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On the Home Front: The Cold War Legacy of the Hanford Nuclear Site
On the Home Front is the only comprehensive history of the Hanford Nuclear Site, America’s most productive and wasteful plutonium manufacturing facility. Located in southeastern Washington State, the Hanford Site produced the plutonium used in the atomic bombs that ended World War II. This book was made possible by the declassification in the 1980s of tens of thousands of government documents relating to the construction, operation, and maintenance of the site. The third edition contains a new introduction by John M. Findlay and a new epilogue by the author.
424 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1992
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 2, 2013
I live about 2 hours from Richland and Hanford and recently took a tour of the site including the B Reactor – the world’s first nuclear reactor - that is now on the historic register. After reading “On the Home Front, the Cold War Legacy of the Hanford Nuclear Site,” I can’t wait to go back for another tour. I also think seeing the site with the nearly Soviet style buildings, set in the incredible landscape of Eastern Washington near the Columbia River gives the book added meaning.
The author has a PhD in history and moved to Richland (“for family reasons”) in 1987. She still lives in Richland, which I found gave her book added credibility. In 1987 the first materials about Hanford were declassified and this book is the story of Hanford mostly from those newly declassified documents. This is its strength. Gerber seems to have no agenda. She does very little interpretation until the very end. It is not an easy read. I have only the barest knowledge of the science behind the building of the facility, the processing of nuclear material and the disposal of waste, so the detailed information easily overwhelmed me. But, it is readable, and, through the facts a picture of how one of the most unforgivable of sciences was seen and pursued in the US during the years of WW II and the Cold War.
One of my favorite chapters is “Radiobiology: The Learning Curve.” Throughout the book I had the sense of how much we didn’t know. Herbert Parker, the head of Health Physics at Hanford seemed to be trying to do the right thing for the people working at the plant and for the environment, given the restraints and pressures of WWII and the Cold War. No one had much information and although they gathered lots of data, it could not include any long term results.
There is a long (80 page) epilogue to update the 1992 edition (this edition was published in 2007). This chapter covers some of the fascinating socio-political aspects of the Hanford clean-up. The tour (of course, it does not cover the political side) updates the clean-up further.
I only marked one passage: “In 1948, a task force physician, David Bradley, published “No Place to Hide,” in which he concluded: There are no satisfactory countermeasures and methods of decontamination [for fallout]. There are no satisfactory medical or sanitary safeguards for the people of atomized areas.” (p 177)
And yet on and on we go with war.
The author has a PhD in history and moved to Richland (“for family reasons”) in 1987. She still lives in Richland, which I found gave her book added credibility. In 1987 the first materials about Hanford were declassified and this book is the story of Hanford mostly from those newly declassified documents. This is its strength. Gerber seems to have no agenda. She does very little interpretation until the very end. It is not an easy read. I have only the barest knowledge of the science behind the building of the facility, the processing of nuclear material and the disposal of waste, so the detailed information easily overwhelmed me. But, it is readable, and, through the facts a picture of how one of the most unforgivable of sciences was seen and pursued in the US during the years of WW II and the Cold War.
One of my favorite chapters is “Radiobiology: The Learning Curve.” Throughout the book I had the sense of how much we didn’t know. Herbert Parker, the head of Health Physics at Hanford seemed to be trying to do the right thing for the people working at the plant and for the environment, given the restraints and pressures of WWII and the Cold War. No one had much information and although they gathered lots of data, it could not include any long term results.
There is a long (80 page) epilogue to update the 1992 edition (this edition was published in 2007). This chapter covers some of the fascinating socio-political aspects of the Hanford clean-up. The tour (of course, it does not cover the political side) updates the clean-up further.
I only marked one passage: “In 1948, a task force physician, David Bradley, published “No Place to Hide,” in which he concluded: There are no satisfactory countermeasures and methods of decontamination [for fallout]. There are no satisfactory medical or sanitary safeguards for the people of atomized areas.” (p 177)
And yet on and on we go with war.
August 8, 2010
Since I am now a resident of the Tri-Cities area, near the Hanford site, I thought I had better read about its history. While the history of and reasons for the Hanford Nuclear Site are disturbing in and of themselves, the book also raises questions about the so-called democracy in which we live. One quote in the book essentially sums things up for me: "There is nothing to be gained by informing the public." I don't remember the Hanford official who made the statement. It really doesn't matter. The book makes one wonder about the things people will do and the problems they will create in order to kill each other.
July 22, 2012
Very well written, very data rich, great insight into the history and implications of nuclear weapons development on US soil.
I highly recommend this book; this volume has filled several gaps in my knowledge that should have been addressed in public high school. The pressures of WW2 and the Cold War forced decisions that we must reconcile and continue to mitigate. The author could have used stronger language while presenting the details, former classified reports, and historical context but instead, she applied balanced judgement and unrelenting honesty in the text.
Very, very well written.
I highly recommend this book; this volume has filled several gaps in my knowledge that should have been addressed in public high school. The pressures of WW2 and the Cold War forced decisions that we must reconcile and continue to mitigate. The author could have used stronger language while presenting the details, former classified reports, and historical context but instead, she applied balanced judgement and unrelenting honesty in the text.
Very, very well written.
April 28, 2009
A must read for anyone interested in the environmental impacts of the Cold War. Chilling in its factual, scholarly description of what happened to the earth, water and air around Hanford, Washington, as America pursued its arms race with the Soviet Union.
July 22, 2010
A whole book about Hanford?! Of course I love it.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews