Nuclear Street New Book Review
by Randy Brich
ATOMIC ACCIDENTS:
A HISTORY OF NUCLEAR MELTDOWNS AND DISASTERS
FROM THE OZARK MOUNTAINS TO FUKUSHIMA
by James Mahaffey
"High goals don't just 'happen.' Wishing and hoping also doesn't work. Discipline, dedication and smart training are necessary."
— Joe Friel
Although Coach Friel was talking about endurance athletes, his words can be applied to many of life's situations, including those involving accidents with nuclear material, devices and reactors.
Part detective story, part documentary, part diabolical murder mystery, James Mahaffey’s latest non-fiction thriller, ATOMIC ACCIDENTS: A HISTORY OF NUCLEAR MELTDOWNS AND DISASTERS FROM THE OZARK MOUNTAINS TO FUKUSHIMA, details the mistakes associated with all sorts of atomic devices, designs and decisions gone awry. As much a pleasure to read as it is instantly educating, ATOMIC ACCIDENTS becomes essential reading for anyone curious about the inherent intricacies involved with unstable atomic reactors, how they got that way and what should be done about them.
Unless you’re an insider, nothing you thought you knew about nuclear material, devices and reactors, is true – regardless of how certain you are in your knowledge. Don’t believe me? Let your fingers do the walking on your laptop, order a copy and then wait in breathless anticipation until the trusty postman delivers it to your mailbox. Once you have the genius of James Mahaffey in your hot little hands, crack the cover and immerse yourself in his world – one of stupendous suspense suspended in the universe of nuclear material, devices and reactors. Travel back through time and relive the history of the nuclear timeline with the inimitable Dr. Mahaffey as your competent guide.
This one book superbly ties together all the loose ends explaining nuclear devices (bombs), nuclear reactors (both power and otherwise) and nuclear materials accidents. In it, you will journey across the landscape from Illinois to Tennessee to New Mexico to Idaho to Washington State to Canada to Russia and beyond absorbing the secrets of the Manhattan Project and other pioneering pitfalls that, until now, have never been told in such exacting excruciating detail.
As a Health Physicist I learned more about the history of nuclear reactors and devices from ATOMIC ACCIDENTS than in 10 weeks at Oak Ridge, one year at the Nevada Test Site and 16 years at Hanford combined. However, as an NRC-trained HP I couldn't help but gasp when I read footnote No. 295 describing the fission potential of Np-137 in 3 separate usages despite the previous sentence’s reference to Np-237 — an unfortunate typo that otherwise doesn't degrade the overall quality of the story. Regardless, no other obvious errors were noted in my quick read of this highly technical but easily comprehensible and captivating layman’s version of all things nuclear.
Meticulously footnoted and impeccably sourced, ATOMIC ACCIDENTS belongs at the top of your “Books To Read” list if you want to know what really happened way back then, now and what will likely happen in the future. Enjoy.
MAHAFFEY, JAMES. ATOMIC ACCIDENTS: A HISTORY OF NUCLEAR MELTDOWNS AND DISASTERS FROM THE OZARK MOUNTAINS TO FUKUSHIMA. Pegasus Books. New York. 2014. Hardcover. 442 pages.