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

Mahaffey, James

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1605984922 ISBN 13: 9781605984926

Publisher: Pegasus Books, 2014

Synopsis

A gripping narrative of nuclear mishaps and meltdowns around the globe, all of which have proven pivotal to the advancement of nuclear science.

From the moment radiation was discovered in the late nineteenth century, nuclear science has had a rich history of innovative scientific exploration and discovery, coupled with mistakes, accidents, and downright disasters. 

Mahaffey, a long-time advocate of continued nuclear research and nuclear energy, looks at each incident in turn and analyzes what happened and why, often discovering where scientists went wrong when analyzing past meltdowns.

Every incident has lead to new facets in understanding about the mighty atom―and Mahaffey puts forth what the future should be for this final frontier of science that still holds so much promise.

8 page B&W insert

About this title

About the Author:

James Mahaffey was a senior research scientist at the Georgia Tech Research Institute where he worked under contract for the Defense Nuclear Agency, the National Ground Intelligence Center, the Air Force Air Logistics Center, and Georgia Power Company. He is the author of Atomic Awakening and Atomic Accidents and lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

Review:

NUCLEAR ENGINEERING INTERNATIONAL – David Mosey, 25 July 2014.
James Mahaffey is a fine writer. Engaging, lucid, informal and frequently (and satisfyingly) irreverent, at his best his style resembles the great satirist and mathematician Tom Lehrer's sardonic, technically-informed delivery. He also shares Lehrer's satisfaction in anatomising humankind's more fatuous missteps and his intellectual integrity. Atomic Accidents deserves the widest audience.

NATURE – Mark Peplow, February 20, 2014.
Mahaffey guides us through more than a century of atomic research, including misadventures with radioactive elixirs (“The radium water worked fine until his jaw came off,” reads a 1932 headline) and long-forgotten accidents at enrichment plants...The compelling tales unravel like slow-motion horror stories, spiraling towards disasters we know are coming.

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY (Starred Review) – January 13, 2014.
Mahaffey, a former senior research scientist at the Georgia Tech Research Institute, employs his extensive knowledge of nuclear engineering to produce a volume that is by turns alarming, thought-provoking, humorous, and always fascinating.

KIRKUS (Starred Review) – February 6, 2014.
The most comprehensive and certainly one of the most entertaining accounts of atomic accidents.

NUCLEAR STREET NEWS – Randy Brich, February 5, 2014.
Part detective story, part documentary, part diabolical murder mystery, James Mahaffey’s latest non-fiction thriller details the mistakes associated with all sorts of atomic devices, designs and decisions gone awry. (The book is)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.

About this edition

• Publisher: Pegasus Books
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1605984922
• ISBN 13: 9781605984926
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 460