Atomic days : the untold story of the most toxic place in America / Joshua Frank

Author: Frank, Joshua
Published: Chicago, Illinois : Haymarket Books, [2022]
Copyright Date: ©2022
Physical Description: 257 pages : illustrations, map ; 22 cm

Availability

Finding items...

Summary

"Once home to the United States's largest plutonium production site, the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington state is laced with 56 million gallons of radioactive waste. The threat of an explosive accident at Hanford is all too real--an event that could be more catastrophic than Chernobyl. The EPA designated Hanford the most toxic place in America; it is also the most expensive environmental clean-up job the world has ever seen, with a $677 billion price tag that keeps growing. Huge underground tanks, well past their life expectancy and full of boiling radioactive gunk, are leaking, infecting groundwater supplies and threatening the Columbia River. Whistleblowers, worried that the worst is ahead, are now speaking out, begging to be heard and hoping their pleas help bring attention to the dire situation at Hanford. Aside from a few feisty community groups and handful of Indigenous activists, there is very little public scrutiny of the clean-up process, which is managed by the Department of Energy and carried out by contractors with shoddy track records, like Bechtel. In the context of renewed support for atomic power as a means of combating climate change, Atomic Days provides a much-needed refutation of the myths of nuclear technology--from weapons to electricity--and shines a spotlight on the ravages of Hanford and its threat to communities, workers and the global environment." -- back cover.

Subject(s)

Genre(s)

History

ISBN

9781642598285 paperback
1642598283 paperback

Bibliography Note

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Endowment Note

Paterno Libraries Endowment (Campus College Libraries)

View MARC record | catkey: 39676912