Nuclear Books - Page 4

The Demise of Nuclear Energy?: Lessons for Democratic Control of Technology (Yale Fastback Series)

Joseph G. Morone, Edward J. Woodhouse

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Editorial Review:

A nonpartisan analysis of America's nuclear industry-how it was implemented, why it has been so unsuccessful, and what lessons it can teach us for future energy policymaking. Joseph Morone and Edward Woodhouse argue that a radically altered form of nuclear power could provide a more acceptable and less environmentally destructive energy future-if we learn from the failures of the first nuclear era.

Problems and Solutions in Radiation Protection

James E. Turner, James S. Bogard, Jerry B. Hunt, Tony A. Rhea

List Price: $27.00 By: Pergamon Pr Amazon Marketplace: 9 new & used starting at $28.44

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Journey to Chernobyl: Encounters in a Radioactive Zone

Glenn Alan Cheney

Amazon Price: $15.60 List Price: $20.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Academy Chicago Publishers Amazon Marketplace: 20 new & used starting at $4.83

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 3.0 of 5

An American in a Nuclear World 2 out of 5 stars.
19 of 19 people found this review helpful.

After reading a few reviews about this book elsewhere, I was eager to give it a read. On paper, the concept is intriguing: an American visiting Kiev in the days right after the Soviet Union ceased to exist, styling himself as a journalist and researcher, and attempting to unravel some of the horrifying mysteries and secrets surrounding the April 1986 Chernobyl disaster.

Cheney's good to his word: he goes to Kiev and he investigates Chernobyl. The resulting book is most disappointing, however, in spite of Cheney's engaging style of writing.

For one thing, it's hard to get past what appears to be a great deal of callousness and cultural insensitivity. The visit took place in the end of 1991, so we're treated to more commentary than necessary on the evils of Communism and the Soviet system, the blessings of capitalism, and how the American government would never, ever allow its citizens to be exposed to that much radiation. At times Cheney veers into full-out Ugly American Tourist mode. He's offended and reacts rudely when he learns that a visit to the Chernobyl reactor will cost money--he thinks he should be able to go for free, permits be damned. He shortchanges a shopkeeper. At one point, he complains that the signs in the Metro are in Cyrillic...gee, in Kiev who would ever expect that?

The book is peppered with uncomplimentary descriptions of the people Cheney meets. A taxi driver who showers Cheney with kindness is "ugly." The flight attendants on Aeroflot: "babushkas in training." The patients in one hospital's cancer ward are insensitively described as "half-dead children," and Cheney photographs them without even trying to learn their names or think of them as actual people. There are endless criticisms on the clothing, the hair, the style of the locals: in one instance, Cheney claims that he only respects a top scientist's data because the man is able to afford a respectable Western suit. He pokes fun of Russian pronunciations of English words, such as "business," and is critical of the locals' lack of English prowess (gee, why doesn't everyone speak English in Ukraine and Russia? You mean they have their own languages there?!), but can't be bothered to learn a word of the local languages himself. Although the locals shower him with help and hospitality, the only thing he can think to tell the "folks back home" about Ukrainians is that they wear the same clothes every day.

While Cheney does offer some stunning write-ups of his encounters with Chernobyl insiders, and gives a helpful summary of the difference between rads, curies and rontengens, even these leave the reader cold. The stories of the liquidators are brushed off, and, even in the face of cancer wards and numerous statements about the vast amount of radioactive material contaminating the country, people who claim there are thousands of victims are described as being "lying or hysterical." The sarcophagus that covers the demolished Reactor Four, with its nuclear payload, was build shoddily because the people constructing it "didn't care to do it properly" (I suppose the fact that all the robots and machines were, you know, malfunctioning because of the radiation, the fact that people working there were made seriously ill by being so close to the reactor and many sacrificed their lives to the cause, and the fact that they were in a hurry to try to contain the radiation as quickly as possible didn't have anything to do with it--nope, they just didn't give a damn!). When Cheney makes the callous comment that he looks as though he's "dying of radiation poisoning" when--gasp!--he's had to go through the day with only one meal!--the reader realizes he just doesn't get it, and he's not going to get it.

Although Cheney's book purports to be an expose of the Chernobyl crisis, perhaps it's important for another reason: it's a direct account of how, even in the face of massive evidence, people both inside and out of the USSR felt perfectly willing to ignore and deliberately disregard the impact of Chernobyl and its staggering number of casualties.

For an accurate look at the human face of the Chernobyl disaster, I'd point people toward Svetlana Alexievich's amazing "Voices from Chernobyl." I'd only recommend this book to those who have already read up on the disaster and know the story.

Editorial Review:

Glenn Cheney arrived in Kiev during those first days when the Soviet Union ceased to exist and Ukraine was reborn. Immediately he found himself talking with scientists, journalists, refugees, engineers, top-level government officials, doctors, environmentalists, parents of sick children and people living just a few kilometers from the Chernobyl complex. The reports of atrocities, epidemics, tyranny and despair blend with a most unusual travelogue, considerable humor and KGB intrigue.

The New World: A History of the United States Atomic Energy Commission, Volume I 1939-1946, Reissue in paper of 1962 edition (New World)

Richard G. Hewlett, Oscar E. Anderson

List Price: $40.00 By: University of California Press Amazon Marketplace: 5 new & used starting at $39.98

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Windscale 1957: Anatomy of a Nuclear Accident

Lorna Arnold

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Editorial Review:

In 1957, one of the two reactors built at Windscale was destroyed by fire, in the world's first major nuclear accident. This book describes the fire and what followed, and considers its causes, effects and political importance. It throws a revealing new light on an important event of fifty years ago and on questions of secrecy and responsibility.

The Useful Atom

William R. Anderson, Vernon Pizer

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Secret

Wesley Winans Stout

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Guidebook to Light Water Reactor Safety Analysis (Proceedings of the International Centre for Heat and Mass Transfer)

P. B. Abramson

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Editorial Review:

The Guidebook to Light Water Reactor Safety Analysis brings together government and expert researchers entrusted with maintaining the safety of reactors, preventing incidents, and for creating the guidelines for responding appropriately to emergency situations. It includes an overview presented by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. One of the most relevant compendiums of its time, it's a volume of both historical and scientific significance and well worth the consideration of those currently involved with maintaining reactor safety..

Red Atom: Russia's Nuclear Power Program from Stalin to Today

Paul R. Josephson

List Price: $26.95 By: W.H. Freeman & Company Amazon Marketplace: 22 new & used starting at $4.07

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Total reviews: 4 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

In 1956, the head of the Soviet atomic bomb project presented a stunning vision of his country's futurea time when giant reactors would generate energy quickly and cheaply, when nuclear engines would power cars, ships, and airplanes, and when peaceful nuclear explosions would transform the landscape to fit the country's agricultural and industrial needs. Driven by the energy of the atom, the dream of communism would become a powerful reality. But, thirty years later, that dream died for good in the rubble of Chernobyla tragedy that ultimately came to symbolize the failure of Soviet rule and the bankruptcy of communism. What went wrong?

Based on rare archival research and interviews, Red Atom takes a behind-the-scenes look at the history of the Soviet Union's peaceful use of nuclear power. It explores the bomb projects, reactor "parks," nuclear engines, and radioisotope tests that reflected a society-wide enthusiasm for science and technology. It also introduces the men behind the machinesthe physicists and scientists who formed an arrogant technocratic eliteas well as the politicians who were dedicated to increasing the power of the state at the expense of the people. Finally, Red Atom describes the political, economic, and environmental fallout of Chernobyl, and examines the future of atomic energy in Russia.

A story of big science run amok, Red Atom illuminates the problems that can befall any society heavily invested in large-scale technology.

Chernobyl: A Documentary Story

Iurii Shcherbak, David R. Marples

List Price: $29.95 By: Palgrave Macmillan Amazon Marketplace: 8 new & used starting at $3.33

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Editorial Review:

Dr. Shcherbak traveled to the dangerous zone around the reactor at Chernobyl, lived there and interviewed firemen, first-aid workers, party and government officials, local media representatives, and foreign visitors. The result is a variety of vivid eyewitness accounts unprecedented in detail and frankness.