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thecozyintrovert's review
informative
4.0
he book was interesting for the most part. There were times when the author went into a little too much detail and it became boring. But, overall I enjoyed the book.
spacedout_reader's review against another edition
3.5
Good stories and very informative, but also rather technical at times so parts of it went over my head or were a little harder to follow. Goes into detail about Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima, of course, but also has plenty of other interesting stories. Gave me a lot of additional perspective on the kinds of risks one can expect from modern nuclear power plants, while providing reassurance that as long as proper precautions are taken in plant design and operator training, nuclear fission is the safest and cleanest energy source currently available.
Unless you're particularly interested in the history of nuclear power and weaponry, I'd probably recommend Atomic Adventures (by the same author) over this book simply because the writing style was less technical and more approachable. However, if nuclear science or history is your thing, or if you've already read Atomic Adventures and you're looking for more, I definitely recommend this book.
(semi-topical rambling below)
Some of my takeaways from / thoughts after reading this book were:
1. The only times this book talks about the US Navy's nuclear reactors is basically to describe how safe and reliable they are. There are literally scores of these reactors not just sitting still on land like a regular power plant, but installed in ships that are sailing around and performing combat activities, and sailors are basically stuck in a metal container with these reactors and there haven't been any problems worth noting, even for this book which is literally The Book On Atomic Accidents. Inspiring.
2. Reprocessing of spent reactor fuel has been politically discouraged and that makes me mad because we could literally recycle reactor fuel and not have to mine as much of it. What more could you want out of a power source?
3. Radioactive materials care not for humanity's hubris. Don't be an idiot and use a screwdriver to prop open something that will kill you painfully if it slips closed. On the other hand, props to engineering that respects the materials enough to make nuclear bombs that literally cannot explode unless you really truly want them to explode - it was comforting to learn that even in historical cases of nuclear weapons accidentally falling out of airplanes, there was literally no way for them to produce a nuclear explosion even if the conventional explosives in the bomb did go off.
4. As a layperson, learning about nuclear science is so much fun because if you phrase it right it sounds almost like alchemy - storage containers for uranium must not be shaped a certain way or else it will release insane amounts of energy! If a ball of plutonium surrounded by the right configuration of the right kind of metal bricks, it will release insane amounts of energy! Reactors can change certain elements into entirely different elements, and can even produce their own refueling materials! Seriously, it's so cool.
Unless you're particularly interested in the history of nuclear power and weaponry, I'd probably recommend Atomic Adventures (by the same author) over this book simply because the writing style was less technical and more approachable. However, if nuclear science or history is your thing, or if you've already read Atomic Adventures and you're looking for more, I definitely recommend this book.
(semi-topical rambling below)
Some of my takeaways from / thoughts after reading this book were:
1. The only times this book talks about the US Navy's nuclear reactors is basically to describe how safe and reliable they are. There are literally scores of these reactors not just sitting still on land like a regular power plant, but installed in ships that are sailing around and performing combat activities, and sailors are basically stuck in a metal container with these reactors and there haven't been any problems worth noting, even for this book which is literally The Book On Atomic Accidents. Inspiring.
2. Reprocessing of spent reactor fuel has been politically discouraged and that makes me mad because we could literally recycle reactor fuel and not have to mine as much of it. What more could you want out of a power source?
3. Radioactive materials care not for humanity's hubris. Don't be an idiot and use a screwdriver to prop open something that will kill you painfully if it slips closed. On the other hand, props to engineering that respects the materials enough to make nuclear bombs that literally cannot explode unless you really truly want them to explode - it was comforting to learn that even in historical cases of nuclear weapons accidentally falling out of airplanes, there was literally no way for them to produce a nuclear explosion even if the conventional explosives in the bomb did go off.
4. As a layperson, learning about nuclear science is so much fun because if you phrase it right it sounds almost like alchemy - storage containers for uranium must not be shaped a certain way or else it will release insane amounts of energy! If a ball of plutonium surrounded by the right configuration of the right kind of metal bricks, it will release insane amounts of energy! Reactors can change certain elements into entirely different elements, and can even produce their own refueling materials! Seriously, it's so cool.
tignorjl's review against another edition
Dude, believe me when I say I tried with this book. Really hard. But for a book that’s presented as being appropriate for lay people, there is WAY TOO MUCH deep science and extra/superfluous information. Reading this book felt like running into a brick wall while going mach 4 at times. It was that dense. Maybe this book would be good for someone who’s actually studying this subject in college. But if you’re like me and was looking for a book that’ll give you a basic history of nuclear accidents, do yourself a favor and do not pick this book up.
coldprintcoffee's review against another edition
5.0
If you are interested in nuclear accidents, history, and the hilariously, devastatingly, short-sighted actions of people despite working with some the most technically and politically-charged projects in the world, this is your book. It's so terrifying you have to laugh to yourself in that nervous way you do when witnesses a couples argument in a restaurant, trying to desperately clear the air while you shake inside. It's a thorough account, and despite it being incredibly detailed and very high-level reading as far as the science is concerned, it's worth it. Yes, I truly think so. It's worth every tab you'll open on Wikipedia and every article you'll pore over trying to make heads or tails of mind-boggling concepts (unless you're an expert already; I'm not!), and every image you end up pulling up on Google. I find the very astute inclusions of image results and current YouTube footage a nice touch for those of us who are stalling on resources to devour.
The author is passionate about the subject matter; that makes this fun to read. Again, fun in that offhandedly laughing way as he meanders through history and ideas and subjects you nearly cannot believe people came up with. The egos and social, so very human interactions and choices make this book wonder why people are involved in any process of building anything nuclear, running it, being responsible for it, etc. On another level, human intervention was also a saving grace in several of the mishaps, as the programmed components are only as decent and intelligent as the human operator could make them. Chemistry, physics, this is all truly an art, a delicate balance, and easy to ruin.
While I'm familiar with the most famous accidents (Chernobyl, Three Mile, Fukushima) this was nearly an encyclopedia of relatively frightening situations that happened in other time periods, in countries, that were fleetingly similar to the accidents we know, but unique in other things we don't know. The accounts of the Canadian and U.K. projects and reactors were not only technical, but provided the broader sociopolitical context of the goals they wanted to meet, and the America they wanted to court with their nuclear toys. There is a repetitive tone but only in the sense that it serves to demonstrate the mistakes of the human factor, and it's clear we make them over and over again throughout the entirety of nuclear history. Leaps forward in technology and science cannot erase or control the split-second, sometimes infuriatingly dumb (from our perspective) decisions made. We forget the limited insight they have on the process, including the simple fact that you cannot see every part of the reactor, and that even aspects like poor tube design or shape can contribute to a runaway chain reaction of events that only get to be dissected later.
Despite all the technicalities, there's a driving narrative, reminiscent of dramatic acts in an epic: It starts with the men who find shiny shards in a haunted cave, continues with painted radium on watches, and the beat goes on with an unpredictable tsunami and ends carefully, optimistically, with the conclusions of the state of the industry today.
It's one of the few things I would read all over again. For now, it's time for the fun easter eggs he left in the footnotes - about to give Google a workout.
The author is passionate about the subject matter; that makes this fun to read. Again, fun in that offhandedly laughing way as he meanders through history and ideas and subjects you nearly cannot believe people came up with. The egos and social, so very human interactions and choices make this book wonder why people are involved in any process of building anything nuclear, running it, being responsible for it, etc. On another level, human intervention was also a saving grace in several of the mishaps, as the programmed components are only as decent and intelligent as the human operator could make them. Chemistry, physics, this is all truly an art, a delicate balance, and easy to ruin.
While I'm familiar with the most famous accidents (Chernobyl, Three Mile, Fukushima) this was nearly an encyclopedia of relatively frightening situations that happened in other time periods, in countries, that were fleetingly similar to the accidents we know, but unique in other things we don't know. The accounts of the Canadian and U.K. projects and reactors were not only technical, but provided the broader sociopolitical context of the goals they wanted to meet, and the America they wanted to court with their nuclear toys. There is a repetitive tone but only in the sense that it serves to demonstrate the mistakes of the human factor, and it's clear we make them over and over again throughout the entirety of nuclear history. Leaps forward in technology and science cannot erase or control the split-second, sometimes infuriatingly dumb (from our perspective) decisions made. We forget the limited insight they have on the process, including the simple fact that you cannot see every part of the reactor, and that even aspects like poor tube design or shape can contribute to a runaway chain reaction of events that only get to be dissected later.
Despite all the technicalities, there's a driving narrative, reminiscent of dramatic acts in an epic: It starts with the men who find shiny shards in a haunted cave, continues with painted radium on watches, and the beat goes on with an unpredictable tsunami and ends carefully, optimistically, with the conclusions of the state of the industry today.
It's one of the few things I would read all over again. For now, it's time for the fun easter eggs he left in the footnotes - about to give Google a workout.
nickjagged's review against another edition
2.0
Eventually picks up steam (lol) and becomes genuinely engrossing, but it really took too long for the book to pull me in.
librarymouse's review
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
I'd wanted to read this book for a long time, and while interesting, I was a bit disappointed by the degradation of my understanding chemistry and physics, and by the simultaneous depth and shallowness of the material addressed. The focus of the book is split between the mechanical and chemical aspects of nuclear science and industry, and the human side of atomic accidents. It's length and the information density makes it hard to recall what occurred at the beginning of the book, by the end. That being said, this was a very interesting read!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, War, Blood, Death, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Forced institutionalization and Cancer