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First impression of the first UK edition, printed in the USA. Translated from the Russian by George Saunders. With 18 pages of reproductions of original documents. The true story, long time suppressed, of the terrible explosion of a Soviet nuclear-waste disposal area and the massive contamination which resulted. ***Very good in scarlet cloth-covered boards with light-blue titles to the spine. The boards show some very light marks commensurate with age and handling over the years, but are actually remarkably clean. Head and tail of spine remain uncreased. No bumps. Corners sharp. No reading lean to the binding. Spine tight. Page block edges quite foxed. Internally also very good with no inscriptions or annotations. Interestingly, there is a correction slip taped by the publisher to the half-title page - the tape has browned with age (please see scans). Interior pages are clean. No foxing. No creases or tears. ***In a very good colour-illustrated dustwrapper, which has not been price-clipped, retaining the original publisher's printed price of £5.95. The dustwrapper is complete, with just very slight rubbing and creasing at the top and tail of the spine. No chips, creases or tears. No fading. Dustwrapper crisp and bright. ***215mm x 145mm. 214 pages including a detailed Glossary of Certain Terms Needed by the Non-specialist, Documents, Section, Bibliography and Notes, and Index at the back of the book. ***'Late in 1957 a huge explosion occurred in the disposal section of the Soviet atomic weapons industry located in the Southern Urals where atomic wastes had been stored for over ten years. The result was devastating. ***The story of the explosion and contamination was and still is suppressed in the Soviet Union and, the author contends, by the CIA and other Western intelligence organizations fearful of public resistance to nuclear power plants. ***Now, after an intensive study of soviet scientific articles (written to disguise the fact that they were about the Ural explosion) and after many interviews and reports from friends in the scientific community as well as from witnesses, the author has pieced together the story of what actually happened'. (Quote taken from the front flap of the dustwrapper) ***'The Kyshtym disaster, sometimes referred to as the Mayak disaster or Ozyorsk disaster in newer sources, was a radioactive contamination accident that occurred on 29 September 1957 at Mayak, a plutonium reprocessing production plant for nuclear weapons located in the closed city of Chelyabinsk-40 (now Ozyorsk) in Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia in the Soviet Union. The disaster is the second worst nuclear incident by radioactivity released, after the Chernobyl disaster and was regarded as the worst nuclear disaster in history until Chernobyl. It is the only disaster classified as Level 6 on the International Nuclear Event Scale (INES). It is the third worst nuclear disaster by population impact after the two Level 7 events: the Chernobyl disaster, which resulted in the evacuation of 335,000 people, and the Fukushima Daiichi disaster, which resulted in the evacuation of 154,000 people. At least 22 villages were exposed to radiation from the Kyshtym disaster, with a total population of around 10,000 people evacuated. Some were evacuated after a week, but it took almost two years for evacuations to occur at other sites.' (Wiki) ***A first UK edition of this fascinating study of the nuclear disaster in the Urals, suppressed by both East and West at the time. An uncommon book, the subject of which is still so relevant today. ***For all our books, postage is charged at cost, allowing for packaging: any shipping rates indicated on ABE are an average only: we will reduce the P & P charge where appropriate - please contact us for postal rates for heavier books and sets etc.
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