Full Description
Meltdown investigates and recreates the dramatic events behind the most notorious nuclear accidents in history, as well as those shrouded in secrecy. Combining human tragedy with intriguing science, each account reveals new aspects of humanity's complex relationship with nuclear power and the ongoing struggle to harness and control it.
From the pioneers of Los Alamos who got up close and personal with the cores of atomic bombs, to the hapless engineers in Soviet fuel-processing plants who unwittingly mixed up a disaster in a bucket, and from the terrifying impact of a tsunami at Fukushima to the mystery of the recent Russian incident, Meltdown explores the past and future of this extraordinary and potentially lethal source of infinite power.
Contents
Splitting the Atom • Explorers of New Worlds • Louis Slotin and the Demon Core • the Town That Wasn't There • Spoilt Milk • Burning Up • the Wrong-shaped Bottle • a Slip of the Hand • Broken Arrow • Human Error • Don't Rock the Boat • Nuclear Nightmare • Concentration Critical • the Four Horsemen • the Nyonoska Mystery.
