thanks to the diligence by the media, there never has been an initial time of nuclear greatness. Instead, we have an easy to remember list of disasters and dangers: Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Bikini atoll, Nevada desert, Chernobyl, Three Mile Island, Sellafield-Windscale, and Chalk River."

When the phone rang, Tom Tuohy was at home, nursing his wife and two children who were sick with flu. It was the evening of October 10 1957, and 39-year-old Tom was deputy general manager at the Windscale and Calder works, which in later years became known worldwide as Sellafield.