Nuclear Disaster in the Urals

by Zhores A. Medvedev

The story of the explosion and contamination was and still is suppressed in the Soviet Union and, the author contends, by the CIA and other Western intelligence organizations fearful of public resistance to nuclear power plants. Now, after an intensive study of Soviet scientific articles (written to disguise the fact that they were about the Ural explosion) and after many interviews and reports from friends in the scientific community as well as from witnesses, the author has pieced together the story of what actually happened. He analyzes the extent and consequences of the contamination and draws forbidding conclusions about the possibility of similar disasters in the rest of the world.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Soviet Union

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1979

Reviews

[Jessica Costescu · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best open-source book out there

[William Copps · Rating 2 out of 5]

I want to hear about the cover up, not the radioisotope levels at the local fishery, -3!

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting book, but now somewhat dated. As an environmental consultant I have long been aware of this disaster, but knew nothing of the details. It was written in 1979 when much of the information was still classified by the governments of the United States and the Soviet Union. Two thirds of the book is devoted to proving that the event, now unclassified, actually occurred and pinpointing its location. The first few chapters and the last few were most interesting for me. I was surprised to find that this was the location that Gary Powers was shot down. Additionally, I was surprised to find that the CIA had covered up information about the disaster in order to avoid unpleasant about the US nuclear program and its accidents. The comparisons between Chelyabinsk and the near miss at Hanford DOE site in Washington were very interesting.

This book is dated, but is useful and historical.

[Jon · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is very interesting from the point of view of reading it now while it was published in the 70's about subject matter from the 50's. Even when it was written most of the information was classified and very difficult to determine. It was derided by western scientists and dismissed as fantasy. However, Medvedev was eventually vindicated when his assessment was eventually revealed to be nearly 100% accurate when the documents were declassified much later. So it's quite interesting to know all of this now and read it with 45 years of hindsight.

But be warned, the book is very dry. The bulk of the book is comprised of chapters that investigate the minute details of the effects of radiation on plants, mice, fish, mammals, etc. It's very low-level and scientific information presented in a straight-up manner. It works because the author uses this info to draw conclusions about the nature of the disaster. But it doesn't make for a very dynamic reading experience.

[Therese Brink · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author recounts a nuclear power disaster and how it was covered up. Zhores Medvedev and other opponents of nuclear power were not listened to, and voila, Chernobyl. I had the privilege of hearing Zhores Medvedev speak at the University of Illinois. He is a great man. He was imprisoned in a Soviet mental asylum because of his dissent. I gave this book 4 stars because of the issues that the author raises, not for the writing.