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Atomic Accidents

A History of Nuclear Meltdowns and Disasters; From the Ozark Mountains to Fukushima

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Atomic Accidents

By: James Mahaffey
Narrated by: Tom Weiner
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About this listen

From the moment radiation was discovered in the late nineteenth century, nuclear science has had a rich history of innovative scientific exploration and discovery, coupled with mistakes, accidents, and downright disasters.

Mahaffey, a long-time advocate of continued nuclear research and nuclear energy, looks at each incident in turn and analyzes what happened and why, often discovering where scientists went wrong when analyzing past meltdowns.

Every incident has lead to new facets in understanding about the mighty atom—and Mahaffey puts forth what the future should be for this final frontier of science that still holds so much promise.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2014 James Mahaffey (P)2014 Blackstone Audio History History & Philosophy Science United States Thought-Provoking Inspiring Nuclear Engineering

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What made the experience of listening to Atomic Accidents the most enjoyable?

Tom Weiner writes about nuclear power and its history and evolution with such clarity. He writes in such a way that is easy to understand but with dumbing the topic down.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Atomic Accidents?

Basically the opening section about the steam engine collisions and the flocks of people who came to see them, and how far we have come since then but yet at the heart of nuclear power we still rely on steam.

What does Tom Weiner bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?

As I said above , just how clearly he approaches the subject and how easy he makes it sound without dumbing it down.

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

"The new clear age"

such a great book.

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An interesting and informative listen all through about mechanisms and human nature coming together to cause nuclear cockups. No need to be a physicist to follow the science and the dry humour sprinkled throughout brings on a few chuckles.

Really interesting stuff.

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Well written, informative, funny in places, beautifully narrated if you are interested in this subject its a must

Great

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You need to have a bit of a geeky mind to enjoy this sort of book, but it is very well written, easy to follow and has the right level of technical / scientific detail to make it both factual and very enjoyable to follow. The navigation across the subjects time line is impeccable and the different elements to the history of splitting the atom are broken down into logical subject matters.

Very enjoyable, detailed, informative and accurate.

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The book got off to a slow start but soon picked up. very interesting details of atomic accidents, I learnt a lot

so interesting

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it interested me all the way through and gave me a new understanding of reactor design and methods of operation.

Well narrated and informative

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Written by someone with an inside knowledge of the nuclear industry, the accounts of the horrific accidents of the military misadventures of the Cold War are chillingly flamboyant.
In contrast the lonely deaths of the early researchers have a sad tragic comedy about them as we learnt to live and work with radiation.
Our love affair with the Pressurized Water Reactor, courtesy of a pragmatic and disciplined US Admiral show the danger of upsizing and the innate conservatism of large corporations.
The violence that is so well told in the 19th century spectacle of crashing steam trains head on into one another is retold in the disaster of Chernobyl. But take a Futurelearn course on nuclear power to get the most from this book before you read it.

From Train wrecks to Small Modular Reactors

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This book gives a good account of the dangers of existing nuclear reactors.
However, the author shows a list of new and also forgotten nuclear reactor types that may be part of the answer to future safe generation of power for the world

Atomic power is not as bad as you may think

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The audiobook is perfect for this storyline. Rather than having to “try” read the techno-jargon, you just listen and “hear” the right level of complexity for you. You can’t do this while reading.

I am listening again for the third time!!

Brilliant Story and Amazing Storytelling

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Where does Atomic Accidents rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It is one of the best

What was one of the most memorable moments of Atomic Accidents?

The guy accidentally releasing the H bomb by holding the bomb release to steady himself.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No I listened to it (twice) in parts as I like to take in the technical aspects and would be over whelmed in one sitting

Any additional comments?

A very balanced book considering the title.

Great book

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