Customer Reviews

The Legacy of Chernobyl

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book takes you right into the Chernobyl disaster. From the bungling government and perverse incentives placed on the nuclear engineer teams which made it a disaster just waiting to happen, to the clean up, evacuation (largely also botched) and health effects of the nuclear fallout.

It is amazingly detailed. The author even discusses wind patterns during the disaster which effected what areas were worst effected by what radioactive material (as the disaster progressed the wind AND the composition of the radioactive dust changed). I can honestly say that I was never really bored even though it gets technical in places.

The author's writing style actually makes a reader feel that they are there when the Reactor explodes... not to mention (for one example out of many)sharing frustration at the government's incompetence when they delay an evacuation for half a day thereby increasing the populations poisoning over ten-fold.

Highly Recommended.

The book was a fast read. I found the information fascinating, but the author suddenly was throwing numbers at me that I didn't quite understand.
My main reason for the purchase of this book was the info for a play. The info was clear and easy to understand, (except for the numbers I.E.
40 Ci/km and 2 just above the m, the equivalent of 1,500,000Bq/m with the number 2 above the m. I guess that means to the second power) Anyway I reccommend THE LEGACY OF CHERNOBYL BY Zhores Medvedev if anyone is interested in what happened at Chernobyl. This book helped me to write the one-act play "CHERNOBYL."

I bought this book hoping for a general introduction to the explosion, its causes and its aftermath. The book does contain such information, but it's buried underneath a heavy layer of technical detail that can be, at times, mind-numbingly boring. Unless you are a nuclear engineer or otherwise interested in the minutiae of the reactor's workings, I'd skip this book.

This book is a must read for any serious student of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. It was written not long after the accident (1990) and so lacks information about the long-term health effects. However, the detail about the interactions of the participants, the top-down, Moscow directed policies that intentionally misled everyone including the operators, the comprehensive data about the immediate radioactive release, and the description of the sequence of events and decisions leading to the accident are both amazing and well researched. One of the most revealing aspects is that the radiation release, as bad as it was, could have actually been FAR WORSE. Cooling the basement with liquid nitrogen averted a complete meltdown into the water table. However, the author, as well as most reporters, doesn't display an understanding of the importance of xenon buildup that led to a positive-feedback nuclear excursion as the xenon burned out leaving a super-prompt-critical core.

more than a book about horrific accident at chernobyl. explains nuclear energy 2 make electricity in general. also tells of various governments lack of real concern over issues of whether using nuclear reactors 2 make electricity is really safe. i recommend everyony read this book.

This book is very technical, very dry and full of figures - and this is a good thing. If you want a very insightful and in depth view to what happened in Chernobyl in 1986, the background and aftermath of the disaster and its effects in Ukraine, Soviet Union and around the world, this is a book well worth reading. The Legacy of Chernobyl was published in 1990, so the information is a little bit dated in some respects. Nevertheless, I can highly recommend this book for those readers who want well researched facts and figures instead of an entertaining yarn.

I thought this was a very good novel. I used this on several occations as a document for research papers I have wrote on the subject of Nuclear power and Chernobyl. The author is very accurate and shows the world what goes on behind the scenes.