The Apocalypse Factory

The book can be partitioned into 4 sections. The first relates the story of the discovery of nuclear fission and then the urgency to beat Germany to make a nuclear weapon from that information. This story has been told many times, but it\’s well done here. The scond, and more original, is the focus on the Hanford facility, which includes its construction, the individuals involved, it\’s reactors to produce plutonium, and the separation facilities and chemistry needed to extract the plutonium from the other radioactive components after uranium had been irradiated in the reactors. The third is a telling of the effects of the bombing of Nagasaki from the japanese individual stories. This also has been done in most histories of the bombing, but is done very well in this book. The last, and least rewarding, is a short history of nuclear escalation in the cold war, wrapped up by a fairly standard concern about the dangers of nuclear explosions in civilization. The weakness of the book is the absence of basic physics explanation in scientific terms about how energy is released in an atomic bomb (it just says it is) and how it causes cancer, simply saying it knocks off electrons, which is minimalistic at best, and described nothing in any detail about how radiation products like alpha decay impact mutations effects on dna, and how hydrogen fusion bombs work. These details would have needed only a few pages . Richard Rhodes history of the development of the atomic bomb is much deeper and much more detailed in all aspects except the Hanford history,but this book is a good summary of the whole story although relatively limited compared to Rhodes, which is the better book.

Steve Olson is an extraordinary science writer and researcher who generously credits many others in his Acknowledgments. As a subject matter expert, he may not be on the level of James Mahaffey, but Mr. Olsons elegant writing brought me the same degree of pleasure as when I read Dr. Mahaffeys trilogy, Atomic Awakening, Atomic Accidents, and Atomic Adventures. It is especially refreshing to proceed through the main text without perceiving any particular political agenda. Advocacy is reserved for the Epilogue, about which I will add just one pedantic quibble. Mr. Olson writes that the only way to safeguard human civilization is to eliminate all nuclear weapons from the Earth. The best way to do that will be to rid the world of the materials bequeathed to it by the Manhattan Project the uranium-235 and plutonium-239 that can be used to make atomic bombs. That does not necessarily mean abolishing nuclear power, which will almost certainly be needed to counter the potential calamity of global climate change. His point of view is clear. My quibble pertains to text in a subsequent paragraph, All countries will need to agree to a verifiable and enforceable treaty that bans the manufacture and possession of fissile materials and nuclear weapons. Well, fission reactors require fissile materials, that is, those that can sustain chain reactions initiated by low-energy neutrons. Im not eager to witness any explosive chain reactions, but, as a child who ingested a fair bit of mercury from coal combustion, Im inclined to accept fission as a not-so-stupid way to boil water. Disclosure: This review is from a transfusion medicine specialist by way of pathology, and a radiation guy by way of a nuclear accident.

Of the many books on the history and issues of nuclear energy and weapons production and the effects of the bombing on Japan and the watching world, Olson\’s is the the most comprehensive and readable I have found. As a descendant of farming families evicted from the White Bluffs/Hanford area to make way for the Plant I am always ready to find out more. The author did an immense amount of research, then was able to create a story full of historical personalities with their backgrounds, roles, and arguments (and there were plenty) and events leading up to the bombing of Nagasaki and the hideous effects there. He continues with the aftermath of excessive Cold War build-up, disastrous accidents at plants, the tides of protest movements, and the continuing dangers and deep questions for us today. The chapter describing the creation of plutonium would have gone easier for me if I had taken a course in nuclear physics. The rest of the story is easy reading as well as fascinating, as he describes the top-secret community that emerged at Richland, the decades of ups and downs of the Hanford Plant (and Richland\’s) survival. Olson presents all sides of the many deep controversies that evolved over the use of nuclear energy for military domination, the threats inevitable, and the positive uses of nuclear energy operating now around the world. Yet, as he details, the non-military dangers of the buildup of radioactive waste at plants, unsolved, are with us today, Although probably no world leader is crazy enough to use their power of first strike, the proliferation of bombs makes actual use an eventuality in many scientists\’ minds. (There have been several cases of near accidents, or faulty information that have come close to setting off a nuclear conflict.) To me, Olson\’s own opinions on these dangers were clear throughout but not preachy. He saves his strongest statements for the epilogue. Much has been written on nuclear energy issues; it is the rich story Olson has told, centering on the Hanford Plant and plutonium production, and the personalities and politics involved, that makes this book special. Everyone who cares about the future of human society should read it.

If you are already interested in the subject, don\’t bother, it\’s all available on the WEB.

Excellent book, so much important history that changed all our lives and yet so few people really know the details!

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