by Wyoming Liberty Group

Louis Slotin isn't a household name. But maybe he should be, at least in Wyoming.

A bit of history. Slotin was a chemist and physicist from Canada. Back in the 1940s, he went to work at the Manhattan Project, the secret project during World War II that developed the first atom bombs.

On May 21, 1946, he was working on a nuclear experiment when a rather ordinary thing happened: The screwdriver that he was holding in his right hand slipped and some material fell. The result: a burst of blue light and a wave of intense heat. Slotin tasted a sourness and burning in his left hand. He had been exposed to lethal radiation. As he was rushed out of the building, he vomited. He was taken to a hospital. But within days, he suffered such symptoms as diarrhea, swollen hands, blisters on his hands and intestinal paralysis. In the end, there was what was described as "a total disintegration of bodily functions." On May 30, nine days after the incident, he died. He was 35 years old.

That was one of the first nuclear accidents, and it was due in large part to human error.

Why should we in Wyoming care? Well, for one, human error continues to be one of the leading causes—if not the primary cause—of nuclear power accidents throughout the world. Indeed, studies indicate that human error is linked to many if not most of the power plant accidents that have occurred over the past half century or so. And Wyoming is in the midst of a revival in nuclear energy. The state legislature recently took up the issue, considering whether to make the Cowboy State a repository for spent nuclear fuel, or waste, before tabling the issue. But it's an issue that isn't going away any time soon in Wyoming. The nuclear industry has already identified our state as a landing spot for its activity, and we expect more to come.

So, it's incumbent upon us to understand what causes human error, even while nuclear proponents insist that nuclear power is safe, that technology has reduced the risks.

According to experts, human error at nuclear power plants is caused by such mundane problems as a lack of proper training of those who are involved in the operation of such facilities.

It also turns out that errors are also caused by the fact that nuclear power plants are complicated systems and sometimes people have trouble understanding them.

Then, of course, there is the issue of flaws in the design of nuclear facilities—another human factor. It probably shouldn't be a surprise that another cause of human errors in a nuclear facility is stress, when people are under pressure to perform under difficult conditions and make mistakes.

And, finally, there is the issue of miscommunications between people, which can also lead to errors in a nuclear plant.

Taken as a whole, this paints a picture, doesn't it? To be human is to err, to borrow from the poet Alexander Pope. That is to say, people make mistakes, even under the best of circumstances.

Indeed, the three most notorious nuclear accidents in history all were linked to some degree by human error.

The Three Mile Island accident, which occurred in 1979 in Pennsylvania, happened because of a variety of problems, including design flaws—and what was described as human operator errors. Some operators had received inadequate training. Some failed to properly assess the cascade of problems, leading to a release of radioactive material.

The Chernobyl disaster, which occurred in 1986 in Ukraine, was also due to the result of such factors as design flaws and human mistakes, such as operators who failed to heed safety regulations or to follow protocols. The radiation exposure led to several fatalities.

The Fukushima nuclear accident, which occurred in 2011 in Japan, was caused by an earthquake, which triggered a tsunami, which in turn damaged the nuclear power plant. In this instance, as in the others, the accident was attributed in part to inadequate training of operators. Radioactive material was released into the environment, causing many deaths.

Given such catastrophic nuclear accidents over the years, some experts have concluded that human error remains a risk at power plants no matter how much technological improvements seek to eliminate that risk. The question remains then for us in Wyoming and elsewhere, is it worth the risk?