I was surprised at how wide a scope this little book had. It covers major nuclear accidents of the time like Khystym, Windscale and the Browns Ferry fire. What are those, you say? The one thing you must keep in mind while reading this is the fact that it was published before the major nuclear accidents of our time. Chernobyl, Three Mile Island and Fukushima all occurred after this book was published. A lot has happened in the nuclear world in the last 41 years. You can tell some of his information is dated, especially the parts about Khystym. This was a much bigger accident that was admitted at the time. I can't find any reference to the Blagoveshchensk accident he mentions, but it sounds an awful lot like what we now know Khystym was.

I actually appreciated the fact that the book is older, because it felt like the author delved more deeply into some of the accidents now considered fairly minor. The section about the Browns Ferry fire was probably the most detailed account in modern literature on nuclear subjects. The section on the Karen Silkwood case was also interesting because the author was very dismissive of her and the perceived conspiracy by Kerr-McGee. The author seemed to indicate that her whistleblowing was redundant because problems at the plant were well known.

The author was also very concerned about lax security at American nuclear plants. That, combined with the section about the liability of a plant if an accident renders your home radioactive seemed pretty sensational. I'm not sure how big of a splash this book made when it was published, but I'd certainly have looked into moving if I was anywhere close to a nuclear plant. The chapter on undue harassment and investigations into anti-nuclear protesters was eye-opening. I also had no idea about the yellowcake uranium spill in Colorado. Fascinating how this incident and others like it have essentially fallen out of the history books.

Certainly an interesting read for those who are fascinated by nuclear history. Just keep in mind it is 41 years old. ( )