Originally aired on TBS in 2002, Atomic Twister is a darned good made-for-TV movie showing how deadly a combination tornadoes and nuclear power plants can be. Critics say it bears little relation to how nuclear power plants are run, but who cares? Let them start their own Nuclear Physicist Channel if they want to show us how things really are. The fact of the matter is that -- as we saw with Chernobyl -- bad human decision-making is really what leads to nuclear disasters. You can have all of the redundant backup systems in the world, but they won't do you any good if some bonehead turns them off.

Truly, this film does little to inspire public confidence in the safety of nuclear power, but it does make for a surprisingly gripping hour and a half of entertainment.

All of western Tennessee is in danger of being wiped off the map when a string of tornadoes bear down on a town adjacent to the Helman-Klein Nuclear Power Plant. The town is apparently free of any trailer parks whatsoever, so two of the tornadoes head right for the plant. The place is supposed to be able to handle two tornado strikes, but that's according to the same people that tell us nuclear power is safe to begin with.

Cut off from contact with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and working on partial backup power only, plant supervisor Corrine Maguire (Sharon Lawrence) finds herself trying to avert the unthinkable. With a serious leak in the pipes, the water in the waste pool is evaporating quickly; offline systems prevent her from shutting down the main reactor; and the plant apparently has only a crew of four people on hand to prevent a complete meltdown. Not good.

Despite all hell breaking loose in his town, the local sheriff (Corbin Bernsen) never leaves the office throughout the entire film. All of the real work is done by his daughter's former fiance Jake Hannah (Mark-Paul Gosselaar), who serves as a tornado spotter, helps rescue tornado victims, searches for Corrine's lost son and helps out at the nuclear plant.

All of the personal storylines are cliched, but they still play quite well. I also have to mention that Olympian Carl Lewis appears in this film and answers the question for anyone wondering if Carl Lewis could outrun a tornado.

If most made-for-TV movies were half as good as Atomic Twister, the world would be a happier place. Just don't want it with some know-it-all who likes to nitpick every inaccuracy he sees in a purely fictional movie.