Atomic Accidents: A History of Nuclear Meltdowns

Deacon · Aug 20, 2014

Atomic Accidents: A History of Nuclear Meltdowns and Disasters: From the Ozark Mountains to Fukushima [Amazon LINK]

by James Mahaffey, Pegasus Books, Feb 2014, 619 ppgs.

Can nuclear accidents be entertaining? James Mahaffey puts the problem in perspective, beginning with a short history of steam trains and their demise. More people were killed by steam engines than by cars or nuclear accidents. …but steam is what it’s all about. Nuclear power generates steam and many of the accidents occurred while learning how to control the enormous power of the atom and limit its potential so that it could be safely used.

Mahaffey’s book definitely was written to convince the general populous that nuclear energy is the power of the future… but he wants you to make that decision.

Easy-to-read and quite entertaining!

The human fear of radiation is special and pervasive. As you will see, it originates in the initial shock of discovery, when we were introduced to the unsettling concept of death by an invisible, undetectable phenomenon, We have never quite gotten over it, and, in fact, all the fear of steam explosion is not connected to the problem of hurtling chucks of metal or the burning sensation, but directly to the problem of radiation dispersal into the public. …

Employee safety is, of course, very important, but public safety is even more so. To keep the industry alive, thriving, and growing, it is imperative that the general population not feel threatened by it.

Feeling threatened is not the same as being threatened, but the difference gets lost. The danger from low levels of radiation is quite low, as expressed as morbidity statistics or probabilities, but there is an unfortunate lack of connection to probability I the average person. Low probabilities are a particular problem of perception. If they were not, then nobody would play the lottery and the gambling industry would collapse. The impression of radiation, and even the science, can get lost in the numbers. In reading these chronicles of nuclear incidents big and small, I hope that you can develop a sense for the origins and the realities of our collective dread of radioactivity. …

… People don’t mind a deadly threat so much if it leaves quickly, like an oil refinery going up in a fireball or a train-load of chlorine gas tankers crashed on the other side of town. For some reason, a cache of thousands of rusting, leaking poisonous nerve-gas cylinders in Aniston, Alabama, does not scare anyone, but the suggestion of fission products stored a mile underground at Yucca Mountain, Nevada causes great concern.
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Rob

kyredneck · Aug 20, 2014

"nuclear energy is the power of the future" :thumbs: Bill Gates is convinced of it.

Thanks for the review Rob.

If you ever get the chance to see the [on Netflix] documentary 'Pandora’s Promise', it's well worth the time. It's an excellent informative documentary on nuclear power by ex-antinuclear environmentalists now turned pro-nuclear environmentalists.

Did you know that a fingertip sized piece of uranium contains the energy of 5,000 barrels of oil?

Have you heard of the new 4th generation Integral Fast Reactors (IFR) that are basically failsafe and will 'burn' used nuclear waste/fuel?

Debunking nuclear fears, it covers some interesting facts on Three Mile Island, Fukushima, and Chernobyl.

France is way ahead of everyone else in the area of nuclear power (80% electricity from nukes).

Solar and wind is an absolute joke as a replacement for fossil fuel, nuclear could easily do it.

Did you know U.S. has been buying up Russian warheads and using the fuel to generate electricity?

Recommend this for all. There is a new nuclear age coming. The technology is there, very doable

[add]

FYI, I've posted all this before.

TCassidy · Aug 20, 2014

Dr. Edward Teller, possibly the finest theoretical physicist ever, once said, "Nuclear energy is not the best possible solution. It is the ONLY possible solution."

He was right.

I also recommend "The Health Hazards of Not Going Nuclear" by Dr. Petr Beckmann, an electrical engineer and physicist.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0911762175/?tag=baptis04-20

Deacon · Aug 20, 2014

kyredneck said: ↑

If you ever get the chance to see the [on Netflix] documentary 'Pandora’s Promise', it's well worth the time. It's an excellent informative documentary on nuclear power by ex-antinuclear environmentalists now turned pro-nuclear environmentalists.
Click to expand...

Ooooh, I've got that on Netflix!
I'll think I'll watch it after work on Thursday evening, after fixing a used lawn tractor I picked up and I'll probably be reading another new book while I watch it. :tongue3:

So much to read/watch/do - - so little time.

Rob

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