Atomic Accidents: A History of Nuclear Meltdowns and Disasters: From the Ozark Mountains to Fukushima

This was not the book I expected when I purchased it. I was expecting an authoritative, well researched, well documented treatise on the history of nuclear accidents. It was certainly that. But I was also expecting a dry, pedantic, academic, formal, and boring book that I was determined to slog thorough because I wanted to understand the topic.In a story that traces its plot from a wrecked 2-10-0 decapod steam engine in north Georgia in 1954 to a massive hydrogen explosion at Fukushima Daiichi, Japan in 2011, the human story is always front and center. Don’t misunderstand, Mahaffey understands the technology intimately and he describes the technical details with an engineers precision, but he also understands that it is the interface between the human and the machine where the true story is told, and time-and-time again, where the culprit of tragedy is to be found.Although the title makes it sound like an academic textbook, it reads more like a Sebastian Junger or Jon Krakauer adventure story. One where when you breathlessly complete it, you will be chagrined to realize you just may have read a textbook.There are two threads of striking similarities running through these stories. The first is how incaution led to so many of these accidents. At first, this seems surprising given the dangerous nature of the processes and materials being handled. But it reminds me of a conversation I had with a friend. We are both rock climbers and used to a certain element of risk. We were discussing a climber who was well known for incredibly difficult climbs without a rope and I suggested he was somehow fundamentally different from the rest of us. My friend disagreed and offered that each time we take a risk and have a positive outcome, our expectation of a positive outcome increases and conversely, our vigilance decreases. It is an interesting idea and one that highlights the imperativeness of following well designed safety procedures and how there can be little or no tolerance for mavericks here.The second striking thread was how many accidents were due to operators failing to follow procedures or mistrusting measurements because they followed their “gut instincts”. This thread might also seem to highlight the imperativeness of following well designed safety procedures and how there can be little or no tolerance for mavericks, but it less clear as we really have no good data on whether and how many accidents were averted by similar actions.This is a story of great tragedy and sometimes great catastrophe. It is a story that doesn't shy away from telling the, often painful, stories of the very real human beings at the center of the events. Whether the result of ignorance, youthful exuberance, hubris, heroism, or luck, the pictures painted in these words are fitting testimonials to the tragic victims of these events.But this is ultimately an optimistic story. It tells the tale of a completely new technology from its earliest inception to the present day through the lens of adversity. But the ultimate sense one is left with is a sense of triumph. If there is any pessimism, it is from the nagging sensation that what should be one of humanities greatest triumphs may be abandoned out of misplaced fear.

I found this to be a great read! The author clearly knows what he is talking about. He takes us through the chronology of nuclear accidents, starting with an understanding of what radioactive elements are in the first place and then describing a whole series of nuclear accidents, from the relatively minor and early ones to the major ones (like Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima Daiichi). The author describes the nature of these accidents in language that is readily understandable by those of us without a Ph.D. in physics. He also enables the reader to understand how nuclear reactors work and what can (and did) go wrong with them. Some very interesting photos are included with the book (I have the ebook version). When I was done reading it for the day, I was always eager to pick the book up again and continue. It was highly enjoyable, and I would heartily recommend it.

As an ex-Navy submariner and Engineering Watch Supervisor, I really enjoyed this book. I trained on the A1W prototype in Idaho (1972) and spent a good deal of time on the other 2 plants (S5G and S1W). SL1 was a scary rumor at the time and the only teachable moment I remember is that we needed to always believe our instrumentation, especially with a reactor accident or potential contamination event. I think this came from the first responders at SL1 not believing their counters when they first rolled up. We had to live in Idaho Falls and commute by a bus just about every day. We drove right past where some of the stories in this book unfolded. Brought back a lot of memories.The boat I was on had a few situations that I was disappointed were not mentioned in the book. She was a very old boat, since retired with her reactor compartment buried out at the Hanford site. We had a couple primary to secondary leaks in our steam generators, as well as unexplained shield tank overflows while at sea.The primary leaks were first seen as iodine isotopes at the air ejectors on the main condensers. We had to isolate the engineering spaces and lived in our EAB's for 3 weeks limping back to Pearl. At the time there were a number of incidents across the fleet, per the grapevine, leading to a crew on another boat refusing to go to sea. I was hoping to find where I could contact the author. Rickover's nuclear navy did not have as spotless of a record as book seemed to imply at some points. Anyway, very good book, especially if you lived some of it.

This is a real page turner. I had no idea so many accidents had happened. For me the most fascinating, and scary incidents, are those that occurred in reprocessing labs, where just pouring material from one container to another with a different shape creates a critical mass. Parts of it are quite technical, and requires some background in physics, but overall its very accessible.The title of the book is a bit misleading, because in order to cover accidents the author presents a huge amount of background material explaining how a broad range of nuclear facilities were designed and supposed to work, in order to explain how things went wrong. This made the book a great read for the technically curious. I've only read one other book that installed equal enthusiasm: The invention that changed the world by Robert Buderi, a history of the development of microwave radar and the science that arose from it,

Expertly researched, scientific details given in a way that doesn't take a degree in nuclear physics to understand, and more importantly factual. This book avoids the often-used 'lets make nuclear power out to be dangerous to all humans!' Trap that many authors of nuclear accidents fall into in order to increase sales.I'm a supporter of nuclear power (realistically it is the only non-fossil-fuel power generation system open to us all to use) and this book is going proudly on my most read bookshelf.

I'm not much of a reader, but since Jurassic Park, this book I read with great enthusiasm from cover to cover.Starting about staged train crashes in the 1800s to quash fears the public had about train crashes, and demonstrating how more lives were lost at a hydro electric accident in one go than at any nuclear accident initially, he goes on to explain how science, regulations, and humans have moved back and forth between focus, arrogance, belligerence, precision, understanding, prevention, care, misunderstanding but how through this, in time, we have learned about nuclear power and materials.The writing style is beautifully delivered as a conversational lecture with plenty of numbers and acronyms to keep the well informed alert, but still explains with all context so even someone with elementary understanding of science still can learn without being out of depth.Most pages have foot notes explaining concepts, acronyms, science, and background which while one does not have to read, is great to feel informed and delivered like a friendly hint by your mate sitting next to you in the lecture.There is plenty of light, but dry humour but always staying factual and respectful to both the personalities and brains that have taken us so far, but also quite direct about how people and "systems" can so often not perform to the standards expected. And why.This book very much celebrates nuclear technology, and while full of blunders which, in many cases, one should not raise a smile at (though I normally did), it does put ones mind at rest that these have always been learning experiences, and in time will never happen again. It puts great faith in nuclear technology.. but serves also as a warning of how people, politics, and science must work together and understand the effect of their decisions.

A very interesting well put together account of reactor development design flaws from the early days. The sections on military devices are very interesting (and somewhat scarey.) Obviously, the major focus is on the USA. It would have been nice to have had a bit more on UK development other than Windscale though, I suppose, it would not have been appropriate to the subject matter as the CO2 cooled Magnox and AGR units have behaved without major incident throughout their lifetimes.Many thanks for a most interesting read.

I was surprised how much of a page turner I found this book.It is a technical book and some prior knowledge of nuclear materials and reactors will greatly enhance your reading pleasure. However, if you wish to skip the more detailed technical information and just focus on the descriptions of the disasters there is still a great deal here to interest the more casual reader.Highly recommended for anyone with even a passing interest in the atomic age.

I consider myself a technical person. I have technical qualifications and have worked on some very high end equipment in the past, but the seriously in depth chemistry throughout this book takes away from what are some extremely interesting and very well researched cases. This would, and maybe did make an excellent piece for a scientific magazine or journal. At times my eyes glazed over reading the chemical make up of elements and the physics of nuclear reactions. If you want an easier going read, try Command and Control. No where near as in depth but more of a story like approach.

It took me a long time to get through this book, as it is heavy on engineering detail. But it is this very detail and honest open assessment that makes the book essential to read if you want an accurate account of the causes and the impact of nuclear incidents, and to form your own view on the role nuclear power should have in the mix of generating options.It is not a polemic promoting a political position.

I could not put it down. Very well written and pitched at a level that a non technical person could easily understand. A brilliant read. Very enlightening but also a raised worries about our and other nation's nuclear power generation.

To anyone, like myself, once employed in the nuclear power industry, or just interested in the subject, a very absorbing read. Technology has taken such massive strides within one generation it is well to realise that any system is only as good as it’s operators. Thoroughly recommended. George Woollard.

Quite brilliant, a complete synopsis of the development of nuclear power and bomb development.Warning to UK readers - IMO written in a somewhat dismissive American tone where Brits are just for ridicule.Though adequately sums up what a ‘special’ relationship is.Sub note 133 - that’s ‘irony’ - and that’s not the name of another metal Yanks can’t pronounce

This is I think the best "popular" science book I've read. However it's also contains a fair amount of technicality so you do need some level of scientific understanding to appreciate the descriptions of nuclear reaction mechanisms.Despite that I couldn't stop reading. It's rare to have such an effective combination of scientific accuracy and vivid descriptions of the events and people. The diagrams are also helpful!It covers a wide range of nuclear "events" , not just reactor meltdowns, roughly chronologically. Each disaster is covered in the level of detail warranted by its impact.

I found this book to be fascinating. As a complete ignoramus of all technology nuclear, I came away from this book with a very positive approach to nuclear power. I salute Mr James Mahaffey for his comprehensive explanation of why nuclear accidents occurred. His writing is easily understood by the layman and the dark,underlying humour in the prose makes his book a most enlightening and enjoyable read. By far,the best non fiction book that I have come across in years.

This book will be of interest to anyone wanting to learn more about the chequered history of the nuclear age, covering all the major accidents in a very readable but scholarly way. The author has clearly done his research well, and the end result comes across as highly authoritative.I recommend buying the paperback version rather than the Kindle one - the former does not cost much more, but includes a number of valuable colour photographs the latter inevitably lacks.

You can’t make an omelette without cracking a few eggs: seems this is also the case with atomic knowledge. A great listen on a commute too. My favourite line is ‘everything went swimmingly for the first 150 milliseconds’ - I’ll use that one on life.

My husband asked me to order this and has read it loads since it arrived. It even came on holiday with us!He tells me all the crazy things in the book and whilst I'm no history fanatic, it's all very interesting and some of it is just shocking (hindsight is a wonderful thing...)

Not anti Nuclear just the facts about the accidents in detail great read very informative well researched. From the very beginning to today the whole story from Nuclear bomb to Nuclear energy. If you have an interest in the bomb or Nuclear power it's a must read.