Midnight in Chernobyl
Midnight in Chernobyl

Author: Adam Higginbotham

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Published: 2020-02-04

Total Pages: 560

ISBN-13: 1501134639

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A New York Times Best Book of the Year A Time Best Book of the Year A Kirkus Reviews Best Nonfiction Book of the Year 2020 Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence Winner From journalist Adam Higginbotham, the New York Times bestselling “account that reads almost like the script for a movie” (The Wall Street Journal)—a powerful investigation into Chernobyl and how propaganda, secrecy, and myth have obscured the true story of one of the history’s worst nuclear disasters. Early in the morning of April 26, 1986, Reactor Number Four of the Chernobyl Atomic Energy Station exploded, triggering one of the twentieth century’s greatest disasters. In the thirty years since then, Chernobyl has become lodged in the collective nightmares of the world: shorthand for the spectral horrors of radiation poisoning, for a dangerous technology slipping its leash, for ecological fragility, and for what can happen when a dishonest and careless state endangers its citizens and the entire world. But the real story of the accident, clouded from the beginning by secrecy, propaganda, and misinformation, has long remained in dispute. Drawing on hundreds of hours of interviews conducted over the course of more than ten years, as well as letters, unpublished memoirs, and documents from recently-declassified archives, Adam Higginbotham brings the disaster to life through the eyes of the men and women who witnessed it firsthand. The result is a “riveting, deeply reported reconstruction” (Los Angeles Times) and a definitive account of an event that changed history: a story that is more complex, more human, and more terrifying than the Soviet myth. “The most complete and compelling history yet” (The Christian Science Monitor), Higginbotham’s “superb, enthralling, and necessarily terrifying...extraordinary” (The New York Times) book is an indelible portrait of the lessons learned when mankind seeks to bend the natural world to his will—lessons which, in the face of climate change and other threats, remain not just vital but necessary.

Chernobyl
Chernobyl

Author: Vladimir M. Chernousenko

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 384

ISBN-13: 3642764533

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Chernousenko's "Chernobyl" is a first-hand account of the events and facts surrounding this global disaster: The first part of the book includes an absoring account of what happened at Chernobyl nuclear power station on April 26, 1986, as well as a review of the rectification measures taken so far. The author re-analyzes the causes of the accident, confronting us with startling details about critical design faults in the (RBMK) reactors of the Chernobyl type. - The second part deals with the long-range and long-term effects of the catastrophe on man and environment, including a wealth of yet unpublished data along with proposals for future action. - Physicist Vladimir Chernousenko is eminently qualified to write on this topic: In 1986 he was appointed representative of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences in Chernobyl and the "Zone". He worked in the so-called Special Zone (10-km radius around the reactor) where he received large radiation doses. He was co-author of the internal Government Report for President Gorbachev and the Supreme Soviet. Until 1991 he was scientificdirector of the 30-km exclusion zone. - This book is a vital step towards establishing the truth about the causes of the accident and - even more important - the actual scale of its aftermath. It provides the specialist with the scientific and medical data needed for further investigation and for designing effective countermeasures, whilethe lay reader will profit most from the absorbing accounts and personal statements of eyewitnesses and other people directly affected by the catastrophe. - A unique collection of photographs adds further poignancy to the written descriptions. Appendices are added to explain the most important technical terms for the non-specialist and to provide technical details for the specialist. The book is of equal interest to natural scientists, medics and interested laypersons.

Producing Power
Producing Power

Author: Sonja D. Schmid

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2015-02-06

Total Pages: 395

ISBN-13: 0262538806

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An examination of how the technical choices, social hierarchies, economic structures, and political dynamics shaped the Soviet nuclear industry leading up to Chernobyl. The Chernobyl disaster has been variously ascribed to human error, reactor design flaws, and industry mismanagement. Six former Chernobyl employees were convicted of criminal negligence; they defended themselves by pointing to reactor design issues. Other observers blamed the Soviet style of ideologically driven economic and industrial management. In Producing Power, Sonja Schmid draws on interviews with veterans of the Soviet nuclear industry and extensive research in Russian archives as she examines these alternate accounts. Rather than pursue one “definitive” explanation, she investigates how each of these narratives makes sense in its own way and demonstrates that each implies adherence to a particular set of ideas—about high-risk technologies, human-machine interactions, organizational methods for ensuring safety and productivity, and even about the legitimacy of the Soviet state. She also shows how these attitudes shaped, and were shaped by, the Soviet nuclear industry from its very beginnings. Schmid explains that Soviet experts established nuclear power as a driving force of social, not just technical, progress. She examines the Soviet nuclear industry's dual origins in weapons and electrification programs, and she traces the emergence of nuclear power experts as a professional community. Schmid also fundamentally reassesses the design choices for nuclear power reactors in the shadow of the Cold War's arms race. Schmid's account helps us understand how and why a complex sociotechnical system broke down. Chernobyl, while unique and specific to the Soviet experience, can also provide valuable lessons for contemporary nuclear projects.

Chernobyl
Chernobyl

Author: Serhii Plokhy

Publisher: Basic Books

Published: 2018-05-15

Total Pages: 424

ISBN-13: 1541617088

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A Chernobyl survivor and the New York Times bestselling author of The Gates of Europe "mercilessly chronicles the absurdities of the Soviet system" in this "vividly empathetic" account of the worst nuclear accident in history (Wall Street Journal). On the morning of April 26, 1986, Europe witnessed the worst nuclear disaster in history: the explosion of a reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Soviet Ukraine. Dozens died of radiation poisoning, fallout contaminated half the continent, and thousands fell ill. In Chernobyl, Serhii Plokhy draws on new sources to tell the dramatic stories of the firefighters, scientists, and soldiers who heroically extinguished the nuclear inferno. He lays bare the flaws of the Soviet nuclear industry, tracing the disaster to the authoritarian character of the Communist party rule, the regime's control over scientific information, and its emphasis on economic development over all else. Today, the risk of another Chernobyl looms in the mismanagement of nuclear power in the developing world. A moving and definitive account, Chernobyl is also an urgent call to action.

Inside Chernobyl
Inside Chernobyl

Author: Chris Nagy

Publisher:

Published: 2021-05-22

Total Pages: 77

ISBN-13:

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Inside Chernobyl - A Day in the Exclusion Zone The Chernobyl nuclear disaster is one of the most severe accidents in human history. The radiation released by this catastrophe caused unbelievable suffering to the population that once resided there and still has serious consequences on the environment today. Nevertheless, the exclusion zone with its ghost towns, dilapidated buildings, wild animals, and invisible radiation still exerts a certain fascination on adventurers. WE TAKE YOU ON A TOUR OF EXPLORATION In this report you will learn what we experienced on our tour in Chernobyl and how we felt. Our personal adventures are always put into historical context, so that experience and history merge together meaningfully. Numerous pictures take you with us to the most exciting places and give you the feeling of having been there yourself. WHO IS THE TRAVEL REPORT ADDRESSED AT? The travelogue is aimed primarily at: Adventurers and explorers who may plan to visit Chernobyl in the future all those who are interested in Chernobyl and who cannot imagine visiting the site themselves, but who would like to learn more about the real events in the "death zone", beyond the myths and horror stories. Friends and family who are looking for a gift for a travel enthusiast who has already visited almost every vacation destination and is now looking for a challenge, or who is often drawn to exotic places anyway. VOICES ABOUT THE BOOK: "I read through the book in one go because I couldn't stop. The travel story is insanely exciting and emotional at the same time. It touched me personally very much and I could put myself directly into the situations you experienced. It was as if I had been there with you myself."

The Meanings of a Disaster
The Meanings of a Disaster

Author: Karena Kalmbach

Publisher: Berghahn Books

Published: 2020-12-07

Total Pages: 235

ISBN-13: 1789207037

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The disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant was an event of obviously transnational significance—not only in the airborne particulates it deposited across the Northern hemisphere, but in the political and social repercussions it set off well beyond the Soviet bloc. Focusing on the cases of Great Britain and France, this innovative study explores the discourses and narratives that arose in the wake of the incident among both state and nonstate actors. It gives a thorough account of the stereotypes, framings, and “othering” strategies that shaped Western European nations’ responses to the disaster, and of their efforts to come to terms with its long-term consequences up to the present day.

The Chernobyl Disaster
The Chernobyl Disaster

Author: Rebecca Rissman

Publisher: ABDO

Published: 2014-09-01

Total Pages: 50

ISBN-13: 1617839558

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Across the globe, devastating disasters have changed the course of history. This title brings the Chernobyl disaster to life with well-researched, clearly written informational text, primary sources with accompanying questions, charts, graphs, diagrams, timelines, and maps, multiple prompts, and more. Explore the tragedies and triumphs of this disaster, how it helped shape the world as we know it, and how what we?ve learned from it has made the world a safer place. Aligned to Common Core Standards and correlated to state standards. Core Library is an imprint of ABDO Publishing Company.