The Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster

by W. Scott Ingram

The world's worst nuclear power accident occurred on April 26, 1986, and had lasting repercussions in all areas of human life. This book details the events leading up to the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster, the causes of the explosion, and the ensuing fallout, both immediate and long-term. The social, economic, and political consequences of the disaster are discussed, and the catastrophic environmental and health effects on people living in the region are recounted in detail.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

100 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2005

Reviews

[Ike · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is a very good informational book that shows a lot of details and really cool
facts. This book is probably is one of the best I've read, I really enjoy how this book
was written and how it puts all the facts with cool info about everything. There really
isn't a main character but it talks about how 20 people gave up their lives so that the
disaster wouldn't have been worse. There were a lot of ignorant people who believed what
happened and that is why so many people killed in the span of 2 months, many people died
from various types of cancer and even total organ failure.
I would recommend this book pretty much anyone who wants to learn or know more
about this horrific nuclear disaster, but if I did an age group it would probably be middle
school to high school boys because there is death and fire involved.
rate = 4 out of 5

[Josh Wray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great informative read about the Chernobyl disaster. This one came with more of an emphasis on the negligence of the Soviet gov’t. They did not release information, they down played the severity of the ‘accident,’ and straight up failed in its role to protect the citizens.

[PK · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short and quick read.
It very well explains political circumstances and human elements leading to the accident. Scientific details are presented in an easy to understand manner.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very thorough and well written.

[Paste · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having long been fascinated by Chernobyl/Pripyat and just completing HBO's miniseries about the tragedy, I checked out a couple of books on the disaster from the library. The Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster by Scott Ingram is a quick read aimed at a younger demographic, so I kept that in mind for reviewing the book. It's a good read for anyone unfamiliar with the Chernobyl accident or nuclear energy, as it effectively explains the science of it without requiring a considerable knowledge of the sciences.

[Andrew Daniels · Rating 2 out of 5]

Terrible!

Full of nonsense, it was not researched properly. This is not worth your time, there are proper books out there. Constant, nonstop errors about so many things.... But there are some bits of truth and correct information, but you have to be extremely expert to tell the difference.

Unfortunately, many books on Chernobyl are like this.
For example, it does give accurate descriptions of some of the elements of the night at Chernobyl. However, it fails on a number of greater points - describing products of fission just as isotopes, not fission products; saying Eastern Europe was under Soviet economic control - nonsense, they were completely independent economically; says plutonium was carried by the wind over 'millions of people' - not really, as plutonium is too heavy it cannot travel far; Georgia did not 'receive high levels of fallout'; "There had been a meltdown in the neighboring Soviet Union" should read as accident instead of meltdown; "enormous amount of radioactivity" is used to describe very low levels - so its hard to know what the book really means, and it seems the authors did not understand the material

"The level of radiation was so lethal that within 30 minutes on the grounds of the power station,
the human nervous system would be destroyed." - untrue, even in the 30 minutes after the accident. Also, thats not how radiation works. It destroys bone marrow, eliminating the immune system, does not 'destroy the nervous system' outright.

"Nevertheless, the promise of high pay and extra benefits not available to most Soviet citizens drew huge numbers of workers to Chernobyl. " - untrue, 600,000 conscripts were used. In the USSR, few could choose their job.

Some of the radiation advice is actually completely incorrect, and potentially dangerous. The authors did not research or consult with experts, and speak about what they don't understand. It was 100% incorrect to describe radiation as they do. They said utter nonsense like everyone at Pripyat was exposed to beta radiation - this shows they didn't know the first thing about it. Beta radiation travels only a foot, and it does not penetrate skin so its utterly impossible. They also said there were 70 workers and firefighters that night, there were 250 firefighters that night. It asserts there were birth defects, that didn't happen either. Utter myth.

Its terrible that the book reports the death of people who are still living in 2019. Brukhanov did not die of cancer in 1992, but lives in Kyiv. Dyatlov also did not die of cancer in 1992, but of heart failure in 1995.

So this should not be your first book on Chernobyl, but its alright if you've read 4 books or more already.

[M Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow- what a perfect, but horrendous, example of how a good thing can go bad with poor oversight and irresponsibility. Being born 11 years post-Chernobyl, with little knowledge of it, this book offered an in-depth, yet quite understandable explanation.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't know much about this so decided to read up. Very interesting and written well to explain about nuclear fission, etc. What a horrible disaster.