Item Details | Research Catalog

Atoms and ashes : a global history of nuclear disasters

Title

Published by

Author

Filter by

Format

Status

Status	Format	Access	Call number	Item location
Status Request for on-site use Request scan How do I pick up this item and when will it be ready?	FormatText	AccessRequest in advance	Call numberTK9152 .P583 2022	Item locationOff-site

Description

Summary

"A chilling account of seventy years of nuclear catastrophes, by the author of the "definitive" (Economist) Cold War history, Nuclear Folly. Nuclear energy was embraced across the globe at the height of the nuclear industry in the 1960s and 1970s; today, there are 440 nuclear reactors operating throughout the world, with nuclear power providing 10 percent of world electricity. Yet as the world seeks to reduce carbon emissions to combat climate change, the question arises: Just how safe is nuclear energy? Atoms and Ashes recounts the dramatic history of nuclear accidents that have dogged the industry in its military and civil incarnations since the 1950s. Through the stories of six terrifying major incidents -- Bikini Atoll, Kyshtym, Windscale, Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima -- Cold War expert Serhii Plokhy explores the risks of nuclear power, both for military and peaceful purposes, while offering a vivid account of how individuals and governments make decisions under extraordinary circumstances. Atoms and Ashes provides a crucial perspective on the most dangerous nuclear disasters of the past, in order to safeguard our future"--

Subject

Genre/Form

Contents

White ashes : Bikini Atoll -- Northern lights : Kyshtym -- A very English fire : Windscale -- Atoms for peace : Three Mile Island -- The star of apocalypse : Chernobyl -- Nuclear Tsunami : Fukushima.

Owning institution

Bibliography (note)