
Idaho Falls
The Untold Story of America's First Nuclear Accident
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $19.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Bob Dunsworth
-
By:
-
William McKeown
About this listen
When asked to name the world’s first major nuclear accident, most people cite the Three Mile Island incident or the Chernobyl disaster. Revealed in this book is one of American history’s best-kept secrets: the world’s first nuclear reactor accident to claim fatalities happened on United States soil. Chronicled here for the first time is the strange tale of SL-1, a military test reactor located in Idaho’s Lost River Desert that exploded on the night of January 3, 1961, killing the three-man maintenance crew on duty.
Through details uncovered in official documents, firsthand accounts from rescue workers and nuclear industry insiders, and exclusive interviews with the victims’ families and friends, this book probes intriguing questions about the devastating blast that have remained unanswered for more than 40 years. From reports of a faulty reactor design and mismanagement of the reactor’s facilities to rumors of incompetent personnel and a failed love affair that prompted deliberate sabotage of the plant, these plausible explanations for the explosion raise questions about whether the truth was deliberately suppressed to protect the nuclear energy industry.
©2003 William Thomas McKeown (P)2012 Audible, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Atomic Accidents
- A History of Nuclear Meltdowns and Disasters; From the Ozark Mountains to Fukushima
- By: James Mahaffey
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 15 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the moment radiation was discovered in the late nineteenth century, nuclear science has had a rich history of innovative scientific exploration and discovery, coupled with mistakes, accidents, and downright disasters.
-
-
A NUCLEAR POINT OF VIEW
- By chetyarbrough.blog on 01-05-15
By: James Mahaffey
-
Midnight in Chernobyl
- By: Adam Higginbotham
- Narrated by: Jacques Roy
- Length: 13 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
April 25, 1986 in Chernobyl was a turning point in world history. The disaster not only changed the world’s perception of nuclear power and the science that spawned it, but also our understanding of the planet’s delicate ecology. With the images of the abandoned homes and playgrounds beyond the barbed wire of the 30-kilometer Exclusion Zone, the rusting graveyards of contaminated trucks and helicopters, the farmland lashed with black rain, the event fixed for all time the notion of radiation as an invisible killer.
-
-
Midnight in Chernobyl is the book to listen to.
- By NH on 03-21-19
-
Atoms and Ashes
- A Global History of Nuclear Disasters
- By: Serhii Plokhy
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
- Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
This was a pretty sensational and biased book.
- By J. Seawright on 06-11-22
By: Serhii Plokhy
-
Chernobyl
- The History of a Nuclear Catastrophe
- By: Serhii Plokhy
- Narrated by: Ralph Lister
- Length: 14 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On the morning of April 26, 1986, Europe witnessed the worst nuclear disaster in history: the explosion of a reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Soviet Ukraine. Dozens died of radiation poisoning, fallout contaminated half the continent, and thousands fell ill. In Chernobyl, Serhii Plokhy draws on new sources to tell the dramatic stories of the firefighters, scientists, and soldiers who heroically extinguished the nuclear inferno. He lays bare the flaws of the Soviet nuclear industry....
-
-
Companions to Each Other
- By Tim on 06-04-19
By: Serhii Plokhy
-
The Apocalypse Factory
- Plutonium and the Making of the Atomic Age
- By: Steve Olson
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It began with plutonium, the first element ever manufactured in quantity by humans. Fearing that the Germans would be the first to weaponize the atom, the United States marshaled brilliant minds and seemingly inexhaustible bodies to find a way to create a nuclear chain reaction of inconceivable explosive power. In a matter of months, the Hanford nuclear facility was built to produce and weaponize the enigmatic and deadly new material that would fuel atomic bombs.
-
-
Lacking in many aspects
- By ATM on 08-27-20
By: Steve Olson
-
Trapped Under the Sea
- One Engineering Marvel, Five Men, and a Disaster Ten Miles into the Darkness
- By: Neil Swidey
- Narrated by: David H. Lawrence XVII
- Length: 15 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The harrowing story of five men who were sent into a dark, airless, miles-long tunnel, hundreds of feet below the ocean, to do a nearly impossible job - with deadly results.
-
-
Wow! This is unbelievably good audiobook.
- By BVerité on 02-22-14
By: Neil Swidey
-
Atomic Accidents
- A History of Nuclear Meltdowns and Disasters; From the Ozark Mountains to Fukushima
- By: James Mahaffey
- Narrated by: Tom Weiner
- Length: 15 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the moment radiation was discovered in the late nineteenth century, nuclear science has had a rich history of innovative scientific exploration and discovery, coupled with mistakes, accidents, and downright disasters.
-
-
A NUCLEAR POINT OF VIEW
- By chetyarbrough.blog on 01-05-15
By: James Mahaffey
-
Midnight in Chernobyl
- By: Adam Higginbotham
- Narrated by: Jacques Roy
- Length: 13 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
April 25, 1986 in Chernobyl was a turning point in world history. The disaster not only changed the world’s perception of nuclear power and the science that spawned it, but also our understanding of the planet’s delicate ecology. With the images of the abandoned homes and playgrounds beyond the barbed wire of the 30-kilometer Exclusion Zone, the rusting graveyards of contaminated trucks and helicopters, the farmland lashed with black rain, the event fixed for all time the notion of radiation as an invisible killer.
-
-
Midnight in Chernobyl is the book to listen to.
- By NH on 03-21-19
-
Atoms and Ashes
- A Global History of Nuclear Disasters
- By: Serhii Plokhy
- Narrated by: Leighton Pugh
- Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
This was a pretty sensational and biased book.
- By J. Seawright on 06-11-22
By: Serhii Plokhy
-
Chernobyl
- The History of a Nuclear Catastrophe
- By: Serhii Plokhy
- Narrated by: Ralph Lister
- Length: 14 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On the morning of April 26, 1986, Europe witnessed the worst nuclear disaster in history: the explosion of a reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Soviet Ukraine. Dozens died of radiation poisoning, fallout contaminated half the continent, and thousands fell ill. In Chernobyl, Serhii Plokhy draws on new sources to tell the dramatic stories of the firefighters, scientists, and soldiers who heroically extinguished the nuclear inferno. He lays bare the flaws of the Soviet nuclear industry....
-
-
Companions to Each Other
- By Tim on 06-04-19
By: Serhii Plokhy
-
The Apocalypse Factory
- Plutonium and the Making of the Atomic Age
- By: Steve Olson
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It began with plutonium, the first element ever manufactured in quantity by humans. Fearing that the Germans would be the first to weaponize the atom, the United States marshaled brilliant minds and seemingly inexhaustible bodies to find a way to create a nuclear chain reaction of inconceivable explosive power. In a matter of months, the Hanford nuclear facility was built to produce and weaponize the enigmatic and deadly new material that would fuel atomic bombs.
-
-
Lacking in many aspects
- By ATM on 08-27-20
By: Steve Olson
-
Trapped Under the Sea
- One Engineering Marvel, Five Men, and a Disaster Ten Miles into the Darkness
- By: Neil Swidey
- Narrated by: David H. Lawrence XVII
- Length: 15 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The harrowing story of five men who were sent into a dark, airless, miles-long tunnel, hundreds of feet below the ocean, to do a nearly impossible job - with deadly results.
-
-
Wow! This is unbelievably good audiobook.
- By BVerité on 02-22-14
By: Neil Swidey
-
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
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
A miracle that we escaped the Cold War alive....
- By A reader on 02-16-14
By: Eric Schlosser
-
The Making of the Atomic Bomb
- 25th Anniversary Edition
- By: Richard Rhodes
- Narrated by: Holter Graham
- Length: 37 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Here for the first time, in rich human, political, and scientific detail, is the complete story of how the bomb was developed, from the turn-of-the-century discovery of the vast energy locked inside the atom to the dropping of the first bombs on Japan. Few great discoveries have evolved so swiftly - or have been so misunderstood. From the theoretical discussions of nuclear energy to the bright glare of Trinity, there was a span of hardly more than 25 years.
-
-
Beware limitations of the reader
- By JFanson on 01-01-19
By: Richard Rhodes
-
Meltdown
- Nuclear Disaster and the Human Cost of Going Critical
- By: Joel Levy
- Narrated by: Kris Dyer
- Length: 12 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the pioneers of Los Alamos who got up close and personal with the cores of atomic bombs, to the hapless engineers in Soviet fuel-processing plants who unwittingly mixed up a disaster in a bucket, and from the terrifying impact of a tsunami at Fukushima to the mystery of the recent Russian incident, Meltdown explores the past and future of this extraordinary and potentially lethal source of infinite power
-
-
A less well written version of another book
- By Amazon Customer on 01-10-22
By: Joel Levy
-
Mythology
- By: Edith Hamilton
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 14 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Since its original publication by Little, Brown and Company, in 1942, Edith Hamilton's Mythology has sold millions of copies throughout the world and established itself as a perennial best-seller in its various available formats. Mythology succeeds like no other audiobook in bringing to life for the modern listener the Greek, Roman, and Norse myths and legends that are the keystone of Western culture - the stories of gods and heroes that have inspired human creativity from antiquity to the present.
-
-
Good reading of classical myths
- By Kathi on 03-18-13
By: Edith Hamilton
-
Raven Rock
- The Story of the U.S. Government's Secret Plan to Save Itself - While the Rest of Us Die
- By: Garrett M. Graff
- Narrated by: Jacques Roy
- Length: 18 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A fresh window on American history: the eye-opening truth about the government's secret plans to survive a catastrophic attack on US soil, even if the rest of us die - a road map that spans from the dawn of the nuclear age to today.
-
-
Awesome Read!!
- By Brewer Richardson on 05-05-17
By: Garrett M. Graff
-
American Prometheus
- The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer
- By: Kai Bird, Martin J. Sherwin
- Narrated by: Jeff Cummings
- Length: 26 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
J. Robert Oppenheimer was one of the iconic figures of the 20th century, a brilliant physicist who led the effort to build the atomic bomb but later confronted the moral consequences of scientific progress. When he proposed international controls over atomic materials, opposed the development of the hydrogen bomb, and criticized plans for a nuclear war, his ideas were anathema to powerful advocates of a massive nuclear buildup during the anti-Communist hysteria of the early 1950s.
-
-
An American Tragedy
- By Edith on 12-13-07
By: Kai Bird, and others
-
The Dead Hand
- The Untold Story of the Cold War Arms Race and its Dangerous Legacy
- By: David E. Hoffman
- Narrated by: Bob Walter
- Length: 20 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Dead Hand is the suspense-filled story of the people who sought to brake the speeding locomotive of the arms race, then rushed to secure the nuclear and biological weapons left behind by the collapse of the Soviet Union—a dangerous legacy that haunts us even today.The Cold War was an epoch of massive overkill.
-
-
Eye opening
- By Brian on 11-16-10
By: David E. Hoffman
-
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
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Alright. Some interesting facts
- By Dustin C. on 07-28-24
By: Alex Wellerstein
-
The Demon in the Freezer
- A True Story
- By: Richard Preston
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 8 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The first major bioterror event in the United States - the anthrax attacks in October 2001 - was a clarion call for scientists who work with "hot" agents to find ways of protecting civilian populations against biological weapons. In The Demon in the Freezer, his first nonfiction book since The Hot Zone, a number-one New York Times best seller, Richard Preston takes us into the heart of USAMRIID, the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, Maryland.
-
-
Pretty interesting listening in a horrific way
- By S A on 09-19-03
By: Richard Preston
-
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
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Lost in his own navel
- By Christopher on 10-17-16
-
The Doomsday Machine
- By: Daniel Ellsberg
- Narrated by: Steven Cooper
- Length: 14 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Doomsday Machine is Ellsberg's hair-raising insider's account of the most dangerous arms buildup in the history of civilization, whose legacy - and renewal under the Obama administration - threatens the very survival of humanity. It is scarcely possible to estimate the true dangers of our present nuclear policies without penetrating the secret realities of the nuclear strategy of the late Eisenhower and early Kennedy years, when Ellsberg had high-level access to them.
-
-
Fascinating Insider Story
- By Terry Masters on 12-07-17
By: Daniel Ellsberg
-
The Pentagon's Brain
- An Uncensored History of DARPA, America's Top-Secret Military Research Agency
- By: Annie Jacobsen
- Narrated by: Annie Jacobsen
- Length: 18 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Discover the definitive history of DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency, in this Pulitzer Prize finalist from the author of the New York Times best seller Area 51. No one has ever written the history of the Defense Department's most secret, most powerful, and most controversial military science R&D agency. In the first-ever history about the organization, New York Times best-selling author Annie Jacobsen draws on inside sources, exclusive interviews, private documents, and declassified memos to paint a picture of DARPA, or "the Pentagon's brain".
-
-
Scientia Est Potentia/Knowledge is Power
- By Cynthia on 10-08-15
By: Annie Jacobsen
What listeners say about Idaho Falls
Highly rated for:
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- DMT
- 06-03-23
A mini Chernobyl
The most interesting story that very few people are aware of. Recommended as part of the history of the nuclear industry.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jane Doe
- 06-13-23
Weird details
Oddly bawdy for no reason. The narrator has a monotone voice that should be doing voice overs for high school non fiction videos so people can sleep.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Toz
- 03-17-20
True Story
this is an interesting story that keeps you attention from beginning to end. There is much to be learned from it too.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 02-22-19
Great read
This was a very well written and fascinating look at the human side of a technological tragedy. A little more analysis of the mechanics of the stream explosion itself would have been nice but I guess asking for more is a mark of a good book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- tetrahymena
- 04-03-24
How Did I Not Know About This Incident?
How did I not know about this incident?
In our country's first nuclear accident, personalities and mental stability may have interacted with a design flaw to create tragic results for three nuclear workers and the people charged with recovering their mangled bodies. The text highlights what happened during the nuclear accident, from recovering the pieces to skinning the contaminated bodies to the concerns about their burials--and the botching of the burials.
This book can enhance your appreciation of how nuclear reactors work, why the human factor is important, and why the design has changed from the use of a single control rod to a more complex one.
It's also important to remember that nuclear reactors do not contribute to greenhouse gasses like fossil-fuel plants, but that does not mean that they provide us with a free ride. Our descendants will have a price to pay if we contaminate the air with carbon or radiation.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- paulb
- 08-20-15
Nuclear noocyuler
What an interesting incident. Did SL-1 have a flaw so bad it took 3 lives, or was it suicide? The world will probably never know for certain.
Totally spellbinding from beginning to end.
Then narrator, though, could not decide between saying "nuclear" and noocyuler, sometimes in the same paragraph. I found it very annoying to hear from an otherwise we'll-suited voice.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
9 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- HT
- 12-25-18
Interesting History
I found this book to be an interesting history about early research into how the United States began developing nuclear energy as a viable form of energy in the late 1940’s into the early 1960’s. It was interesting to learn about what scientists did to learn about how to create a good working reactor and the tests involved to make it happen. And of course, learning about the first nuclear accident while the US was developing nuclear reactors.
I thought the editing process of the narration could have been better. Throughout the book there was a lot of pauses before and after the phrases “he said” or “they said” as if those two phrases were recorded seperately and inserted later.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Tristan
- 03-08-19
Pretty good.
This is not really enlightening, but is still entertaining. I enjoyed the performance, but it can be cheesy at times. The recap of events with the family and lifestyle overlays was interesting, but I didn't find the last few chapters a bit tedious save for the last few minutes.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Alchemy316
- 10-26-23
Excellent!
Very well written book with great details. The narration is good in some parts and emotionless in others, very close to sounding like an AI generated voice.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Happy Father
- 10-24-19
Junior high pronunciation, good story.
This narrator just detracts from the story, his pronunciation is junior high or below. Some words are so bad it requires thought to figure out what was meant!
The story is good.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful