Extinguishing the Atom: The Absurd Reality of the Windscale Fire | Uranium, Hubris, and the Desperate Water Hose Salvation in the British Nuclear Age, 1957.DE

Hayden Jackson

ISBN 10: 3565367083 / ISBN 13: 9783565367085

Published by epubli, 2026

About this Item

Extinguishing the Atom: The Absurd Reality of the Windscale Fire | Uranium, Hubris, and the Desperate Water Hose Salvation in the British Nuclear Age, [.] | Hayden Jackson | Taschenbuch | Englisch | epubli | EAN 9783565367085 | Verantwortliche Person für die EU: Neopubli GmbH (Imprint: epubli), Köpenicker Str. 154a, 10997 Berlin, produktsicherheit[at]epubli[dot]com | Anbieter: preigu.

Seller Inventory # 134937577

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Extinguishing the Atom: The Absurd Reality of the Windscale Fire | Uranium, Hubris, and the Desperate Water Hose Salvation in the British Nuclear Age, 1957.DE
• Publisher: epubli
• Publication Date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 3565367083
• ISBN 13: 9783565367085
• Binding: Taschenbuch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 9W x 210H x 297D millimeters 9 millimeters width by 210 millimeters height by 297 millimeters depth
• Weight: 389 grams
• Seller catalogs:
  • Bücher

About this title

Synopsis

Decades before Chernobyl, the world’s first catastrophic nuclear reactor fire occurred on the coast of Northern England. In 1957, the core of the Windscale nuclear facility, built hastily to provide plutonium for the British atomic bomb project, ignited into a massive, unstoppable uranium inferno. Standard nuclear physics dictates that pouring water onto a burning uranium fire will cause a devastating hydrogen explosion, instantly vaporizing the facility and irradiating the entire region. Yet, after days of failing to starve the fire of oxygen, the desperate engineers did exactly that. They hooked up standard fire hoses and unleashed water directly into the atomic core—and miraculously, it worked. This book uncovers the harrowing, minute-by-minute timeline of the disaster. We examine the flawed architectural design of the graphite core, the heroic, suicidal bravery of the workers, and the massive government cover-up that quietly renamed the facility to erase the tragedy from public memory. Explore the closest call of the early atomic age. Learn how a terrifying nuclear meltdown was defeated by blind luck and a standard garden hose.