The continuing fear of atomic safety in Japan after the March 11 earthquake brings added weight to today’s twenty-fifth anniversary of the worst nuclear power plant accident in history—the meltdown in Chernobyl, Ukraine that has caused tens of thousands of cancer deaths, and showed just how far-reaching the ramifications of a serious nuclear accident could be.

To mark the occasion our crack web intern Kevin Gostolza took the lead in assembling a top ten anti-nuclear song list with videos. I did cheat with the Peter Tosh tune, but aside from the late, great reggae singer’s "No Nuclear War," the rest of these songs all deal specifically with the perils of nuclear power. (We’ll save the nuclear war list for August 6.) Please use the comments field to let me know what I missed.

Top Ten Anti-Nuclear Songs

1. Gil Scott Heron, "Shut ‘Em Down"

 

2. Peter Tosh, "No Nuclear War"

3. The Byrds, "I Come and Knock at Every Door"

4. Pete Seeger, "Talking Atom"

 

5. Gil Scott-Heron, "We Almost Lost Detroit"

6. The Cramps, "Uranium Rock"

 

7. Kraftwerk, "Radioactivity"

 

8. Ryan Adams, "Nuclear"

 

9. Crosby, Stills & Nash, "Barrel of Pain"

10. John Hall, "Plutonium is Forever"