Examines the events prior to and following the crash of Cosmos 954. Written by a southerner, the book suffers from factual errors and obvious prejudice.
The first in-depth examination of NEST: America's super-secret government agency operating to prevent nuclear terrorist attacks. Jeffrey T. Richelson reveals the history of the Nuclear Emergency Support Team, from the events leading to its creation in 1974 to today. Defusing Armageddon provides a behind-the-scenes look at NEST's personnel, operations, and detection and disablement equipment--employed in response to attempts at nuclear extortion, lost and stolen nuclear material, crashed nuclear-powered Soviet satellites, and al Qaeda's quest for nuclear weapons. Richelson traces the Cosmos satellite that crashed into the Canadian wilderness; nuclear threats to Los Angeles, New York, and other cities; and the surveillance of Muslim sites in the United States after 9/11. Relying on recently declassified documents and interviews with former NEST personnel, Richelson's extensive research reveals how NEST operated during the Cold War, how the agency has evolved, and its current efforts to reduce the chance of a nuclear device decimating an American city.
Since the first atomic weapon was detonated in 1945, Canadians have debated not only the role of nuclear power in their uranium-rich land but also their country’s role in a nuclear world. Should Canada belong to international alliances that depend on the threat of nuclear weapons for their own security? Should Canadian-produced nuclear technologies be exported? What about the impact of atomic research on local communities and the environment? This incisive nuclear history engages with much larger debates about national identity, Canadian foreign policy contradictions during the Cold War, and Canada’s global standing to investigate these critical questions.
Science during the Cold War has become a matter of lively interest within the historical research community, attracting the attention of scholars concerned with the history of science, the Cold War, and environmental history. The Arctic—recognized as a frontier of confrontation between the superpowers, and consequently central to the Cold War—has also attracted much attention. This edited collection speaks to this dual interest by providing innovative and authoritative analyses of the history of Arctic science during the Cold War.
Cold War Controller is the compelling memoir of a Canadian Air Force Officer who started off in the junior ranks as a radar technician and later qualified as air traffic controller during the Cold War 1970s and 1980s. Presented as a highly readable collection of vignettes, this volume is chock full of air force history, human interest twists, hilarious pranks, exciting chills and spills of operational flying, situations of the bizarre and unexplainable, and impressions of air force culture. This fascinating collection of anecdotes will interest anyone intrigued by aviation, military history, flying stories, radar technology, self-achievement, the military family, and the overcoming of mental health problems. Learn from Sparky’s mistakes as he begins to succumb to the effects of chronic stress, alcohol dependency, and fear, and yet overcomes his demons to heal and go on learning and working successfully in the Air Force for many more years. Eventually he would end up as a military mental health counsellor.
What can photographs reveal about Canada’s nuclear footprint? The Bomb in the Wilderness contends that photography is central to how we interpret and remember nuclear activities. The impact and global reach of Canada’s nuclear programs have been felt ever since the atomic bombs dropped on Japan in 1945. But do photographs alert viewers to nuclear threat, numb them to its dangers, or actually do both? John O’Brian’s wide-ranging and personal account of the nuclear era presents and discusses over a hundred photographs, ranging from military images to the atomic ephemera of consumer culture. His fascinating analysis ensures that we do not look away.
Although advanced technologies are the cornerstone of modern life, few people understand how such technologies as robotics or nuclear science actually work. Fewer still realize how—and how dramatically—technology influences our society and culture. Nuclear Technology, the newest volume in the Sourcebooks in Modern Technology Series, is a reference guide that provides non-specialists with the most up-to-date information on seminal developments in nuclear technology, as well as covering the social, political, and technical impacts of those developments on everyday life, both now and in the future. Included are a detailed history of nuclear technology's evolution, a discussion of civilian and military applications of nuclear technology, a chronology of major developments and discoveries, profiles of prominent scientists, politicians, popularizers, and institutions, explanations of key principles, a discussion of nuclear technology's major impacts and implications, an examination of major issues surrounding nuclear technology's use, and predictions of future advances. Nuclear Technology also offers a glossary of terms, a list of key associations, a list of print and electronic information resources, over 90 illustrations, and an index.