Nuclear Power & Atomic Energy as a Force of Good (1955)

Atomic Energy as a Force of Good is a pro-atomic energy film is meant to educate people on the safety of nuclear power plants. Painting itself as part of quality educational videos, the film utilizes Hollywood actor Paul Kelly. Kelly plays a rancher who gets an offer from a power plant company for his land so they can build a nuclear reactor. He is against nuclear power and its possible effects on life in a small town, so he gets his neighbors to sign a petition barring the plant from their town. The town’s congressman then comes in with an atomic scientist who explains to the townsfolk why nuclear power is so safe and explains the multitudinous advantages of nuclear power and nuclear power plants. Other uses of radiation are discussed, like radiation uses in the medical field, using it to find brain tumors. The beneficial uses of nuclear radiation hits home with Kelly, whose granddaughter is dying of terminal brain cancer. Atomic Energy as a Force of Good is a brilliantly revealing melodrama from an age in American history where people were scared of new and intimidating technology. The lengths that large corporations were willing to go to reassure them is well documented in this great film.