(CNN) – With BP running out of options to control and eventually stop the biggest oil spill in U.S. history, there are some scientists saying it's time to go nuclear. Our Deb Feyerick takes a look at whether it's a serious and safe option.

(CNN) – BP is bracing for the long haul in the Gulf, pitching tents for cleanup teams left jobless and penniless by the disaster. And there's plenty to do. Miles of tarred coastline and oil-slicked wildlife and reserves have to be cleaned. Our Jim Acosta takes a closer look at the operation.

(CNN) – Researchers have doubled estimates of how much oil has been spewing from a ruptured well in the Gulf of Mexico, reporting Thursday that up to 40,000 barrels (1.7 million gallons) a day may have escaped for weeks.

Well owner BP has been able to capture a varying percentage of that oil, first with a siphon inserted into the well riser and since June 3 with a cap that allowed workers to draw nearly 16,000 barrels to a ship on the surface Wednesday.

But scientists from the Flow Rate Technical Group reported Thursday that the amount of oil that has been leaking into the Gulf since late April was roughly twice the amount they previously estimated.

"The lowest estimate that we're seeing, that the scientists think is credible, is probably about 20,000 barrels," U.S. Geological Survey Director Marcia McNutt said. "And the highest that we're seeing is probably a little over 40,000, maybe a little more, depending on whether there are any systematic issues with gas."

Two weeks ago, researchers put the amount of oil escaping into the Gulf at between 12,000 and 19,000 barrels (504,000 to 798,000 gallons) per day. Read more

(CNN) – President Obama plans to visit the Gulf Coast again next week. It will be his fourth visit here since the Deepwater Horizon explosion in April. Today, the Gulf oil disaster takes on a deeply personal tone when the president meets with the families of those who died. Our Suzanne Malveaux talks to the family of a worker whose son was born after he died in the oil rig explosion.

Read more: Obama to meet victims' families

Program note: On "AC360°," survivors of the BP oil rig explosion talk to Anderson Cooper about their 11 "fallen brothers." Watch "AC360°" live from the Gulf at 10 p.m. ET Thursday.

(CNN) – When oil first started pouring into the Gulf, all the systems designed to stop that from ever happening failed completely. 52 days later and it's the worst oil spill in American history. So is this disaster a fluke or are there others just waiting to happen? Our Allan Chernoff has the report.