Created using: D3.js, HTML and CSS These timelines were featured in an investigation done by the Los Angeles i-team about testing done by the U.S. government and private companies on the limits of nuclear power at Area IV of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL).
During its history, there were several nuclear accidents at the Santa Susana Field Lab. Some experts believe the 1959 partial meltdown at SSFL could be the worst nuclear disaster in U.S. history, surpassing the radiation released during the Three Mile Island accident.
The Brandeis-Bardin Institute, a center for Jewish study, learning and culture and home to Camp Alonim, a sleep-away-camp for kids, came into existence at the same time as the Santa Susana Field Lab was being built. While the employees at the Field Lab performed nuclear research and rocket tests, resulting in radioactive elements seeping into the soil and groundwater, children and adults were participating in activities just a few miles downhill at Brandeis.