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Atomic Days: The Untold Story of the Most Toxic Place in America
WINNER IPPY AWARD REGIONAL NON-FICTION
WINNER NELLIE BLY CIBA BOOK AWARD JOURNALISTIC NON-FICTION
Once home to the United States's largest plutonium production site, the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington state is laced with 56 million gallons of radioactive waste. The threat of an explosive accident at Hanford is all too real—an event that could be more catastrophic than Chernobyl.
The EPA designated Hanford the most toxic place in America; it is also the most expensive environmental clean-up job the world has ever seen, with a $677 billion price tag that keeps growing. Huge underground tanks, well past their life expectancy and full of boiling radioactive gunk, are leaking, infecting groundwater supplies and threatening the Columbia River.
Whistleblowers, worried that the worst is ahead, are now speaking out, begging to be heard and hoping their pleas help bring attention to the dire situation at Hanford. Aside from a few feisty community groups and handful of Indigenous activists, there is very little public scrutiny of the clean-up process, which is managed by the Department of Energy and carried out by contractors with shoddy track records, like Bechtel. In the context of renewed support for atomic power as a means of combating climate change, Atomic Days provides a much-needed refutation of the myths of nuclear technology—from weapons to electricity—and shines a spotlight on the ravages of Hanford and its threat to communities, workers and the global environment.
WINNER NELLIE BLY CIBA BOOK AWARD JOURNALISTIC NON-FICTION
Once home to the United States's largest plutonium production site, the Hanford Nuclear Reservation in Washington state is laced with 56 million gallons of radioactive waste. The threat of an explosive accident at Hanford is all too real—an event that could be more catastrophic than Chernobyl.
The EPA designated Hanford the most toxic place in America; it is also the most expensive environmental clean-up job the world has ever seen, with a $677 billion price tag that keeps growing. Huge underground tanks, well past their life expectancy and full of boiling radioactive gunk, are leaking, infecting groundwater supplies and threatening the Columbia River.
Whistleblowers, worried that the worst is ahead, are now speaking out, begging to be heard and hoping their pleas help bring attention to the dire situation at Hanford. Aside from a few feisty community groups and handful of Indigenous activists, there is very little public scrutiny of the clean-up process, which is managed by the Department of Energy and carried out by contractors with shoddy track records, like Bechtel. In the context of renewed support for atomic power as a means of combating climate change, Atomic Days provides a much-needed refutation of the myths of nuclear technology—from weapons to electricity—and shines a spotlight on the ravages of Hanford and its threat to communities, workers and the global environment.
258 pages, Hardcover
Published November 1, 2022
25 people are currently reading
2641 people want to read
About the author
Joshua Frank
12 books33 followersJoshua Frank is a California-based journalist and co-editor of CounterPunch. He is the author of Atomic Days: The Untold Story of the Most Toxic Place in America (Haymarket Book, 2022).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 44 reviews
June 19, 2022
"Now, however, Hanford no longer produces plutonium. Instead, it’s a sprawling wasteland of radioactive and chemical sewage, a landmass three times larger than Lake Tahoe. It’s also the costliest environmental remediation project the world has ever seen, and arguably the most contaminated place on the entire planet."
"Patriotism and the US war machine’s obsession with nukes had come home to roost."
Remember when we all bingewatched Chernobyl, and we were astonished how the autocratic USSR forced its people into constantly trying to shove any responsibility for the nuclear disaster to someone else? How terrible, we thought, what a way to live.
This book shows how the exact same thing happens in a capitalist society, where the clean-up of radioactive materials is contracted out to private businesses - nobody wants to own up, it's always someone elses fault, and money is more important than worker safety or actually getting the work done.
Joshua Frank tells the shocking story of Hanford, where during WW2 the plutonium was refined for use in the nuclear bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Sadly, that wasn't the end of nuclear weapons, as Hanford kept producing atomic material for many, many more bombs.
Hanford was also the designated place to find a solution to what to do with all that pesky nuclear waste that resulted from building a shit-ton of bombs. Just dump the atomic sludge in huge tanks, nicely placed juuust under the earth, so that when these tanks finally starts to leak, the goop isn't that far removed from the ground water.
In 2000, Hanford was supposed to have a new plant built, which would use a process called vitrification, whereby nuclear waste would be transformed into glass, which could be stored easier, and would finally put a stop to the stuff leaking everywhere. The US Department of Energy ended up contracting this task to Bechtel, a construction form.
And, oh boy, here the "fun" really begins. Bechtel turns out to be a terrible at building a vitrification plant, or really at building anything, if and when they actually get round to building anything. The cost of building the plant keeps going up (we're talking billions of taxpayer money here), and nothing gets built, the whole thing is stuck in a very expensive limbo.
This is only the set-up for the book - it gets much, much worse, and all the mistakes that are made are truly frightening. There is a constant refrain of the workers being expendable, and Bechtel management covering their tracks.
Included in this are the Native people who originally lived on the lands where Hanford was built, and their continuing fight to reclaim their land.
"The United States has five times more spent nuclear fuel than Russia, the world’s second leading producer. The Hanford land, the government argued forty years ago, was already so destroyed that dumping truckloads of more nuclear byproducts wouldn’t make matters all that much worse."
The book takes little excursions into horrific nuclear-adjacent subjects - the US government injecting (primarily Black) US soldiers with plutonium without consent, for example.
Frank's book contains a simmering anger, that slowly accumulates while the book further plumbs the deeper nuclear mismanagement of the US government.
A frightening book, one that has to be read to be believed: Hanford is a ticking time-bomb, a US Chernobyl disaster in the making.
(Picked up an ARC through Edelweiss)
"Patriotism and the US war machine’s obsession with nukes had come home to roost."
Remember when we all bingewatched Chernobyl, and we were astonished how the autocratic USSR forced its people into constantly trying to shove any responsibility for the nuclear disaster to someone else? How terrible, we thought, what a way to live.
This book shows how the exact same thing happens in a capitalist society, where the clean-up of radioactive materials is contracted out to private businesses - nobody wants to own up, it's always someone elses fault, and money is more important than worker safety or actually getting the work done.
Joshua Frank tells the shocking story of Hanford, where during WW2 the plutonium was refined for use in the nuclear bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Sadly, that wasn't the end of nuclear weapons, as Hanford kept producing atomic material for many, many more bombs.
Hanford was also the designated place to find a solution to what to do with all that pesky nuclear waste that resulted from building a shit-ton of bombs. Just dump the atomic sludge in huge tanks, nicely placed juuust under the earth, so that when these tanks finally starts to leak, the goop isn't that far removed from the ground water.
In 2000, Hanford was supposed to have a new plant built, which would use a process called vitrification, whereby nuclear waste would be transformed into glass, which could be stored easier, and would finally put a stop to the stuff leaking everywhere. The US Department of Energy ended up contracting this task to Bechtel, a construction form.
And, oh boy, here the "fun" really begins. Bechtel turns out to be a terrible at building a vitrification plant, or really at building anything, if and when they actually get round to building anything. The cost of building the plant keeps going up (we're talking billions of taxpayer money here), and nothing gets built, the whole thing is stuck in a very expensive limbo.
This is only the set-up for the book - it gets much, much worse, and all the mistakes that are made are truly frightening. There is a constant refrain of the workers being expendable, and Bechtel management covering their tracks.
Included in this are the Native people who originally lived on the lands where Hanford was built, and their continuing fight to reclaim their land.
"The United States has five times more spent nuclear fuel than Russia, the world’s second leading producer. The Hanford land, the government argued forty years ago, was already so destroyed that dumping truckloads of more nuclear byproducts wouldn’t make matters all that much worse."
The book takes little excursions into horrific nuclear-adjacent subjects - the US government injecting (primarily Black) US soldiers with plutonium without consent, for example.
Frank's book contains a simmering anger, that slowly accumulates while the book further plumbs the deeper nuclear mismanagement of the US government.
A frightening book, one that has to be read to be believed: Hanford is a ticking time-bomb, a US Chernobyl disaster in the making.
(Picked up an ARC through Edelweiss)
September 22, 2022
Haven't heard about Hanford, the most contaminated place in North America, if not the world? Me neither until I read this. This book really shook me. Government waste and abuse. War. Corporate malfeasance. Environmental devastation. Death threats. A toxic workplace -- toxic as in radioactive. At times the story is complicated, at other times it's enraging, but it's always captivating. For anyone that wants to learn about the US's nuclear obsession, what it has done to a huge swath of land, and why all the nuclear waste it produced still poses a risk beyond belief -- READ this book and tell your friends.
September 6, 2022
A very good book, but one that needed to get some of the randomness off the page before it became a modern classic of its type. Hanford, Washington State, is where all the plutonium was produced for the US nuclear arms race – all those copious tens of thousands of warheads, trillions of dollars, and thankfully only two of them used in anger. They stopped pointing such warheads at each other a long time ago (guess who the ‘they’ there) and so stopped making the plutonium, but the industry is excessively horrific, with some processes leaving radioactive elements behind with half-lives of 211,000 years. That’s not the problem gone, of course – just halved. But never mind, they (again, guess the ‘they’) are determined to get rid of the gunk they have put there, right on indigenous lands stolen in the 1940s, and right next to the aquifers feeding into a major river. And you can probably guess how well they’re doing.
The first chapter is more or less the history of the place, but as I say some things are a little too higgledy-piggledy, with the story flashing from the aspect of the native people being rehomed badly, to the use of the nuclear bombs on Japan, to what is there at Hanford, to the science of it all. It didn’t seem written in near enough a coherent, or linear, fashion, for my taste. The second chapter is (more or less) on what is there now, and what might happen if it dares to leak. Except it has been leaking since the 1950s, and we know what happened when a very similar site that the Soviets had went blammo. The stats of what was produced there, what is still there now, both measuring in the thousands of tons of this and millions of gallons of that sludge, and so on, and when we first realised how to solve the issue, are remarkable.
Don’t be daft – we still don’t know how to solve the issue. Even they (and here the ‘they’ are Bechtel, who are pretty much the biggest scum you’ve never heard of, and nothing to do with feminism in cinema) have no clue. But never mind, the chapter also proves how heinously linked to war the whole American economy is, and Bechtel with their kind of ambulance-chasing infrastructure building shtick are right on it. Or they will be about a decade from now when they finish building a facility that was supposed to come online in 2011.
But enough of the real life data and events that will easily, really rile anyone up. How about the book using the same quote about the same event twice? How about the text completely screwing up the names of the bombs on Japan in the summer of 1945 (and I know I got an early copy, but come on – it’s in OMD lyrics fer cryin’ out loud!!)? How about some key bits of information being in the general notes, which are actually references and very little else, when a footnote would have been better?
Ultimately, with the huge problem sans solution ‘they’ve’ put there, the book is rather a depressing one. “We’re doomed!!”, as someone used to say a lot. The whole situation leaves us pretty damned helpless, because of the various ‘Theys’ that have impacted on the story. Trump wanted to big himself up, and lower the budget – and to reclassify the extremely lethal nuclear waste to minorly niggly nuclear waste. Biden, bless him, is sticking to both policies at the time the book was written. Obama has dirt on his hands, too. And Bechtel – well, this isn’t as incendiary as it could have been.
Still, this measured response to all the issues, and the cleverness with which it conveys the science (when it deigns to get round to it in amongst its topics), does deserve something a smidge above four stars.
The first chapter is more or less the history of the place, but as I say some things are a little too higgledy-piggledy, with the story flashing from the aspect of the native people being rehomed badly, to the use of the nuclear bombs on Japan, to what is there at Hanford, to the science of it all. It didn’t seem written in near enough a coherent, or linear, fashion, for my taste. The second chapter is (more or less) on what is there now, and what might happen if it dares to leak. Except it has been leaking since the 1950s, and we know what happened when a very similar site that the Soviets had went blammo. The stats of what was produced there, what is still there now, both measuring in the thousands of tons of this and millions of gallons of that sludge, and so on, and when we first realised how to solve the issue, are remarkable.
Don’t be daft – we still don’t know how to solve the issue. Even they (and here the ‘they’ are Bechtel, who are pretty much the biggest scum you’ve never heard of, and nothing to do with feminism in cinema) have no clue. But never mind, the chapter also proves how heinously linked to war the whole American economy is, and Bechtel with their kind of ambulance-chasing infrastructure building shtick are right on it. Or they will be about a decade from now when they finish building a facility that was supposed to come online in 2011.
But enough of the real life data and events that will easily, really rile anyone up. How about the book using the same quote about the same event twice? How about the text completely screwing up the names of the bombs on Japan in the summer of 1945 (and I know I got an early copy, but come on – it’s in OMD lyrics fer cryin’ out loud!!)? How about some key bits of information being in the general notes, which are actually references and very little else, when a footnote would have been better?
Ultimately, with the huge problem sans solution ‘they’ve’ put there, the book is rather a depressing one. “We’re doomed!!”, as someone used to say a lot. The whole situation leaves us pretty damned helpless, because of the various ‘Theys’ that have impacted on the story. Trump wanted to big himself up, and lower the budget – and to reclassify the extremely lethal nuclear waste to minorly niggly nuclear waste. Biden, bless him, is sticking to both policies at the time the book was written. Obama has dirt on his hands, too. And Bechtel – well, this isn’t as incendiary as it could have been.
Still, this measured response to all the issues, and the cleverness with which it conveys the science (when it deigns to get round to it in amongst its topics), does deserve something a smidge above four stars.
December 31, 2022
I just read Atomic Days, The Untold Story of the Most Toxic Place in America, by Joshua Frank. It could be argued most toxic in the world including the Soviet Union and Russia. To put a more positive spin on nuking ourselves, I would suggest that he say, Hanford Washington will cool off enough to support indigenous people again in maybe 600,000 years. He somberly lists every reactor in the world that has reported a meltdown. He reminds us that tens of thousands of people have perished of radiation. He points to a an awareness in the nuclear science community that one horrific nuclear accident reflects poorly on the good nuclear scientist, too.
So, things don't get reported or discussed. There are interwoven secrets and, "If I go down, I'll take you with me".
~ Greg
So, things don't get reported or discussed. There are interwoven secrets and, "If I go down, I'll take you with me".
~ Greg
March 25, 2024
Marred by some factual errors in the early chapter on the history of the Manhattan project, but when he gets going it is a quite interesting piece of investigative journalism/exposé. Since I couldn't trust that it had been fact-checked well, I read more for the anecdotes and big picture than the statistics and fine details.
October 4, 2025
“These grave situations are not anomalies, nor are they to be taken lightly. They occur frequently and often in secrecy, far away from cameras, journalists, or government watchdog groups. By the time you are reading this, there will likely have been more accidents on the dry plains of Eastern Washington. Maybe the leaks or mishaps will be small, perhaps they will be large in size, but they will happen again, and we can be sure the response will be the same. Deadlines for mitigation will be pushed back. There'll be talk of figuring out other, novel solutions like turning the muck into grout. And the threat of a nuclear accident, one that could decimate the Columbia River and poison the land and people from Portland, Oregon to Portland, Maine, will become ever more real. If we are to learn anything from Hanford, it's that nuclear technology, in all its forms, is a clear and present danger to all living things.”
Fuck, this was so good. Incredibly accessible and compulsively readable. Should be required reading for so, so many people — especially my fellow DOE employees
Fuck, this was so good. Incredibly accessible and compulsively readable. Should be required reading for so, so many people — especially my fellow DOE employees
March 12, 2023
Repetitive, Poorly Structured, Waste of Time
Save yourself the pain of slogging thru this book. It needed additional passes from an editor, actually, it needs a re-write. So much of the information was repeated and reused, probably to add bulk to the book. What happened to writing WITHOUT a political agenda? The information contained within, if you can drill down to it, is interesting, but it got lost. I need a palate cleanser after this one.
Save yourself the pain of slogging thru this book. It needed additional passes from an editor, actually, it needs a re-write. So much of the information was repeated and reused, probably to add bulk to the book. What happened to writing WITHOUT a political agenda? The information contained within, if you can drill down to it, is interesting, but it got lost. I need a palate cleanser after this one.
June 8, 2024
If you’ve ever needed a more concise illustration of the fact that the United States government doesn’t care about its own citizens or anyone else in the world, this is it. The most amazing part of this horror story is that there is very little implication; the entire book is presented bluntly and with evidence. They hate us and want us to die.
January 8, 2023
An important story that needed to be told and needs to be widely read. Excellent work by Joshua Frank and highly recommended!
Read
September 30, 2023"If we are to learn anything from Hanford, it's that nuclear technology, in all its forms, is a clear and present danger to all living things."
I was already wary of nuclear energy before I read this book, but now it's clear to me that not only is nuclear energy not safe, it is not even preferable to fossil fuels. The effects of global warming will be felt for thousands of years. The effects of nuclear technology will be felt for thousands, hundreds of thousands, even millions of years. It is just not justifiable in any way.
One thing I come across in online debates about nuclear power is people who say stuff like "Chernobyl only happened because it was run by corrupt commies, stuff like that would never happen in a decent, capitalist country." Pure national chauvinism. Every government is corrupt to some degree, and, as detailed in this book, the US nuclear military-industrial complex is extremely corrupt. When proper safety protocols significantly threaten corporate profits, corporate profits will win.
As urgent and necessary as the call to action this book makes is, I actually have faith that the world won't turn to nuclear power in a shortsighted attempt to avert climate catastrophe. Ironically, I believe this is thanks to boomers, the youth of the 1970's who drove the early efforts against the proliferation of nuclear technology. It seems that millennials and gen z are much more likely to view nuclear as a viable alternative to fossil fuels. For this reason, if nothing else, I am glad my generation has not yet taken power. By the time we do, I believe it will be readily apparent that wind and solar, hopefully in conjunction with reductions in unnecessary energy usage, can satisfy all our needs.
I'm happy I read this book, it helped to clarify a lot of my thinking on the issue. Joshua Frank and the entire Counterpunch team are treasures and the value of their contributions to journalism and political discourse on the US left cannot be overstated.
I was already wary of nuclear energy before I read this book, but now it's clear to me that not only is nuclear energy not safe, it is not even preferable to fossil fuels. The effects of global warming will be felt for thousands of years. The effects of nuclear technology will be felt for thousands, hundreds of thousands, even millions of years. It is just not justifiable in any way.
One thing I come across in online debates about nuclear power is people who say stuff like "Chernobyl only happened because it was run by corrupt commies, stuff like that would never happen in a decent, capitalist country." Pure national chauvinism. Every government is corrupt to some degree, and, as detailed in this book, the US nuclear military-industrial complex is extremely corrupt. When proper safety protocols significantly threaten corporate profits, corporate profits will win.
As urgent and necessary as the call to action this book makes is, I actually have faith that the world won't turn to nuclear power in a shortsighted attempt to avert climate catastrophe. Ironically, I believe this is thanks to boomers, the youth of the 1970's who drove the early efforts against the proliferation of nuclear technology. It seems that millennials and gen z are much more likely to view nuclear as a viable alternative to fossil fuels. For this reason, if nothing else, I am glad my generation has not yet taken power. By the time we do, I believe it will be readily apparent that wind and solar, hopefully in conjunction with reductions in unnecessary energy usage, can satisfy all our needs.
I'm happy I read this book, it helped to clarify a lot of my thinking on the issue. Joshua Frank and the entire Counterpunch team are treasures and the value of their contributions to journalism and political discourse on the US left cannot be overstated.
September 20, 2023
Comprehensive understanding of a minimally publicized nuclear crisis leaching into my new backyard. Saw Oppenheimer while reading this book; helped contextualize a lot of the events that were not captured by the film, or were referenced only in passing. This book is excellent and radicalized me against the use of nuclear energy at any level except medical. Fuck nukes. Save Hanford and the Columbia River.
July 15, 2024
Holy crap... This a DAMNING account of the history of the Hanford Nuclear Site. It is fraught with corporate incompetence and greed, the swindling of American taxpayers, corporate sanctioned attempted murder, etc. It reads like a bad thriller, but actually happened (and continues to happen). Absolute must read if you're a Washingtonian or are interested in nuclear power.
July 6, 2023
Having a background in radiation physics, radiation protection, and radiation biology allowed me to absorb this in a way that may not be the same for someone who is non-science conversant. But I still feel like it is understandable by a layman as well. For the general populace, the idea that there is a real possibility of a nuclear accident that could poison half of the country seems far fetched- but it's not.
It was also interesting that while I was reading the book, the NYT reported that the DOE and EPA are fighting behind closed doors trying to limit and reduce the scope of the cleanup (because it's not physically possible) despite the mountainous billions of tax dollars already spent. And a federal judge nullified the award of yet another $45 billion dollar contract to a corporation that was unqualified to do the work, and who like the rest was looking to cash in on the project.
At some point those chickens will come home to roost....they always do.
It was also interesting that while I was reading the book, the NYT reported that the DOE and EPA are fighting behind closed doors trying to limit and reduce the scope of the cleanup (because it's not physically possible) despite the mountainous billions of tax dollars already spent. And a federal judge nullified the award of yet another $45 billion dollar contract to a corporation that was unqualified to do the work, and who like the rest was looking to cash in on the project.
At some point those chickens will come home to roost....they always do.
January 26, 2024
As a Washington state resident, learning about Hanford is a tiny blip in our curriculum. My uncle worked there and I did a big project on nuclear energy in school so I might know a little more than the average person, but I'm truly horrified. Not only by the history, cover ups, lack of funding and oversight, accidents, treatment of natives, and lies, but also all the little side stories the author covers from other parts of the world. It's a must read, not only for people in this area, but for at least half the country that will be affected if there is a disaster. It's Chernobyl in the making.
August 27, 2025
“One cannot have an honest discussion about the potential of nuclear power without fully acknowledging the ravages of the Hanford project. This would be tantamount to debating the future of our dying oceans without bringing up the topic of climate change.”
Incredible book. Truly opened my eyes to the broader image that is nuclear power.
Incredible book. Truly opened my eyes to the broader image that is nuclear power.
August 25, 2024
America’s atomic weapon production began during World War II, and most are aware of the devastation to Japan when America dropped nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In his book Atomic Days, The Untold Story of the Most Toxic Place in America, author Joshua Frank describes the nuclear devastation in Hanford, WA, where the plutonium used in America’s nuclear arsenal was produced. Hiroshima and Nagasaki may have recovered, but Hanford remains the most polluted place on the planet.
Three nuclear reactors were built at Hanford during World War II. Afterwards, as part of the Cold War, nine additional nuclear reactors were built there, as well as two additional weapons facilities. “From 1956 to 1965, Hanford operated at peak capacity, producing sixty-three short tons of plutonium that fueled virtually all of the United States nuclear arsenal.” As Frank makes clear, the production of plutonium comes with a huge amount of nuclear waste. To temporarily store this waste, 177 underground storage tanks were constructed at Hanford. Most of these tanks are within a few miles of the Columbia River.
By the time Hanford’s last nuclear reactor shutdown in 1987, the US had over 21,000 nuclear warheads. “Nuclear weapons made up almost 30 percent of all military spending from 1940 to 1996, $5.5 trillion of an $18.7 trillion total.” But the US did very little to prepare for the aftermath of nuclear production. Investment was not made to determine how to safely dispose of nuclear waste. As a result, Hanford has become a 586-square mile nuclear disaster zone, filled with radioactive chemical sewage. Cleaning up Hanford has become the most expensive environmental cleanup project in global history.
The magnitude of nuclear waste at Hanford is staggering, and includes over 525 million gallons of tank waste, and 25 million cubic feet of toxic buried solid waste. There have been a multitude of leaks and accidents at Hanford, many of which have been kept secret from the public. Frank provides example after example, including the nearly 130 million gallons of waste that was discharged into the soil between 1946 and 1958. Much of this waste went untreated and polluted local aquifers. Stress and corrosion are causing storage tanks to leak, and new leaks are happening all the time. Frank describes Hanford as a “Chernobyl-like disaster-in-waiting.”
Nuclear waste remains toxic for thousands of years, but ironically, effective disposal methods have yet to be developed. Frank explains that the best available disposal option is turning Hanford’s radioactive liquids into glass. To accomplish this, the construction of a Waste Treatment Plant (WTP) began at Hanford in 2002, was scheduled to be completed by 2011, and the conversion of millions of gallons of radioactive sediment into glass rods was scheduled to be completed by 2028. But this project has been poorly managed, pushing out the fully operational date to 2036, and the date for converting the waste to glass to 2048. The current WTP cost estimate is $41 billion, but this estimate keeps rising.
The WTP is just one of many examples of the extraordinary mismanagement and continuous overcharging by contractors at Hanford, especially with the prime contractor, Bechtel. Yet the government continues to fail at providing sufficient oversight, resulting in tens of billions of wasted taxpayer dollars. Studies have shown that less than half of Bechtel’s projects have met their original objectives. Bechtel has been fined tens of millions of dollars for overcharging, but these fines are far less than the profits Bechtel makes from “poor performance”. In 2016, the Department of Energy (DOE) estimated the full cost to cleanup Hanford at $110 billion. Their current estimate has now increased to between $316 billion to $662 billion.
Frank tells the stories of several employees that have fallen gravely ill from working at Hanford. Safety standards have been extremely lax, especially given the magnitude of the risks, which are downplayed by officials. Frank writes how officials often lied about the findings from their own safety studies. Employee ailments include cancer, brain damage and scarred lungs. Cancer rates are far higher than normal in communities surrounding nuclear operations.
There have been multiple whistleblowers at Hanford, and Frank describes how they were attacked for trying to expose Hanford’s safety hazards. Whistleblowers tended to be long-term, dedicated employees, including top engineers and scientists, yet consistently faced retaliation from Hanford’s contractors. Frank writes of the extraordinary courage these whistleblowers exhibited, exposing horrific safety violations, as contractors put profits above basic safety measures.
Frank also tells the story of the efforts of indigenous people to stop the polluting of their lands. Throughout American history, Native Americans were seen as expendable. Chronic diseases related to exposure to nuclear materials have been rampant in nearby tribes. Led by Russell Jim, a member of the Yakima Nation, native Americans have achieved some success in lobbying against Hanford.
To combat climate change, many are now proposing the world turn back to “carbon-free” nuclear energy. Frank writes that returning to nuclear energy is like “destroying the planet to save the planet.” When considering the full life cycle impact of nuclear energy, including the damage caused through mining nuclear materials, the carbon released through the manufacture and operation of nuclear energy facilities, and the difficulties with the disposal of nuclear waste, Frank argues that nuclear is a terrible energy option. Frank acknowledges that full life cycle assessment of solar and wind energy shows these “green energy solutions” also come with much harm, but Frank believes the risks from nuclear are far higher. The current Russian attacks on Ukraine’s nuclear plants is just another example of the risk with nuclear energy.
So where does cleaning up Hanford stand today? In 2020, the DOE proposed that up to 80 percent of the waste in Hanford’s leaking tanks should be reclassified as “low level”, so that nuclear waste could be turned into a grout-like substance instead of into glass rods. This is a step backwards. Frank provides evidence and examples as to how this approach has been a failure at securing nuclear waste.
Frank closes by providing his own recommendations. First is a complete system overhaul at Hanford, and the removal of Bechtel as lead contractor. Hanford needs more government and corporate accountability, and more public oversight. That’s the key: the public must be made aware just how dire the situation really is. Frank states that “it’s up to us, the public” to make sure Hanford is cleaned up in an effective, transparent, and equitable way. If the public continues to ignore this, Hanford will remain a nuclear wasteland and an extreme risk to the Pacific Northwest.
Three nuclear reactors were built at Hanford during World War II. Afterwards, as part of the Cold War, nine additional nuclear reactors were built there, as well as two additional weapons facilities. “From 1956 to 1965, Hanford operated at peak capacity, producing sixty-three short tons of plutonium that fueled virtually all of the United States nuclear arsenal.” As Frank makes clear, the production of plutonium comes with a huge amount of nuclear waste. To temporarily store this waste, 177 underground storage tanks were constructed at Hanford. Most of these tanks are within a few miles of the Columbia River.
By the time Hanford’s last nuclear reactor shutdown in 1987, the US had over 21,000 nuclear warheads. “Nuclear weapons made up almost 30 percent of all military spending from 1940 to 1996, $5.5 trillion of an $18.7 trillion total.” But the US did very little to prepare for the aftermath of nuclear production. Investment was not made to determine how to safely dispose of nuclear waste. As a result, Hanford has become a 586-square mile nuclear disaster zone, filled with radioactive chemical sewage. Cleaning up Hanford has become the most expensive environmental cleanup project in global history.
The magnitude of nuclear waste at Hanford is staggering, and includes over 525 million gallons of tank waste, and 25 million cubic feet of toxic buried solid waste. There have been a multitude of leaks and accidents at Hanford, many of which have been kept secret from the public. Frank provides example after example, including the nearly 130 million gallons of waste that was discharged into the soil between 1946 and 1958. Much of this waste went untreated and polluted local aquifers. Stress and corrosion are causing storage tanks to leak, and new leaks are happening all the time. Frank describes Hanford as a “Chernobyl-like disaster-in-waiting.”
Nuclear waste remains toxic for thousands of years, but ironically, effective disposal methods have yet to be developed. Frank explains that the best available disposal option is turning Hanford’s radioactive liquids into glass. To accomplish this, the construction of a Waste Treatment Plant (WTP) began at Hanford in 2002, was scheduled to be completed by 2011, and the conversion of millions of gallons of radioactive sediment into glass rods was scheduled to be completed by 2028. But this project has been poorly managed, pushing out the fully operational date to 2036, and the date for converting the waste to glass to 2048. The current WTP cost estimate is $41 billion, but this estimate keeps rising.
The WTP is just one of many examples of the extraordinary mismanagement and continuous overcharging by contractors at Hanford, especially with the prime contractor, Bechtel. Yet the government continues to fail at providing sufficient oversight, resulting in tens of billions of wasted taxpayer dollars. Studies have shown that less than half of Bechtel’s projects have met their original objectives. Bechtel has been fined tens of millions of dollars for overcharging, but these fines are far less than the profits Bechtel makes from “poor performance”. In 2016, the Department of Energy (DOE) estimated the full cost to cleanup Hanford at $110 billion. Their current estimate has now increased to between $316 billion to $662 billion.
Frank tells the stories of several employees that have fallen gravely ill from working at Hanford. Safety standards have been extremely lax, especially given the magnitude of the risks, which are downplayed by officials. Frank writes how officials often lied about the findings from their own safety studies. Employee ailments include cancer, brain damage and scarred lungs. Cancer rates are far higher than normal in communities surrounding nuclear operations.
There have been multiple whistleblowers at Hanford, and Frank describes how they were attacked for trying to expose Hanford’s safety hazards. Whistleblowers tended to be long-term, dedicated employees, including top engineers and scientists, yet consistently faced retaliation from Hanford’s contractors. Frank writes of the extraordinary courage these whistleblowers exhibited, exposing horrific safety violations, as contractors put profits above basic safety measures.
Frank also tells the story of the efforts of indigenous people to stop the polluting of their lands. Throughout American history, Native Americans were seen as expendable. Chronic diseases related to exposure to nuclear materials have been rampant in nearby tribes. Led by Russell Jim, a member of the Yakima Nation, native Americans have achieved some success in lobbying against Hanford.
To combat climate change, many are now proposing the world turn back to “carbon-free” nuclear energy. Frank writes that returning to nuclear energy is like “destroying the planet to save the planet.” When considering the full life cycle impact of nuclear energy, including the damage caused through mining nuclear materials, the carbon released through the manufacture and operation of nuclear energy facilities, and the difficulties with the disposal of nuclear waste, Frank argues that nuclear is a terrible energy option. Frank acknowledges that full life cycle assessment of solar and wind energy shows these “green energy solutions” also come with much harm, but Frank believes the risks from nuclear are far higher. The current Russian attacks on Ukraine’s nuclear plants is just another example of the risk with nuclear energy.
So where does cleaning up Hanford stand today? In 2020, the DOE proposed that up to 80 percent of the waste in Hanford’s leaking tanks should be reclassified as “low level”, so that nuclear waste could be turned into a grout-like substance instead of into glass rods. This is a step backwards. Frank provides evidence and examples as to how this approach has been a failure at securing nuclear waste.
Frank closes by providing his own recommendations. First is a complete system overhaul at Hanford, and the removal of Bechtel as lead contractor. Hanford needs more government and corporate accountability, and more public oversight. That’s the key: the public must be made aware just how dire the situation really is. Frank states that “it’s up to us, the public” to make sure Hanford is cleaned up in an effective, transparent, and equitable way. If the public continues to ignore this, Hanford will remain a nuclear wasteland and an extreme risk to the Pacific Northwest.
June 18, 2023
Riding on the same wave of documentaries like “Meltdown: Three Mile Island”, Atomic Days highlights serious nuclear accidents and the potential for future serious public health concerns arising from the United States government’s Cold War policies and decisions. Frank’s research unfolds the history of these decisions, their outcomes, and their potential for future disaster through oral histories, archival research, and interviews with stakeholders on all levels. The chapters focused on individuals’ experiences, those who have been intimately involved in the plant and its operations, its workers and residents of the immediate vicinity are especially riveting and profound.
Justifiably, there is a warning tone in Frank’s account. It is not one we should ignore as difficult as it is to read about such threats to our mortality and way of life. But Frank’s prose is not pedantic; the language is accessible and written for a general audience — for everyone, as with a doubt, what Frank highlights is very much everyone’s concern.
Justifiably, there is a warning tone in Frank’s account. It is not one we should ignore as difficult as it is to read about such threats to our mortality and way of life. But Frank’s prose is not pedantic; the language is accessible and written for a general audience — for everyone, as with a doubt, what Frank highlights is very much everyone’s concern.
April 23, 2023
I live in New Mexico, in the shadow of an old uranium mine. I've long struggled with the history of uranium mining, and this book solidified my belief that the mining of uranium has no place in the human-run world. The history of the US's atomic weapons is long, and the impacts great. This book isn't about the day to day clean up work at Hanford, which the author argues is one of the most polluted in the world. If that's what you are looking for, this book isn't for you. But if you are looking for a sordid history of the US's nuclear weapons, its impacts on the environment here in the US, on Native Americans, and on our wallets, this book is a must read. The author also outlines the risks posed at Hanford, and why we should all be very worried about it.
November 13, 2023
This book describes the mismanagement and government coverup of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation and the nuclear waste storage tank leaks. The site is very close to the Columbia River and the radiation exposure impacts the plant workers as well as the other residents of Washington state including the Native Americans. The author compares this site to incidents in New Mexico and Russia. Very informative and disturbing read.
June 13, 2025
As a Washingtonian I am unfortunately shook. I learned more than I bargained for which is a blessing and a curse. Minus one star as I felt the last couple chapters lost their storytelling quality and were mostly repurposed pre-existing articles and essays, and became a bit like a college persuasive paper (even when I agreed with the author).
July 4, 2023
Joshua Frank's Atomic Days is an essential read that details the egregious history and status of the Hanford site and the frighteningly mismanaged "clean up" of the nuclear sludge that the planet must endure for the next few hundred thousand years. Highly recommend!
December 4, 2023
Great book about a very dangerous situation that no one seems to talk about. The only knock against it would be the rather dense, at times, technical talk. It can sometimes make the facts, people, and agencies hard to keep track of; especially in audiobook format
January 8, 2023
The next time imperious self-proclaimed "scientists" tell you the answer to the climate crisis is
The next time imperious self-proclaimed "scientists" tell you the answer to the climate crisis is nuclear power, throw this book at them and order them to sit in the corner and read it ASAP.
Author Joshua Frank's Atomic Days, written in a conversational, yet informative tone, should be on the book shelf of every climate and anti-war activist, every sociology and political science professor, heck anyone who cares about human health and the perils of radioactive chemicals wafting across the United States or a "ticking time bomb" that threatens an explosion to dwarf Chernobyl. If you've never been to Hanford, WA, Frank will take you to this nuclear waste site "the most contaminated place on earth" three hours from the Idaho border, where the US government churned out the nuclear fuel for our nuclear arsenal capable of destroying the human race ten times over.
Frank's book is filled with juicy tidbits that capture the propagandistic hold of the military industrial complex on the people of Hanford and the rest of the country. For example, at the end of WWII, after the US dropped atomic bombs that annihilated 200,000 people in Japan, the local Hanford paper, explains Frank, declared in all caps, "PEACE, OUR BOMB CLENCHED IT."
God bless America and the permanent war economy!
Although Hanford no longer produces plutonium for our nuclear arsenal, it's still an ominous threat, according to Frank, whose book details how this "nuclear landfill" became a "radioactive cesspool" with nuclear waste stored in leaking underground tunnels.
What does one do with all this nuclear waste? Ask that question of the self-proclaimed "scientists" who all too easily dismiss concerns about stored radioactive waste contaminating our land and water.
In vivid detail, Frank describes Hanford as a "subdued landscape" where "thousands of gallons of toxic chemicals bubble in ancient tombs."
I guess I won't rent an apartment there!
I will, however, recommend Atomic Days as an engrossing indictment of the married nuclear power and nuclear weapons industry, the Department of Energy, Bechtel, US militarism and the capitalist profit-driven economic system that laid literal waste to Hanford.
Five stars for Atomic Days!
The next time imperious self-proclaimed "scientists" tell you the answer to the climate crisis is nuclear power, throw this book at them and order them to sit in the corner and read it ASAP.
Author Joshua Frank's Atomic Days, written in a conversational, yet informative tone, should be on the book shelf of every climate and anti-war activist, every sociology and political science professor, heck anyone who cares about human health and the perils of radioactive chemicals wafting across the United States or a "ticking time bomb" that threatens an explosion to dwarf Chernobyl. If you've never been to Hanford, WA, Frank will take you to this nuclear waste site "the most contaminated place on earth" three hours from the Idaho border, where the US government churned out the nuclear fuel for our nuclear arsenal capable of destroying the human race ten times over.
Frank's book is filled with juicy tidbits that capture the propagandistic hold of the military industrial complex on the people of Hanford and the rest of the country. For example, at the end of WWII, after the US dropped atomic bombs that annihilated 200,000 people in Japan, the local Hanford paper, explains Frank, declared in all caps, "PEACE, OUR BOMB CLENCHED IT."
God bless America and the permanent war economy!
Although Hanford no longer produces plutonium for our nuclear arsenal, it's still an ominous threat, according to Frank, whose book details how this "nuclear landfill" became a "radioactive cesspool" with nuclear waste stored in leaking underground tunnels.
What does one do with all this nuclear waste? Ask that question of the self-proclaimed "scientists" who all too easily dismiss concerns about stored radioactive waste contaminating our land and water.
In vivid detail, Frank describes Hanford as a "subdued landscape" where "thousands of gallons of toxic chemicals bubble in ancient tombs."
I guess I won't rent an apartment there!
I will, however, recommend Atomic Days as an engrossing indictment of the married nuclear power and nuclear weapons industry, the Department of Energy, Bechtel, US militarism and the capitalist profit-driven economic system that laid literal waste to Hanford.
Five stars for Atomic Days!
May 5, 2024
I'm not going to say I didn't learn anything from this book. I did. But it was a mess to get through, especially organizationally. The chapters and subsections did not flow and transitions were often incredibly jarring. The timeline bounced around. There were factual and typographical errors. And for a book that deals with advanced engineering and complex governmental structure, there wasn't a single diagram or org chart.
The sources used here left a lot to be desired. I don't know why Tom Carpenter of Hanford Challenge doesn't have a by-line in this book because he appears on basically every other page. Carpenter's point of view is largely taken as fact and rarely, if ever, challenged. Additionally, there are some explosive allegations that are backed up with suspect sources (for example, a Medium post). I understand this is 2024 and new media is real... but cmon man, there are court cases and government records of these things... why are we relying on a Medium post? Additionally, the author presented some controversial things as fact - for example, whether or not the use of nuclear weapons in WWII saved or did not save lives. There is a lot of scholarship on this and it is still hotly debated. Yet in Atomic Days, it is firmly presented as "the bomb wasn't even necessary, QED."
Finally, if you're looking for a history of Hanford, this is not your book. I found it difficult to get past the socialist / anti-imperialist / anti-colonialist/ anti-miltarist / anti-government denunciations. I can't even call them undertones, honestly, because I think I'm still bleeding from getting banged over the head with these messages. There is no nuance to this book. So, if that kind of thing is your bag, you'll love this book. And that's ok -- well and truly, I mean it. It just 100% is not mine.
The sources used here left a lot to be desired. I don't know why Tom Carpenter of Hanford Challenge doesn't have a by-line in this book because he appears on basically every other page. Carpenter's point of view is largely taken as fact and rarely, if ever, challenged. Additionally, there are some explosive allegations that are backed up with suspect sources (for example, a Medium post). I understand this is 2024 and new media is real... but cmon man, there are court cases and government records of these things... why are we relying on a Medium post? Additionally, the author presented some controversial things as fact - for example, whether or not the use of nuclear weapons in WWII saved or did not save lives. There is a lot of scholarship on this and it is still hotly debated. Yet in Atomic Days, it is firmly presented as "the bomb wasn't even necessary, QED."
Finally, if you're looking for a history of Hanford, this is not your book. I found it difficult to get past the socialist / anti-imperialist / anti-colonialist/ anti-miltarist / anti-government denunciations. I can't even call them undertones, honestly, because I think I'm still bleeding from getting banged over the head with these messages. There is no nuance to this book. So, if that kind of thing is your bag, you'll love this book. And that's ok -- well and truly, I mean it. It just 100% is not mine.
October 7, 2024
An exposé on the Hanford Site in Washington State. Once the site of plutonium production for nuclear weapons, now is the largest nuclear waste landfill and the center of a complex and expensive clean up effort.
The subject matter is fascinating. The book is not. There were a couple interesting points about Cold War era whistleblowers, but the rest was political sermoning about topics not even relevant to Hanford. All electricity should be from solar panels? Blow up hydroelectric dams? The US should retire its entire nuclear arsenal? None of this is relevant to cleaning up nuclear waste. Entire chapters felt shoehorned with arguments that didn’t even make sense. The book jumps around a lot and was a chore to finish.
Right from the beginning the author is trying to shame the local residents for not being active enough in a pro-transexual protest, being all the more guilty since the community has one of the highest concentrations in higher education, so they should know better. He then goes into bland tirade, trying to apply every cause he can think of: anti-militarism, capitalism, Native Americans, environmentalism, renewable energy, anti-nuclear technology, anti-hydro power, over development, both pro and anti union.
The parts actually about Hanford though are what feels like 80% quotes and positions from Tom Carpenter, head of a legal non-profit organization called Hanford Challenge. Carpenter’s statements are taken as gospel, without even a veneer of critical analysis. Carpenter, who it appears made his career from lawsuits related to Hanford, really should be listed as a co-author, as he is mentioned in almost every chapter.
Overall, Frank and Carpenter dropped the ball as the story underneath and the sparse facts presented could have made for a good book.
The subject matter is fascinating. The book is not. There were a couple interesting points about Cold War era whistleblowers, but the rest was political sermoning about topics not even relevant to Hanford. All electricity should be from solar panels? Blow up hydroelectric dams? The US should retire its entire nuclear arsenal? None of this is relevant to cleaning up nuclear waste. Entire chapters felt shoehorned with arguments that didn’t even make sense. The book jumps around a lot and was a chore to finish.
Right from the beginning the author is trying to shame the local residents for not being active enough in a pro-transexual protest, being all the more guilty since the community has one of the highest concentrations in higher education, so they should know better. He then goes into bland tirade, trying to apply every cause he can think of: anti-militarism, capitalism, Native Americans, environmentalism, renewable energy, anti-nuclear technology, anti-hydro power, over development, both pro and anti union.
The parts actually about Hanford though are what feels like 80% quotes and positions from Tom Carpenter, head of a legal non-profit organization called Hanford Challenge. Carpenter’s statements are taken as gospel, without even a veneer of critical analysis. Carpenter, who it appears made his career from lawsuits related to Hanford, really should be listed as a co-author, as he is mentioned in almost every chapter.
Overall, Frank and Carpenter dropped the ball as the story underneath and the sparse facts presented could have made for a good book.
February 13, 2024
This is a compelling book marred by some glaring factual errors. In chapter 1, the author lists the death tolls of the firebombing of Dresden at 45,000, and the firebombing of Tokyo at 300,000. These are numbers I’ve never heard before. I checked the citation, and the article cited uses the David Irving number of 135,000 for Dresden, though we’ve known the actual death toll was 20,000-25,000 since 2008, over a decade prior to the publication of this book. The 300,000 Tokyo number does not exist anywhere in the article, and includes the accurate death toll of around 100,000. Immediately following this, the author includes a quote from David McNamara which uses the correct (100,000) death toll for Tokyo.
Frankly, following this very obvious and easily checked error early on, I find it very hard to take some of the other claims as fact. It’s possible that, since the author’s point was simply that the US was willing to commit war crimes prior to the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, he didn’t feel the need to research this as well as the main topic of the book. However it’s still very concerning as a reader to be constantly doubting what is presented to you after such a sloppy mistake early on.
Frankly, following this very obvious and easily checked error early on, I find it very hard to take some of the other claims as fact. It’s possible that, since the author’s point was simply that the US was willing to commit war crimes prior to the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, he didn’t feel the need to research this as well as the main topic of the book. However it’s still very concerning as a reader to be constantly doubting what is presented to you after such a sloppy mistake early on.
May 11, 2025
4.5✨ rounded up. Incredibly important for anyone to read, but especially if you're up in the PNW. I knew Hanford was bad news but I didn't really realize just how bad it really is and... Spoiler alert... It's scary bad. The author reiterates the watchdog org Hanford Challenge as a good way to get current news about the issue that doesn't make it to mainstream news, and I'll tell ya I'll definitely be regularly visiting.
As for the book, it's pretty accessibly written, despite getting slightly more technical in the latter third of the book. There's a lot to learn here and Frank makes it easy to digest, (well, as easy as nuclear disaster can be made to digest lol). I shaved off half a star because there's some repitition later in the book — apparently these are essays brought together from articles he's written, and that is definitely felt more clearly later on. Despite that, I'll be screaming this one from the mountaintops as a must read for Oregonians/Washingtonians.
As for the book, it's pretty accessibly written, despite getting slightly more technical in the latter third of the book. There's a lot to learn here and Frank makes it easy to digest, (well, as easy as nuclear disaster can be made to digest lol). I shaved off half a star because there's some repitition later in the book — apparently these are essays brought together from articles he's written, and that is definitely felt more clearly later on. Despite that, I'll be screaming this one from the mountaintops as a must read for Oregonians/Washingtonians.
December 16, 2024
An author undermines their credibility when, early in their book, they make false claims about a town that houses some of the most brilliant and well-paid scientists (e.g. Hanford, Columbia Generating Station, Fluor, Pacific Northwest Laboratories) saying something silly like it lacks a fine dining restaurant. Joshua Frank landed in Richland, WA with the intent to produce a sensationalized narrative, as typical of a journalist. No one disputes that there are waste issues at Hanford, hence the ongoing cleanup efforts. However, if Frank cannot accurately report simple facts, how can he be trusted to report on more significant matters?
August 16, 2025
What started out as an interesting and informative book about an issue local to my state quickly became tedious, full of unnecessary details, and a slag to finish. I also did not appreciate the author blasting nuclear power as if it could never work as a green solution. The dangers of nuclear power are paramount but so are the dangers of the climate crisis. & the mismanagement of nuclear waste in the US will probably k*ll us all but does that mean we are doomed to never properly manage it & therefore shouldn’t even pursue it? I do appreciate becoming more educated about the insane government negligence and nuclear waste mismanagement in my state. Hence the 2 stars.
May 11, 2025
The generation, disposal, and deadly effects of nuclear waste are an unsightly and inconvenient truth of nuclear power that nuclear power’s cheerleaders like to downplay and this book keeps that issue front and center and impossible to ignore. This is an especially important read as the U.S. begins priming itself for a possible resurgence of nuclear power to meet the energy demands of AI. This book will show you what a dangerous and deadly road that will be to travel.
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