Nearly 145,000 Americans fled their homes around Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, in late March 1979, hoping to save themselves from an invisible enemy: radiation. The reactor at the neighboring Three Mile Island nuclear power plant had suffered a partial nuclear meltdown, and scientists feared an explosion that could release radiation across the eastern United States. Fortunately, the explosion never happened, but the accident left deep scars on the American psyche, nearly ending the country's love affair with nuclear energy.

In Atoms and Ashes, Serhii Plokhy recounts the dramatic story of Three Mile Island and five other accidents that have struck the nuclear industry in military and civilian forms. These include the disastrous radioactive pollution caused by hydrogen bomb tests at Bikini Atoll in 1954, the Kyshtym disaster in the Soviet Union, which polluted much of the Urals, the Windscale fire, the worst nuclear accident in UK history, the Chernobyl disaster, resulting from a flawed reactor design that led to the evacuation of 350,000 people, and finally, the Fukushima disaster in Japan, which was caused by an earthquake and a tsunami, an accident equal to Chernobyl, the recovery from which will not occur in our lifetime.

Through the stories of these six terrifying incidents, Plokhy explores the dangers of nuclear energy, both for military and peaceful purposes, providing a vivid narrative of how individuals and governments make decisions under extraordinary circumstances. Today, there are 440 nuclear reactors operating worldwide, with nuclear energy providing 10% of the world's electricity. However, as the world strives to reduce carbon emissions to combat climate change, the question arises: Just how safe is nuclear energy after all?

Pages: 384, Dimensions: 14x14cm