A look back at the world’s worst nuclear power plant disaster

• April 25, 2026

Sunday, April 26, marks the 40th anniversary of the world’s worst nuclear power plant accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power station in the Soviet Union.

Five worst nuclear reactor disasters

1. Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster

Ukraine 1986 (INES Level 7)

The Chernobyl disaster is the worst nuclear power plant accident ever in terms of death toll and cost. One of only two Level 7 accidents, when a steam explosion destroyed reactor number four at the Ukrainian plant. Resulting fires spread huge amounts of radioactive waste across Western Europe, killing 32 people from acute radiation poisoning in the immediate aftermath and raising long-term fears of increased instances of thyroid cancer. An estimated 5,000 Soviet citizens eventually died from cancer and other radiation-induced illnesses. The World Nuclear Association says, “The nuclear disaster was the product of a flawed Soviet reactor design coupled with serious mistakes made by the plant operators.”

In 2000, the last working reactors at Chernobyl were shut down and the plant was officially closed.

2. Fukushima Nuclear Disaster

Japan 2011 (INES Level 7)

On Friday, March 11, 2011, the Great East Japan Earthquake, which measured 9.0 on the Richter scale, caused a 49-foot tsunami that disabled the power supply and prompted three reactor meltdowns at the Fukushima Daiichi plant. Official figures suggest that more than 1,000 deaths occurred as a result of an evacuation process that displaced more than 100,000 people. Subsequent investigations have suggested that the infrastructure and risk forecasting were inadequate for such a devastating natural disaster.

3. Kyshtym Nuclear Disaster

Russia 1957 (INES Level 6)

The third most serious nuclear accident in history happened at the secretive Mayak plant, near the Russian town of Kyshtym – part of the Soviet Union’s attempt to match the U.S. for weapons-grade plutonium production. After a faulty cooling system was left to disrepair, rising temperatures resulted in an explosion with the equivalent force of 70-100 tons of TNT. Nuclear fallout reached more than 185 miles away and, due to the classified nature of the plant, it was only a week later that 10,000 locals were evacuated from the area.

4. Windscale Fire Nuclear Disaster

Sellafield, UK 1957 (INES Level 5)

On October 10, 1957, a raging inferno swept through the core of Unit 1 nuclear reactor at Windscale, Cumberland (now Sellafield, Cumbria) for three days. The Level 5 accident dumped radioactive contamination across Europe and it is thought that traces of isotope iodine-131 may have caused several hundred cancer diagnoses. Windscale’s two piles had been hastily built during the British atomic bomb project. It was the UK’s worst ever nuclear accident.

5. Three Mile Island Nuclear Accident

Pennsylvania, USA 1979 (INES Level 5)

The Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI-2) reactor, near Middletown, Pennsylvania, suffered a partial meltdown on March 28, 1979. The most serious accident in U.S. nuclear power plant history was caused by a relief valve failure, after an unplanned shutdown, causing severe damage to the core. Better instrumentation, training programs and public information would have vastly improved matters but luckily there were no injuries or discernible health impacts.

Reactors in the U.S.

There are 54 nuclear power plants operating in the United States.

Electricity generation from commercial nuclear power plants in the United States began in 1958. As of April 30, 2024, the United States had 94 operating commercial nuclear reactors at 54 nuclear power plants in 28 states.

The average age of these nuclear reactors is about 42 years old. The oldest operating reactor, Nine Mile Point Unit 1 in New York, began commercial operation in December 1969. The newest reactor began operating in the state of Georgia in 2023.

On December 2, 1942, under the bleachers of the football stadium at the University of Chicago, Dr. Enrico Fermi initiated the first controlled nuclear chain reaction. The experiment, conducted as part of the wartime atomic bomb program, also led to peaceful uses of the atom, including construction of the first U.S. commercial nuclear power plant at Shippingport, Pennsylvania, in 1958.

U.S. nuclear statistics

Data as of the end of 2021, except where noted.

Total operable nuclear reactors: 93

Nuclear total annual net electricity generation: 778,188 million kilowatt hours

Nuclear percentage of total annual electricity generation: 18.9%

Nuclear net summer electricity generation capacity: 95.55 million kilowatts

Share of total U.S. utility-scale electricity: 8.3% (net summer capacity)

Nuclear average annual capacity factor: 92.7%

Largest nuclear power plant Palo Verde (3 nuclear reactors): 3,937 megawatts

States with operating commercial nuclear power plants: 28

Uranium expenditures: $72.5 million

Uranium concentrate (U3O8) production: 21,000 pounds

Average price for purchased uranium concentrate U3O8: $33.91 per pound U3O8

Fuel cost: nuclear vs. fossil steam: 0.61 cents/kilowatt hour vs. 2.46 cents/kilowatt hour

Sources: Nuclear Energy Institute, U.S. Energy Information Administration, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, World Nuclear Association, Process Industry Forum

​ Orange County Register 

Cubs’ Craig Counsell maintains ‘Shohei Ohtani Rule’ is a ‘bad rule’

• April 25, 2026

LOS ANGELES — Over the course of a 162-game baseball season, it’s common for a seemingly flippant comment by a manager to dominate the news cycle for a few days.

Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell made some comments Monday regarding MLB’s ‘two-way player’ rule, which currently only applies to the Dodgers and Shohei Ohtani.

“It’s a rule to help offense, more than anything, if you ask me,” Counsell told reporters prior to a game against the Philadelphia Phillies. “And then there’s one team that’s allowed to carry basically one of both, and he gets special consideration, which is probably the most bizarre rule. For one team.”

Counsell’s comments sparked debate in the baseball media. The “Foul Territory” podcast and panelists on MLB Network had discussions on whether the rule needs to be reexamined.

The rule originated in 2020 and was modified in 2022, during Ohtani’s time with the Angels.

A player can earn a two-way designation if the player pitches at least 20 innings and has started in at least 20 games as a position player or designated hitter with a minimum of three plate appearances in those games.

Ohtani is the only player who currently qualifies for that designation. The rule gives the Dodgers some roster flexibility, because teams can only carry a maximum of 13 pitchers on their roster, but Ohtani’s designation essentially allows the Dodgers to carry 14 pitchers.

“I don’t think he (Counsell) meant it really maliciously,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “They are going through it on the pitching side. But again, this is a rule that’s applicable to Shohei. It’s not a Dodger rule. I mean, this was implemented when he was with the Angels.”

The Cubs currently have 11 pitchers on the injured list with Caleb Thielbar joining the list on Friday with a hamstring strain.

Counsell addressed the topic with the media on Friday for the first time since he made the initial comments.

“I answered a different question actually. The question I answered had nothing to do with that,” Counsell said. “What sometimes happens when you answer the question, whatever is more interesting about your answer is the part that gets printed.”

Counsell didn’t back down from his comments about the two-way player rule, but he said it wasn’t a specific jab at the Dodgers.

“This is not a Dodger thing. It’s not an Ohtani thing,” Counsell said. “It’s a bad rule.”

When asked which specific part of the rule Counsell objected to, he declined to answer.

“You guys figure it out,” Counsell said. “It’s a good discussion. It’s an interesting discussion and I think it’s worth discussing.”

INJURY UPDATES

Shortstop Mookie Betts has been sidelined with an oblique injury since April 5 and began swinging a bat as part of his daily workouts last weekend.

Betts took a step up in his rehab on Friday by taking batting practice in the batting cage.

“He says he doesn’t feel it swinging the bat or throwing,” Roberts said. “A couple days ago I talked to him, he was running and he said he felt it (the oblique) a little bit.”

Roberts said he expects Betts to go on a minor-league rehab assignment prior to rejoining the Dodgers, which could come as soon as next weekend.

“My assumption is that he’ll go out on a rehab assignment and take a couple games to get some at-bats, get his legs back. He’s getting closer,” Roberts said. “I know that each day has gotten a lot better so we are really encouraged.”

Relief pitcher Brock Stewart was to pitch in the fourth game of his rehab assignment on Friday for Triple-A Oklahoma City. He most recently pitched on Tuesday and threw a scoreless inning with two strikeouts.

Roberts said the next step in Stewart’s rehab will be pitching on back-to-back days and that he might be doing that in the next three to five days.

RING PRESENTATION

Several of the Dodgers players met with Cubs outfielder Michael Conforto prior to Friday’s game to give him his 2025 World Series championship ring.

Conforto struggled in his one season with the Dodgers with a .637 OPS in 138 games and did not make the postseason roster.

“I know he didn’t perform the way people would have liked and he would have liked, but I loved him on the team,” Roberts said. “I wish him all the best except for these games we play the Cubs.”

UP NEXT

Cubs (RHP Colin Rea, 3-0, 3.00 ERA) at Dodgers (RHP Roki Sasaki, 0-2, 6.11 ERA), Saturday, 4:15 p.m., FOX (Ch. 11), 570 AM

​ Orange County Register 

Man gets 18 years for trafficking 17-year-old girl in Anaheim

• April 25, 2026

A 47-year-old Las Vegas man was sentenced Friday to 18 years in prison for human trafficking of a 17-year-old girl in Anaheim.

Anaheim Police Department officers responded to a report of an underage prostitute about 9:15 p.m. May 30 at the Moonlight Motel on Beach Boulevard, prosecutors said in a trial brief. The victim told police she had been working as a prostitute “for the past few days under a new pimp,” prosecutors said.

They said Donald Leonidas Newton III approached the victim, who had been working as a prostitute in San Diego, several times before persuading her to go with him.

“At some point that day, defendant became irritated with victim for not listening to him and attempted to ‘pistol-whip’ her leg with a handgun, but missed,” prosecutors said.

During the trial, the victim testified that Newton pointed a gun at the victim’s head and threatened her with it instead of attempting to pistol-whip her.

When Newton left her alone later, she called her mother and police, prosecutors said.

Newton’s attorney, Vu Tran, said in a sentencing brief that the victim “had been working as a prostitute for a few years prior to meeting Mr. Newton.”

Newton met her in San Diego, Tran said.

The victim and her friend “were having problems with their pimp, so they decided to go with Mr. Newton and his friend ‘Money’ in a Tesla that Money was driving,” Tran said.

The victim “did not end up going on any dates in Orange County before she decided to call police later that same night,” Tran said.

A gun found in their motel room belonged to the victim’s friend, Tran said.

Tran said the victim “lied” about her age to Newton.

The defense requested a 5-year sentence.

Prosecutors said the victim “completed one commercial sex date in Pomona for $40, giving it all to (the) defendant.”

While they were in Pomona, Newton saw the victim “talking to his friend … and disciplined victim by strangling her with his hand,” Orange County Deputy District Attorney James Voge said in a sentencing brief.

When the two relocated to the motel in Anaheim, they smoked marijuana together and had sex, Voge said.

Newton was convicted Oct. 30 of human trafficking of a minor, pimping a minor over the age of 16, pandering with a minor older than 16, possession of a gun by a felon and a prohibited person owning ammunition, all felonies. Jurors also found true sentencing enhancements for the personal use of a gun.

Newton has a criminal history dating back to 1996 “with convictions spanning multiple states,” Voge said.

Those convictions include drugs, vehicle offenses, aggravated assault attempted pandering, Voge said.

​ Orange County Register 

Ducks fans experience playoff vibe for 1st time in 8 years

• April 25, 2026

Long before OC Vibe was more than a twinkle in Samueli eyes, spring in Anaheim regularly delivered a different vibe altogether.

Ducks fans expected the postseason and embraced it with a passion that rocked Honda Center during 12 playoff trips in a 15-season span, including two trips to the Stanley Cup Final and the 2007 championship.

After the Ducks were swept by San Jose in the first round in 2018, however, the playoffs suddenly were for other teams. They missed the postseason seven consecutive seasons and left Honda Center available for whatever concert or performance needed the venue.

On Friday, however, the playoffs returned to Anaheim.

There was no way Huntington Beach’s Michael Greer and his son, Shane, were going to miss the moment the Ducks took the ice in Game 3 of their first-round series against the Edmonton Oilers, the team’s first home playoff game since April 14, 2018.

“It makes it so meaningful to see them succeed after hanging in with them during all the rough times,” Michael said and nodded toward his 11-year-old son, a right wing on a Junior Ducks team. “We’ve got a lot of pictures of him crying as we’re leaving games they lost. Now we’re seeing something special.”

Shane was wearing the jersey of Ducks rookie Beckett Sennecke, who is only nine years his senior and scored 60 points in the regular season. Shane, however, brought some hockey history to his first playoff game since he was a baby.

The great-great-grandson of Frank Zamboni, the inventor of his namesake ice-cleaning vehicle, attended his first postseason game since the Comeback on Katella, a Ducks double-overtime victory over Edmonton in the second round in 2017.

“He was here, but this is his first real experience,” Michael said.

Another fan in a Sennecke jersey, Matthew Jones, made the trip from Texas with his mother Linda and his girlfriend Amanda Whitley to see his favorite team in the postseason.

He even thought the moment was big enough to break his autographed Ryan Getzlaf jersey out of its frame so Whitley, a fellow Texas Christian student, could wear it. Getzlaf, of course, was the captain for several Ducks playoff teams, including that most recent one in 2018.

“We’re huge Ducks fans,” said Linda Jones, who lives in Wichita Falls, Texas. “We used to come to games before we moved, and we had to come back for this.”

While some fans rushed inside Honda Center to grab their souvenir towels and get pictures along the ice, Jones was joined by Orange County family members as they took in the pregame festivities just outside the arena, with a clear view of the OC Vibe construction project all around the excited fans.

“What’s going on with this team is amazing for Anaheim, and so is all of this,” Jose Munoz, an Anaheim native, said as he motioned around at the OC Vibe development launched by Ducks owners Henry and Susan Samueli to build a central gathering spot of sorts for Orange County. “It’s really exciting to see what they’re doing here.”

His friend, Rodolfo Plaza, said it reminded them of what Petco Park has become to San Diego. The Padres’ home is widely considered one of the top places to visit in Major League Baseball.

Mainly, though, they were thrilled to get a taste of playoff hockey after they entered the season with relatively low expectations. After all, the Ducks hadn’t given their fans much reason to hope for much the past several years.

“It really feels like we’re playing with house money,” Munoz said. “No one thought this would happen.”

That combination of surprise and delight led to a sellout Friday – the stands were packed well before game time – and a challenge for anyone who searched for tickets. Five hours before the puck dropped, the get-in price was $239 for a ticket in the top row of the arena. Visit Anaheim also said hotel rooms in the city were at a premium, with more than 91% booked Thursday and Friday.

Brian Lee was one of those who made the trip from afar to see his favorite team, and the journey served as a belated birthday gift to his 10-year-old son Carson. They flew in from Pennsylvania, where they’ve seen the Ducks play the Philadelphia Flyers, for Carson’s first chance to see them at home.

“I’m a ’90s kid and I loved the ‘Mighty Ducks’ movies,” Brian said. “They’ve been my favorite team for a long time, and now they’re his, too.”

Carson sported the No. 91 jersey of Leo Carlsson, the Ducks’ 21-year-old star, continuing a theme found throughout the arena. If fans didn’t have the jersey of an all-time Ducks great like Teemu Selanne or Getzlaf, they leaned young, just like the current version of the team.

They clearly don’t view the Ducks’ return to the postseason as an aberration. They seem to think this could become a regular rite of spring in Anaheim again.

“They’re so young,” Shane Greer said. “You look at how good they are. I think they’re going to be playing for a Stanley Cup sometime soon.”

​ Orange County Register 

Bad inning costs Yusei Kikuchi in Angels’ loss to Royals

• April 25, 2026

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Angels fans who had regained some faith in Yusei Kikuchi after last weekend’s encouraging start could only watch with frustration as all of that was wiped away in one disturbing inning.

Kikuchi gave up five runs in the fourth inning of the Angels’ 6-3 loss to the Kansas City Royals on Friday night.

Kikuchi didn’t even give up a hit in any of his other four innings, but the damage had been done. His ERA now sits at 6.21 after six starts.

While the Angels’ young starters, led by José Soriano, are giving them hope, the 34-year-old Kikuchi has not lived up to his $21 million annual salary.

On Saturday, Kikuchi pitched six scoreless innings against the Padres, later explaining that he had lowered his arm angle after experimenting with a higher release point in his first four starts. Besides being more effective, he also had slightly higher velocity in that game.

Kikuchi followed that performance by showing the same improvements in the first three innings of Friday’s game. He retired nine of 10 batters, working around one walk.

Then it all fell apart.

In the fourth, Kikuchi got ahead of Royals start shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., but then he fouled off three two-strike pitches before punching a double into the gap in left center.

Witt ended up scoring on a weird play. Right fielder Jo Adell got a late break on a blooper and he couldn’t make the catch, but the Angels still got a force at second on the play because Starling Marte was staying close to bag in case Adell caught it.

Still, that was the second out, and Kikuchi was one pitch from escaping the inning with minimal damage.

Instead, he gave up four straight hits to the bottom four hitters of the Kansas City order, driving in four more runs to blow the game open.

The Angels (12-15) at least made it interesting after that, thanks to the production from the bottom of the order.

Vaughn Grissom (two doubles), Logan O’Hoppe (a single and a walk) and Bryce Teodosio (two singles) each had good nights, and all three of them reached base in a two-out rally in the seventh.

Zach Neto blooped a single into center to drive in one, and then Mike Trout walked to push home another. Adell drove in the third with a grounder.

A Jorge Soler loaded the bases, putting the tying run in scoring position.

Manager Kurt Suzuki then sent Yoan Moncada up to pinch-hit for Oswald Peraza, even though the Royals had left-hander Daniel Lynch IV ready in the bullpen. Moncada was 1 for 18 with 10 strikeouts on the season against lefties.

The Royals brought in Lynch, and Moncada struck out.

More to come on this story.

​ Orange County Register 

Laguna Beach home trades hands for $13.6M, first time since 1962

• April 25, 2026

A Laguna Beach mid-century home held by the same family since 1962 sold for $13.6 million, closing March 17 at $100,000 over the asking price.

The 4,376-square-foot home, completed in 1958, has six bedrooms, three bathrooms and a rare indoor 40-by-20-foot pool and spa under a retractable roof added in the 1980s. Records viewed at PropertyShark show the buyer, a Las Vegas-based family trust led by John T. Redmond, a prominent hospitality executive and former CEO of Allegiant Air, bought the property in an all-cash deal.

Set on a more than three-quarter-acre lot in the Three Arch Bay gated community, the home captures promontory views of the ocean, Catalina Island and the coastline stretching from Palos Verdes to “the islands off of Rosarito,” listing agent Bryan Gerlach of Engel & Völkers previously told Southern California News Group.

The home was the longtime home of the late Dr. Aldon Clark, a Laguna Beach pediatrician who moved his family there shortly after launching his pediatrics practice. He and his wife, Patsy, raised four children in the home as its second owners.

Throughout the late couple’s six decades of ownership, the original mid-century design and craftsmanship were meticulously maintained.

Glass walls frame these views from the living room, anchored by a stone fireplace.

The dining room connects to the tiled kitchen.

Every room connects to the outdoor wraparound patio.

Gerlach and Paul Brutoco of Engel & Völkers listed the home, while Adriana Farfan of Pacific Sotheby’s International Realty represented the buyer.

The seller accepted the offer just 13 days after the property listed Jan. 11 for $13.5 million. According to Engel & Völkers, it set the all-time record in Upper Three Arch Bay.

​ Orange County Register 

Rockets’ Kevin Durant sits out Game 3; Lakers’ Austin Reaves remains out

• April 25, 2026

HOUSTON — Lakers guard Austin Reaves went through pregame warmups for the first time in three weeks before being downgraded to out 45 minutes before Game 3 tipped off on Friday, but the Houston Rockets were dealt a significant injury blow for the second time in the first-round playoff series.

Kevin Durant, the Rockets’ leading scorer and initiator, sat out Game 3 with a left ankle sprain he suffered in the fourth quarter on Tuesday night. Durant sat out Game 1 with a knee contusion following a collision with a teammate in a practice last week, but he returned for Game 2 and led Houston with 23 points.

With Durant unavailable, Rockets coach Ime Udoka said he would lean on a smaller rotation for Game 3, a group that includes former Lakers forward Dorian Finney-Smith – who has dealt with a lingering ankle injury throughout the season – and would play forwards Jae’Sean Tate and Jabari Smith Jr. at center at times.

“With Kevin being out, possibly, or playing more small that opens up the window for Dorian, and so he’s ready to go,” Udoka said before Friday’s game. “Obviously, the health has been an issue at times this year, but he hasn’t played a lot lately and is ready to contribute.”

Lakers coach JJ Redick said the Rockets playing smaller, or even switching up their rotations – which Udoka alluded to after the Lakers took a 2-0 series lead – is something that they are prepared for.

“We’re prepared for any scenario,” Redick said.

Redick has remained relatively mum about Reaves’ recovery efforts, other than insisting for the second consecutive day that he is “progressing” from his Grade 2 left oblique muscle injury. Redick said before Game 3 that Reaves’ 5:45 p.m. local time warmup would determine whether he would suit up.

Reaves’ soft-tissue injury usually carries a four-to-six-week recovery process. As of Friday, it has been three weeks and one day since Reaves aggravated his oblique against Oklahoma City on April 2. Working with assistant coach Beau Levesque, Reaves participated in shooting drills for 15 minutes, before stopping to autograph a fan’s jersey on his way back to the locker room.

Thirty minutes later, the Lakers ruled Reaves out.

When asked about the potential of facing either Reaves or Luka Doncic (who remains “out indefinitely” with a Grade 2 left hamstring strain) during the series, Udoka said the Rockets have been more focused on the ongoing threat of how to handle LeBron James, rather than the “what if” of Reaves taking the court.

“We understood that he was going to be out for a while, if not the whole series, and so we prepared it as if they’re going to be out and those last five games they played without him and Doncic, that was our focus,” Udoka said of the team’s preparation ahead of the series.

“But you look at the sets and what we did against them previous this year, and you can look back on those and how they play very similar to Kennard and some of the actions that they run for him now. So won’t be a surprise if [Reaves] comes back, but the prep was really on focusing on LeBron and how much he’s initiating and having the ball.”

​ Orange County Register 

Riverside County firefighter suspected in multiple sexual assaults is arrested

• April 25, 2026

A 51-year-old Riverside County firefighter suspected of perpetrating multiple sexual assaults was arrested Friday, April 24 on suspicion of forcible rape and other allegations.

David Renteria III was taken into custody without incident at his Placentia home. He was booked into the Robert Presley Jail in Riverside on suspicion of the rape, as well as false imprisonment, assault with a deadly weapon, sexual penetration by force and related offenses, according to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.

Bail information was not immediately available.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Aaron Wolfe said personnel from the county’s Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force, which is comprised of investigators from several agencies, received information last March indicating Renteria, a firefighter-paramedic, allegedly had been involved in two separate sex crimes.

The circumstances behind the alleged assaults were not disclosed. But sufficient evidence was gathered to procure and serve a warrant at the home, Wolfe said.

Renteria’s length of service with Cal Fire, with which the county contracts for fire protection services, could not immediately be confirmed. His post-arrest employment status also wasn’t available, but Cal Fire had been informed that he was booked into jail, Wolfe said.

Investigators believe there may be additional victims, and anyone with information was asked to contact the sheriff’s department at either 951-955-1700, or 951-776-1099.

​ Orange County Register