Fallout: Disasters, Lies, and the Legacy of the Nuclear Age

by Fred Pearce

An investigation into our complicated 8-decade-long relationship with nuclear technology, from the bomb to nuclear accidents to nuclear waste.

From Hiroshima to Chernobyl, Fukushima to the growing legacy of lethal radioactive waste, humanity's struggle to conquer atomic energy is rife with secrecy, deceit, human error, blatant disregard for life, short-sighted politics, and fear. Fallout is an eye-opening odyssey through the first eight decades of this struggle and the radioactive landscapes it has left behind. We are, he finds, forever torn between technological hubris and all-too-human terror about what we have created.

At first, Pearce reminds us, America loved the bomb. Las Vegas, only seventy miles from the Nevada site of some hundred atmospheric tests, crowned four Miss Atomic Bombs in 1950s. Later, communities downwind of these tests suffered high cancer rates. The fate of a group of Japanese fishermen, who suffered high radiation doses from the first hydrogen bomb test in Bikini atoll, was worse. The United States Atomic Energy Commission accused them of being Red spies and ignored requests from the doctors desperately trying to treat them.

Pearce moves on to explore the closed cities of the Soviet Union, where plutonium was refined and nuclear bombs tested throughout the '50s and '60s, and where the full extent of environmental and human damage is only now coming to light. Exploring the radioactive badlands created by nuclear accidents--not only the well-known examples of Chernobyl and Fukushima, but also the little known area around Satlykovo in the Russian Ural Mountains and the Windscale fire in the UK--Pearce describes the compulsive secrecy, deviousness, and lack of accountability that have persisted even as the technology has morphed from military to civilian uses.

Finally, Pearce turns to the toxic legacies of nuclear technology: the emerging dilemmas over handling its waste and decommissioning of the great radioactive structures of the nuclear age, and the fearful doublethink over the world's growing stockpiles of plutonium, the most lethal and ubiquitous product of nuclear technologies.

For any reader who craves a clear-headed examination of the tangled relationship between a powerful technology and human politics, foibles, fears, and arrogance, Fallout is the definitive look at humanity's nuclear adventure.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Science, Audiobook, Research, Russia, Popular Science

264 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2018

About the author

Fred Pearce is an English author and journalist based in London. He has been described as one of Britain's finest science writers and has reported on environment, popular science and development issues from 64 countries over the past 20 years. He specialises in global environmental issues, including water and climate change, and frequently takes heretic and counter-intuitive views - "a sceptic in the best sense", he says.

Reviews

[J.S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fred Pearce casts a fairly wide net in this short (a little over 200 pages of text) and easy to read look at the different aspects of "fallout" in the nuclear age. Initially he talks about the fallout from nuclear bomb testing and the runaway production of plutonium for weapons manufacturing. Then he moves on to the fallout from accidents from nuclear power production, particularly Chernobyl and Fukushima. And finally he looks at the fallout from all the waste that is left behind, and what the options are for dealing with it.

I was intrigued by this book not only for its subject matter, but because I had read another of Pearce's books, The New Wild: Why Invasive Species Will Be Nature's Salvation, where he presented some rather unconventional ideas. And Fallout is similar in his unconventional ideas. He questions whether our fear of radioactivity is rational or not, suggesting that the tolerance of the human body is actually much higher than we acknowledge. He cites statistics where cancers are not as prevalent as we have come to expect in radioactive areas (or where the reporting may be skewing statistics by purposefully looking for cancers that might otherwise have gone unreported). I also found his discussion of the disposal options to be very enlightening. And through it all runs a consistent current of lies and cover ups by government and those who are charged with protecting the public health and interest. If there's one thing you can count on, according to this narrative, it's that the the gov't or public agencies will initially deny and minimize the true scope of any danger, and then end up bungling the response when it finally comes.

Personally, I found the book to be a very enjoyable read, if sometimes a little unsettling. Pearce has a way of making the topic not only readable but understandable as well. At first I was reminded of Survival City: Adventures Among the Ruins of Atomic America with his looks at the testing sites and the downwind effects. But then he shifted gears and I was reminded of Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation, and just how difficult it is for scientists to conclusively prove cause and effect when it comes to cancer-causing agents. But his discussion of the magnitude of the problem with dealing with the waste was eye-opening to me - and it's never as simple and cut-and-dried as the opponents and proponents of nuclear power would have you believe. A very interesting read! (I received a copy of the book from the publisher.)

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

When it was first put forward as a source of power for the new age, nuclear seemed to offer almost limitless energy. It had begun to go out of favour until there was a resurgence after people realised that it did not emit as much carbon as coal and gas plants. Sadly the reality was much different. Sadly the enormous power plants only had a limited life span and the ones that were built in the 1960s are mostly decommissioned now.

And it turns out it wasn’t clean energy either.

It isn’t the carbon, rather the problem that humanity is going to have with the nuclear industry is the masses of radioactive waste that was generated in the production of uranium for power generation and plutonium that was needed for the weapons industry. Some of the materials are going to be deadly for thousands of years and the cost of decontamination mounts exponentially.

So where are we with it? And what can be done?

These are two of the questions that Fred Pearce sets about trying to answer in this enlightening book on the nuclear industry. He travels to some of the places that have suffered the worst nuclear accidents, Chernobyl is of course one, but there are others that very few people know about. He visits the places that are trying to make these materials safe for our grandchildren and their decedents who will follow. What he also finds is an industry that is struggling to manage the situation and find places where the long term storage facilities are starting to leak into the environment.

It is to be completely frank, quite scary stuff.

Even though this is three years old, the subjects that Pearce brings to light are deeply troubling. Namely, what are we to do with the gargantuan amounts of waste that the nuclear industry generates and the long term (i.e. thousands of years) solutions to neutralizing it or storing it in a safe and secure place. This is a very readable book that is understandable by the layperson too. Read this and be very troubled indeed.

[Liv · Rating 5 out of 5]

Our son Wesley kind of glows

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this from a goodreads giveaway. This is not a subject I'd normally buy a book about and strangely it's the third giveaway I've won on the topic of nuclear stuff. The focus on Fallout is not the weapons, or the energy produced, but the actual fallout. It is about what remains after the bombs are dropped and the power is extracted and the Chernobyls and Fukushimas of the world fail. If you want a book with clear answers to what is to be done with nuclear waste, this isn't the book. Parts of it are alarming. The history of governments and corporations lying to those they radiated are troubling. It wasn't just Stalin (although he could afford to be more brazen) as England and the good old USA did the same thing. The only difference is that in our functioning democratic republic the Supreme Court told the cancer stricken downwinders that their failing health was justified by the national security interest while Stalin didn't have to pretend. On the flip side of the scariness, the book does a fine job of pointing out the irrationality of much of the public response to nuclear fallout. It is a big problem, but often the fears are overblown. So yeah, there are no easy answers as to what to do with the remaining nuclear waste which radiates for tens of thousands of years and costs billions to clean up, with the clean up always being paid for by taxpayers as the corporate suppliers inevitably go bankrupt when things go south. But I don't think it's so bad to read a book that raises more questions than you started with as now I at least know some of the questions.

[J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three Mile Island in the United States. Chernobyl in the former Soviet Union, now Russia. Fukushima in Japan. These are just some of the better-known industrial accidents within the “nuclear club,” the name given to that handful of nations that have wrested the secrets of the atom from Mother Nature. There have been plenty of others, which are carefully outlined within the pages of this thought provoking volume. Then there are the problems of nuclear waste, the stockpile of nuclear weapons, the underground and atmospheric testing of same, and on and on. Author Pearce paints a bleak portrait here, and his work presents more questions than answers. This is no Chicken Little claiming that the sky is falling. Eighteen pages of references to scholarly journal articles, websites, books and other documentation provide a firm foundation for his research and findings. The ultimate problem as this reviewer see it is this: the human race is slowly poisoning its collective self with radioactive pollution, while the responsible governments stall for time, hoping that some future generation will find a solution. One of the most moving sections of this slender book concerns a 72 year old Japanese man by the name of Baba Isao, who takes the author around the environs of the destroyed Fukushima power plant, which was hit by a tidal wave following an offshore earthquake in 2011. “Moving around his land, Baba showed me his plum trees: ‘The fruit is too dangerous to eat now. And the water in our well is contaminated too. Nature here is beautiful, but we can’t fish or collect bamboo shoots or eat the mountain vegetables that people used to harvest from the forests. All these are things of the past.’” (page 147). It is no exaggeration to say that it is heart rending when confronted by the plight of this forgotten, common man: “I am just the son of a farmer. I wonder who has a right to destroy our home and my livelihood.” He implores the author: “Please tell the world: No nukes” (page 148). The moment when Fred Pearce did just that may well be his finest hour.
Review by Michael F. Bemis

[Travis Lindeman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pearce effectively goes through all the dynamics surrounding nuclear power/weapons to draw most attention to the fact that in the interests of national security much of the information about such activities have been hidden from public. This paints an unclear picture when one is determining the possible risks of exposure to nuclear fallout and to the trade-offs in peaceful energy uses. This confusion means that those who may potentially have suffered and are evacuated from their homes suffer crushing depressions and fears about the uncertainty of their existence while conversely people live in radiated Chernobyl and seem to be doing just fine.

Pearce is unequivocal about the fact that so far there is no solution about what to do with nuclear waste. There are some modest efforts on the part of Scandinavian countries to build facilities for the storage of international nuclear waste with the expectation of payment for housing, but these projects are still pending international agreement and logistical concerns. Other nations are getting by with a series of interim measures the keep pushing the solution into a more distant future.

Undecided still is whether or not the potential benefits of energy outweigh the risks. We do not have full control of this technology given the experiences of Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima. But if we did nuclear energy could be much cleaner than burning fossil fuels.

Pearce is sanguine about nuclear weapons. He does not outright condemn countries holding them but points to the various ethical contradictions this pushes the nine nuclear nations into. It is believed that these weapons may insure continued international stability but this still invites infinite levels of brinkmanship- I detest them in theory but they may indeed be essential.

[Tristan von Zahn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book poses two really interesting questions:

1) Is the world's radiaphobia justified?

2) Is it even possible for us to have a functioning civilian nuclear programme given that the history of nuclear development has been so shrouded in secrecy and deceit because it is inexorably tied to the development of the bomb?

I am not sure that there is a clear-cut answer for either question, though Pearce definitely leans towards answering both with: no. His chapter on Fukushima is probably the most compelling example to support his position - I was particularly struck by the assertion that more more suffering and negative health effects were inflicted as a result of inappropriate evacuations (and subsequent failure to resettle) than from the effects of radiation. I definitely lean towards agreeing about question 1 - though I am hesitant given that I am no expert on the health effects of radiation (though as Pearce seems to suggest, it's possible that no one is an expert).

On the second question I don't think I am willing to abandon my "techno-utopian" perspective. A lot of the problems that Pearce identifies, from government cover ups of the true scale of disasters to mismanagement of nuclear waste, don't seem to me to be intractable. Certainly, I can agree that historically bad management has been caused by nuclear secrecy, but I don't think that means that our approach to nuclear energy must be bad forever. Perhaps the correct conclusion (as is usually the case) is a middle ground where techno-utopians have to become more honest about the nature and scale of the problems we face in order to be clear-eyed when developing solutions. Equally, radiaphobes need to moderate their fears so that we don't block he implementation of nuclear solutions entirely. Their role should be that of watchdog and not obstruction.

Either way, I found it a compelling read.

[Rebecca · Rating 2 out of 5]

I rounded down.
There were moments of interest. There should have been many moments where I was gripped. The subject matter is interesting, and it’s important. However, many of the chapters were repetitive of previous. Despite that, it was hard to tell if I was rereading something I already read in another chapter, or if I missed something. The narrative was not written in a gripping way, for me.

What I disliked is that the writer detailed how many units of radiation are sitting in the ground; how much is blowing into someone’s home; how much children are getting thyroid cancer from iodine. The problem is these were repeated in chapters multiple times. It’s almost as if the whole book could have been cut down by 66% and you would still get all the information. Maybe it’s because the writer is a journalist by trade. News copy is intentionally written in a very different manner than novelization. It’s possible, that I was just a mismatched reader.

I did like the chapter on Chernobyl, and that is because I watched the show. I could visualize something. I liked the blip about wolf packs and mutant pigs. I really enjoyed reading about the people who thrived after returning to the exclusion zone. I found it interesting that many of the evacuees fell Ill due to depression, or being unable to replicate their homes they lost. Those were three brief chapters. Those are topics I would enjoy exploring further.

Overall, I am sure some readers would enjoy a book like this. I did not feel the writing captured me at all.

[Nathan Gilliatt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Humanity has used the power of nuclear reactions for seven decades, but cleaning up the resulting mess is a skill we haven’t mastered. Fallout is a tour of the mess—literal fallout from weapons tests, as well as contamination from accidents in weapons manufacturing and power generation, plus long-term issues from nuclear waste from both civil and military uses.

Some of the stories are better known than others, but the overall impression is that we’re much better at creating nuclear messes than cleaning them up. The real shocker is how many of the problems we haven’t dealt with yet have been around for decades. In the 1950s, when the US, USSR and UK were racing to build weapons, they neglected safety and ignored the retirement/cleanup stage of the lifecycle, and the situation isn’t entirely better now. Some of the residues will be dangerous for centuries, so it’s not a problem that will solve itself.

Except for anti-nuclear environmental activists, most of us don’t think about the lingering cleanup issues except when there’s an emergency. For that reason, Fallout is a helpful addition to the reading list for anyone who wants to understand nuclear policy (both civil and military). It covers a lot of issues in relatively few pages, with plenty of references for readers who want to go deeper.

[Ionarr · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was looking for a book to inform and change my mind about nuclear power when I found this in the library. Its not what I was looking for - it's really a book about nuclear weapons and accidents, and only briefly looks into the arguments around power at the end in a couple of paragraphs. However I actually found it surprisingly informative and helpful, despite being a different book to the one I wanted. The author is clearly biased, as is obvious from the cover, but this is actually a fairly balanced look at the history of nuclear. I am very glad I read it - and it was easy to read, with very short chapters (in places, too short) and everything clearly explained for someone with little-to-no knowledge of almost anything nuclear. I am also impressed that despite the clear and horrendous descriptions of things like nuclear weapons, for a bleak book I didn't fell hopeless or terrified when I'd finished it. I will continue to look up other books on the subject - at least one of which I found because of this book - but I'm glad I read this first.

[John Rowe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fallout by Fred Pearce is concise (only about 200 pages) and as clearly written as a good magazine article. It provides the reader with an understanding of the sad and often disgraceful history of nuclear accidents, the challenges inherent in ongoing nuclear power production, and the long, long, long(!) term problem of decommissioning the plants and safely storing the waste products once we decide we don’t want any more nuclear power.
Perhaps the most eye-opening part of the book was the description of the negative impact of the evacuations after the Fukushima incident. Due to mistrust of the (untrustworthy) government and industry spokesmen, probably more deaths and despair arose from evacuating and preventing the return of residents to safe areas than were prevented by the evacuations. A chapter (20) on the lack of scientific research and, in many cases, ignoring the credible research that does exist on the true danger of low-level radiation exposure (most likely quite safe) is my favorite.
Overall, a great non-fiction read!

[Timothy Olson · Rating 4 out of 5]

For those of us who grew up after the fall of the Berlin Wall, it’s easy to think of the Cold War world as an interesting historical occurrence. Although the Cold War is over, its legacy lives on across the world in the form of nuclear fallout, whether from the production of weapons, or the “atoms for peace” movement.

Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Las Vegas, the Pacific islands, the Russian steppe, Colorado, Washington state, Sizewell, Chernobyl, Gorleben, even Fukushima. These places still reel from the atomic age.

This book explores the disasters (past, present, and future) that the nuclear age brought about. Fantastic read in short chapters perfect for quick reading in as little as 5 minute increments.

Recommended for Cold War buffs, environmentalists, preppers, and technophiles.

[Paul McBride · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are curious about atomic weapons and atomic power, if you wonder what is acceptable exposure to radiation, if you wondered what happened at 3 mile island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima, if the question what to do about nuclear waste is something you have wondered about and most importantly if your attention span is compatible to getting your “in-depth news” from Twitter, this is the book for you.
This is not to take away anything from this book it is just the subject matter is so broad and so vast that to attempt to cover it in 200 pages is laughable. You get zero details about anything listed above. But he does a good job citing sources to enhance what is barely touched upon it the book.

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Humans have damaged the earth with the birth of nuclear power for defense and energy. As Fred Pearce indicated, there is fallout present on the ocean floors, it has spread by air to the soil where people build homes, make movies and live. The waste being stored now has issues like leakage, potential explosions and the high costs to move it/re-seal it. There are areas uninhabitable still today around the globe. President Trump spoke this morning about the world's greatest problem is getting rid of nuclear arms. Maybe he has read this book.

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found Fallout completely by chance and was glad that I did. The topic is something I have been intrigued about and a little freaked out by for some time. The book was very easy to read and with incredibly frightening and fascinating content. It really did a great job of painting the horrific picture of the nuclear age from warfare to civilian usage to clean-up. The depth of the research and quality of writing was perfect and easy for a beginner of this subject to understand. I devoured this book and really enjoyed it.

[Adrianne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exhaustively researched and backed with data and narrative, Fred Pearce summarizes how disastrously humans have handled nuclear energy. Spanning neglect, outright lies and deceit, disregard for human life, politics, and willful ignorance and more, the stories range from Hiroshima, to Three Mile Island, to the Cold War, to the lasting nuclear waste legacy in Sellafield, Britain. If you are looking for evidence that humans have time and again mishandled nuclear energy, this is the book for you. If you are looking to support your anti-nuclear argument, this is not the book for you.

[Anouk · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating read about an oft-forgotten part of 20th century history. I definitely learned a whole bunch of things! It's levelheaded but critical, informative and realistic, but not sensationalist. I'd have liked the chapters to be slightly longer, properly delving into the history of places rather than "and then plutonium happened"; but I'm also aware that largely wasn't the point of the book. Still, plenty of background reading to get your teeth into with an excellent reference list at the back. Engaging and timely stuff!

[Eric Layton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Over the decades, I've read and studied much on the topic of nuclear weapons, nuclear power generation, and all the foibles and mishaps that have come with it. And yet, it STILL amazes me the absolute insanity and stupidity displayed by supposed intelligent human beings in governments, military organizations, and the sciences with regards to these things. It crosses all boundaries and borders; this tiresome tendency for humanity to either destroy itself or make a damned profit off something.

Read this book. You'll learn a lot. You'll be amazed. You'll be shocked. You be disheartened.

[Kaitlin Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this was a fascinating glimpse into nuclear history, and all of the government mistakes and cover-ups that sowed the seeds of mistrust and concern among the people living in this strange new world. You don't have to know a lot about nuclear arms/energy going into the book; Pearce keeps the language general and gives plenty of explanations for concepts a newcomer might not know about going into this. All in all, a truly harrowing read that certainly had me interested in pursuing the topic further.

[Mr SIMON M READ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engaging, well-written, and packed with alarming insights.
Some of the details Pearce recounts and uncovers are real show stoppers. I got an E in O-level Physics, but could still follow it. One of the very few books about science which I have found readable and entertaining, despite the often nightmarish subject matter.

[Paul De Belder · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-read for both fans and opponents of nuclear energy. Covers both the horribly irresponsible and arrogant behaviour of governments, the military and the nuclear industry in the past, and the irrational, unfounded fears of the population for anything related to radiation. But trust has to be earned - governments, industry and scientists have done a poor job earning it.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I came across this book at the library while looking for another Chernobyl book. This topic is very eye opening and interesting. Not much out there as it seems a secret or hush hush topic. It was very interesting learning about the Mayak plant and the Techa river. Fukushima. Sellafield/windscale. The accidents that have happened. And the thought of ALL that nuclear waste and what to do with it.

[Jake Brzovic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super interesting book. Glad I gave it a look when it was sitting on the new release shelf at my local library. I wanted more information on the big disasters and clean up but overall I learned a lot and enjoyed the writing.

[Jennie Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting. I've read several nuclear books but this is the first one to talk about the legacy of waste we're not dealing with and just passing on to the next generation. The author tries to be positive about the future but I came away thinking it's too late for mankind.

[Edward · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this with alternating interest and alarm. Makes you think twice about nuclear power (and weapons).

[Stephen Curran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book on the problems associated with the historical development and production of nuclear weapons and nuclear power. Very readable.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

very interesting

[Jenny Mitcham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book.. and a bit terrifying at the same time!

[Stuart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed it. Very scary though.

[Eugene Sebastian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Objective view of the tales of nuclear disasters without over exaggerating the problems. It also gives some insights on the possibility of nuclear power in the future both the pros and cons.