
Atoms and Ashes
A Global History of Nuclear Disasters
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Narrated by:
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Leighton Pugh
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By:
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Serhii Plokhy
About this listen
A chilling account of seventy years of nuclear catastrophes, by the author of the “definitive” (Economist) Cold War history, Nuclear Folly.
Nuclear energy was embraced across the globe at the height of the nuclear industry in the 1960s and 1970s; today, there are 440 nuclear reactors operating throughout the world, with nuclear power providing ten percent of world electricity. Yet as the world seeks to reduce carbon emissions to combat climate change, the question arises: Just how safe is nuclear energy?
Atoms and Ashes recounts the dramatic history of nuclear accidents that have dogged the industry in its military and civil incarnations since the 1950s. Through the stories of six terrifying major incidents—Bikini Atoll, Kyshtym, Windscale, Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima—Cold War expert Serhii Plokhy explores the risks of nuclear power, both for military and peaceful purposes, while offering a vivid account of how individuals and governments make decisions under extraordinary circumstances. Atoms and Ashes provides a crucial perspective on the most dangerous nuclear disasters of the past in order to safeguard our future.
©2022 Serhii Polkhy (P)2022 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Story
In Station Blackout, Chuck Casto, the foremost authority on responding to nuclear disasters, shares his first-hand account of how he led the collaborative team of Japanese and American experts that faced the challenges of Fukushima. A lifetime of working in the nuclear industry prepared him to manage an extreme crisis, lessons that apply to any crisis situation.
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no thanks
- By Rob on 03-19-19
By: Charles A. Casto
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Lost Kingdom
- The Quest for Empire and the Making of the Russian Nation
- By: Serhii Plokhy
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 16 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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From a preeminent scholar of Eastern Europe and the prizewinning author of Chernobyl, the essential history of Russian imperialism. In 2014, Russia annexed the Crimea and attempted to seize a portion of Ukraine - only the latest iteration of a centuries-long effort to expand Russian boundaries and create a pan-Russian nation. In Lost Kingdom, award-winning historian Serhii Plokhy argues that we can only understand the confluence of Russian imperialism and nationalism today by delving into the nation's history.
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More like a history of Languages spoke in Russia.
- By kucherv on 10-24-17
By: Serhii Plokhy
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The Last Empire
- The Final Days of the Soviet Union
- By: Serhii Plokhy
- Narrated by: Alex Wyndham
- Length: 15 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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On Christmas, 1991, President George H. W. Bush addressed the nation to declare an American victory in the Cold War: Earlier that day Mikhail Gorbachev had resigned as the first and last Soviet president. The enshrining of that narrative, one in which the end of the Cold War was linked to the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the triumph of democratic values over communism, took center stage in American public discourse immediately after Bush's speech and has persisted for decades. As Serhii Plokhy reveals, the collapse of the Soviet Union was anything but the handiwork of the US.
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Full of Holes; Horrid Narrator
- By Donald on 03-02-23
By: Serhii Plokhy
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Command and Control
- Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety
- By: Eric Schlosser
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 20 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Famed investigative journalist Eric Schlosser digs deep to uncover secrets about the management of America's nuclear arsenal. A groundbreaking account of accidents, near misses, extraordinary heroism, and technological breakthroughs, Command and Control explores the dilemma that has existed since the dawn of the nuclear age: How do you deploy weapons of mass destruction without being destroyed by them? That question has never been resolved - and Schlosser reveals how the combination of human fallibility and technological complexity still poses a grave risk to mankind.
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A miracle that we escaped the Cold War alive....
- By A reader on 02-16-14
By: Eric Schlosser
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Chernobyl 01:23:40
- The Incredible True Story of the World's Worst Nuclear Disaster
- By: Andrew Leatherbarrow
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 6 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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At 01:23:40 on April 26th 1986, Alexander Akimov pressed the emergency shutdown button at Chernobyl's fourth nuclear reactor. It was an act that forced the permanent evacuation of a city, killed thousands, and crippled the Soviet Union. The event spawned decades of conflicting, exaggerated, and inaccurate stories.
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Lost in his own navel
- By Christopher on 10-17-16
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Chernobyl and Three Mile Island: The History and Legacy of the World's Most Notorious Nuclear Accidents
- By: Charles River Editors
- Narrated by: Dennis E. Morris
- Length: 2 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Uranium is best known for the destructive power of the atom bombs, which ushered in the nuclear era at the end of World War II, but given the effectiveness of nuclear power, plants like those at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania were constructed to generate energy for Americans during the second half of the 20th century. While nuclear power plants were previously not an option and thus opened the door to new, more efficient, and more affordable forms of energy for domestic consumption, the use of nuclear energy understandably unnerved people.
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Uncontextualized Propaganda
- By Sean on 01-11-18
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Homelands
- A Personal History of Europe
- By: Timothy Garton Ash
- Narrated by: John Sackville
- Length: 13 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Timothy Garton Ash, Europe's "historian of the present," has been "breathing Europe" for the last half century. In Homelands he embarks on a journey in time and space around the postwar continent, drawing on his own notes from many great events, giving vivid firsthand accounts of its leading actors, revisiting the places where its history was made, and recalling its triumphs and tragedies through their imprint on the present.
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Europe
- By Holden on 08-17-24
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Atomic Awakening
- A New Look at the History and Future of Nuclear Power
- By: James Mahaffey
- Narrated by: John McLain
- Length: 11 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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The American public's introduction to nuclear technology was manifested in destruction and death. With Hiroshima and the Cold War still ringing in our ears, our perception of all things nuclear is seen through the lens of weapons development. Nuclear power is full of mind-bending theories, deep secrets, and the misdirection of public consciousness - some deliberate, some accidental. The result of this fixation on bombs and fallout is that the development of a non-polluting, renewable energy source stands frozen in time.
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Great book. Atrocious robot narration.
- By Ted on 07-11-19
By: James Mahaffey
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The Folly and the Glory
- America, Russia, and Political Warfare: 1945-2020
- By: Tim Weiner
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 10 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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From Tim Weiner, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, an urgent and gripping account of the 75-year battle between the US and Russia that led to the election and impeachment of an American president.
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Worst Narration Ever
- By Amy on 02-15-21
By: Tim Weiner
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Chernobyl
- The Devastation, Destruction and Consequences of the World's Worst Radiation Accident
- By: Ian Fitzgerald
- Narrated by: David Vickery
- Length: 6 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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In the early hours of the morning of April 26, 1986, the nuclear reactor at the Chernobyl power plant in Ukraine exploded, unleashing a storm of radioactive material into the atmosphere and contaminating most of Europe with its fallout. It was a disaster on an unprecedented scale.
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Excellent balance of detail and editorial brevity.
- By Chris Drozdowski on 03-24-25
By: Ian Fitzgerald
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Restricted Data
- The History of Nuclear Secrecy in the United States
- By: Alex Wellerstein
- Narrated by: John McLain
- Length: 17 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Drawing on troves of declassified files, including records released by the government for the first time through the author's efforts, Restricted Data traces the complex evolution of the US nuclear secrecy regime from the first whisper of the atomic bomb through the mounting tensions of the Cold War and into the early 21st century. A compelling history of powerful ideas at war, it tells a story that feels distinctly American: rich, sprawling, and built on the conflict between high-minded idealism and ugly, fearful power.
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Alright. Some interesting facts
- By Dustin C. on 07-28-24
By: Alex Wellerstein
What listeners say about Atoms and Ashes
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Nancy & Greg
- 04-10-25
Excellent Deep Dive Into Nuclear Accidents of the Nuclear Age
"Atoms and Ashes" is an excellent deep dive into the major disasters of the Nuclear Age. From the first accident following World War 2, through the Fukushima meltdown, the author explores why those accidents occurred, how they were handled within the confines of the respective governmental and cultural structures, and what changes to the nuclear industry came about.
This book has the right balance between science, history and even dramatic elements that most readers should appreciate. The narration by Leighton Pugh is very calming and comfortable.
I am pleased to recommend this book.
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- fjness
- 08-16-22
Edge of your seat history
Plokhy grabs your attention from page one with his attention to the human condition and illumination of extraordinary courage of these historical figures. You will want to curse human greed and cry at the heart breaks. Plokhy covers the five major nuclear accidents in 1.25 hr segments. He integrates the technical, social, and personal seamlessly, providing a rich context to thesis: nuclear may be riskier than the price of research.
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- Amazon Customer
- 04-28-23
Great book
I’m not a robot I’m a boy in 7th grade
that just really like this book
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- WD
- 08-18-24
behind the scenes info
I enjoyed the back stories on all these nuclear incidents. The explanations of human screwups is well done!
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- bruce kittrick
- 01-04-25
We are all downwinders.
The deep analysis of the most famous nuclear accidents is particularly well done. Until the loooonnnng term storage of nuclear waste is addressed this industry is folly.
The PBS show on the Novarka lead effort to buy up to one hundred years of shelter for the Chernobyl site is a fine accompaniment to this serious work by the fine author.
Chernobyl has been sheltered but the long term storage issue is apparently going to land in our descendent’s lap.
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- MGGGK9
- 12-20-24
Fantastic
Of course the big three (TMI, Chernobyl, and Fukushima) are discussed more towards the end of the book, but the first part focuses more on nuclear weapons testing and the first reactors development. Completely engaging if you’re into nuclear science.
Read by someone with a British accent which was a little annoying at times, but that’s coming from and American.
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
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- Henry Hernandez
- 05-29-24
Great read
Excellent content and well read. I am a Chernobyl aficionado and even I learned something new.
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- J. Seawright
- 06-11-22
This was a pretty sensational and biased book.
The author repeatedly noted that medical professionals and research scientists disagreed with this conclusion or that about the potential dangers of nuclear energy, but then went forward with the conclusions as obviously true anyway, without offering supporting analysis or evidence. Additionally, he did not fully consider the environmental risks of other forms of power, and assumed that nuclear waste - poisonous but relatively easily contained- is more of a burden to future generations than are either waste from current forms of electricity generation or the environmental destruction required for large-scale implementation of renewables. It was frustrating, because his analysis of the danger of future accidents should we massively expand nuclear generation is pretty reasonable.
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- Micah Cowan
- 06-18-24
not bad, but missing some stuff
This book talks fairly accurately on a lot of thing, but its very inconsistent on unit scale. Using a consistent unit of radiation levels would make it a lot easier to understand and conpare the accidents. It also seems kind of strange that its a book about nuclear accidents in reactors and decides to talk about the castle bravo incident, but not SL-1 which seems like it would fit more with the theme of this book.
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