Customer Reviews

Atomic Stampede [VHS]

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This is a great documentary for anyone interested in the early history of uranium mining and its legacy. I was fascinated by the "uranium rush" aspects at the beginning, with thousands of prospectors heading to the Four Corners area to strike it rich. This also led, as the documentary shows, to the creation of hundreds of uranium startup companies whose stocks were traded on an unofficial penny stock exchange in Salt Lake City. All the "easy finds" in uranium have been made, but there is a parallel to the past few years during which over 500 new "uranium junior" companies have been formed to look for uranium, in response to a price rise peaking at 1200% (yes, that 1200%, not 120%) compared to the end of 2003.

This documentary also covers the sad and avoidable impact on the health of miners and townspeople living near the abandoned mill tailings sites, with the legacy of cancer from this era. The U.S. Government finally acknowledged its responsibilities in the 1980s, and has been conducting cleanup operations that continue to today. Hopefully, we have learned an important lesson from this era, about the need for regulation of mining safety.

In the 1950's, as the Cold War was rapidly escalating and Americans were increasingly concerned with the perceived communist threat, tens of thousands of prospectors flocked to the Colorado Plateau in search of uranium to meet U.S. Security needs and materials to build the atom bomb. In this powerful film, Atomic Stampede sheds new light on the tumultous times of the Cold War uranium boom in the Four Corners area, and depicts those prospectors motivated by patriotism and dreams of instant riches who searched the rugged landscape of the Intermountain West for the precious metal. Atomic Stampede chronicles the painful human saga of the men who daily entered the poorly ventilated uranium mines and exposed themselves to lethal doses of radiation, all in search of the nation's uranium riches. Approximately 60 minutes. Color.