Superbly crafted but enormously frightening ... The anatomy of these disasters reveals consistent patterns of behaviour; essentially the same story is repeated six times ... Plokhy constructs a formidable case for consigning nuclear power generation to the past. His six case studies are exquisitely rendered with just the right level of technical information to explain the problems without making them incomprehensible or dull. The suspense of reactor crews struggling to find a solution to meltdown makes this book weirdly entertaining ... To solve the energy crisis with nuclear power would require the construction of thousands of reactors worldwide. The problems so perfectly explained in this book would not miraculously disappear; they would proliferate.
... frightening ... Plokhy is too committed to the specifics of each catastrophe to succumb to the temptation of making a grand case. Every nuclear disaster is terrible in its own way ... The global scope of such dire subject matter means that the experience of reading this book is a formidable exercise in cumulative disillusionment ... With catastrophic climate change bearing down on us, nuclear power has been promoted by some as an obvious solution, but this sobering history urges us to look hard at that bargain for what it is.
Timely ... The strength of Atoms and Ashes lies in Plokhy’s ability to explain the technical aspects of the unfolding disasters while also exploring the role of human and organisational factors, as well as the political demands that created the imperatives to meet ambitious targets.
The technical details in these stories matter immensely, and Plokhy excels at breaking them down ... The book’s focus on discrete events has a downside, in that it elides the cumulative effects of three-quarters of a century of nuclear weapons production and testing ... Plokhy doesn’t provide an estimate of the global radiation exposure created by the orgy of nuclear tests conducted by the U.S., the Soviet Union, the U.K., and France between 1958 and 1963, when the three leading nuclear powers signed a Limited Test Ban Treaty that prohibited tests in the atmosphere, in outer space, and underwater; nor does he discuss the years that inhaling radioactive dust shaves off uranium miners’ lives. While he mentions, in passing, that no nuclear power has yet found a way to deal with its stockpiles of radioactive waste, it’s not a topic he dwells on. These, too, are nuclear disasters ... But while one can quibble with Plokhy’s definition of a nuclear disaster, the existence of these ongoing, slow-moving crises only underscores his central point: There is no safe way to harness the power of the atom.
Plokhy brings a compelling historical perspective to the current debate. In concise and often gripping prose, the book illuminates how history’s most dramatic nuclear accidents have shaped perceptions and policies around the world ... Mr. Plokhy’s prose crackles as he describes how the TMI, Chernobyl and Fukushima disasters unfolded. (These chapters contain useful lessons in the ways leaders succeed or stumble when faced with sudden crises) ... Though his book is otherwise meticulous about facts, Mr. Plokhy puts less effort into sifting out credible health research from the less plausible claims made by activists such as Greenpeace or the Union of Concerned Scientists ... At times, the book fails to provide crucial context ... provides an excellent introduction to some of the biggest technological crises in modern history. But Mr. Plokhy has a larger mission. As the book’s marketing materials put it, he hopes to answer the question: 'Just how safe is nuclear energy?' In that the book falls short. Mr. Plokhy wants us to conclude that nuclear power has left an unbroken trail of death and disaster, that 'nuclear accidents occur again and again.' A more balanced account would conclude something like the opposite: Since Chernobyl—an accident all but inconceivable with today’s technology—fatalities caused by civilian nuclear power have fallen essentially to zero. Nuclear power isn’t just safe, but a life saver. Mr. Plokhy has written a valuable history of past mistakes, but not a reliable guide for future policy.
Plokhy notes that radioactive pollution persists for generations, considers what was learned after each accident, documents how safety measures and reactor designs have improved, and asks whether nuclear energy is a viable path forward, considering all the risks.
A stunning survey ... Plokhy lucidly explains complex scientific and technical procedures and draws sharp profiles of key players in each episode. This well-informed study strikes a note of caution about the nuclear future.
