Atomic Days (Paperback)

Joshua Frank

ISBN 10: 1642598283 / ISBN 13: 9781642598285

Published by Haymarket Books, Chicago, 2022

About this Item

Paperback. 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. 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. The Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington state has become the most toxic site in the Western Hemisphere, yet most Americans are in the dark about the damage their government's nuclear obsession has wrought on the environment and their tax dollars. Shipping may be from our UK warehouse or from our Australian or US warehouses, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9781642598285

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Atomic Days (Paperback)
• Publisher: Haymarket Books, Chicago
• Publication Date: 2022
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1642598283
• ISBN 13: 9781642598285
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

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.

About the Author

Joshua Frank is an award-winning California-based journalist and co-editor of the political magazine CounterPunch. He is a co-author of several books, most recently The Big Heat: Earth on the Brink (AK Press).