Meltdown: A Race Against Nuclear Disaster at Three Mile Island: A Reporter's Story [Hardcover]

Wilborn Hampton (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

This riveting eyewitness report—including dramatic photos—takes readers right to the scene of the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island.

March 28, 1979: It was 4 a.m. at the nuclear power plant on an island in
the middle of the Susquehanna River. Suddenly, an alarm shrieked. Something was wrong inside the plant. Within minutes, human error and technical failure triggered the worst nuclear power accident in the United States, and, within hours, the eyes of the world would be on Three Mile Island. Thirty-four years after the bombing of Hiroshima, the crisis at Three Mile Island re-awoke the world to the dangers of nuclear power, and now, in MELTDOWN, Wilborn Hampton tells the hour-by-hour story of covering the accident as a U.P.I. reporter. His riveting eyewitness account will compel readers to consider one of the most serious questions facing humankind: where can we find affordable, sustainable energy, and at what risk?

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Hampton's (Kennedy Assassinated! The World Mourns: A Reporter's Story) compelling account of the March 28, 1979, Three Mile Island crisis both objectively portrays the history of nuclear energy leading up to that day and offers an engaging, personal, behind-the-scenes viewpoint. The first chapter presents a chilling description of the atomic bomb dropped at Hiroshima, dotted with riveting contemporary reactions from scientists and writers. Hampton effectively makes the transition from the horrors of the bomb to the public's gradual warming up to the idea of atomic energy which later soured in 1979 when the Three Mile Island plant threatened meltdown. He provides insight into the task of a reporter and the camaraderie of the press corps, and delivers the headlines of the time and the emotions of the terrified inhabitants closest to the plant near Harrisburg, Pa., while also giving 20/20 hindsight into the misinformation supplied by the power company and the internal disagreements among government and local scientists. Throughout, powerful black-and-white photographs intensify the drama, though at times the institutional design detracts from the accessibility of the text. While Three Mile Island ultimately averted tragedy, Hampton juxtaposes this with the long-range effects of Chernobyl (just seven years later) and will leave readers pondering weighty ethical questions about the future of atomic power. Ages 10-up.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Gr 7 Up-Using his gift for capturing dramatic situations in personal stories, this award-winning reporter offers an account of his experiences covering the near meltdown at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant near Harrisburg, PA, in 1979. He sets the stage with an outline of the effect of the Atomic Age on its first victims, the people of Hiroshima, Japan, and the hope of nuclear engineers for energy "too cheap to meter." Hampton's own tale begins with a hasty trip to Harrisburg, not knowing what to expect, followed by the rapid education in nuclear physics that many people got in short order. He vividly recounts the events, reactions to them, and provides one of the clearest accounts available of the technical side of the incident and the dangers the local people faced. He also discusses what happened at Chernobyl and other accident sites. A good selection of informative black-and-white photos accompanies the narrative. The author strives for a balanced view mentioning arguments in favor of nuclear energy as well as people's continuing fear of it. While Christopher Lampton's Nuclear Accident (Millbrook, 1992) and Judith Condon's Chernobyl and Other Nuclear Accidents (RSVP, 2001) provide more detail on those arguments, Hampton's title may well attract more readers with its "you-are-there" perspective. Recommend it to students needing information on the topic and for those considering a career in journalism or public affairs.

Jonathan Betz-Zall, City University Library, Everett, WA

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 112 pages
• Publisher: Candlewick; 1 edition (October 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0763607150
• ISBN-13: 978-0763607159
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 8.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,455,242 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars About Being A Reporter, Not About TMI., May 5, 2006

By 

Cathy (Pennsylvania, USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Meltdown: A Race Against Nuclear Disaster at Three Mile Island: A Reporter's Story (Hardcover)

This book was written by a man who, as he himself admits, knew virtually nothing about nuclear power. He provided almost no technical details of what happened or why. He honestly didn't even manage to convey the suspense surrounding the accident.

I would say that this is not a good book about TMI. However, it is a good book about being a reporter covering a major breaking news story. It copied a number of the newspapr stories the author wrote at the time, so it is a good study of how reporters spin events and condense a day's experience into a few column inches.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Overview, December 13, 2008

By 

Patricia W. Gunby "high school kid under mom'... (MO, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Meltdown: A Race Against Nuclear Disaster at Three Mile Island: A Reporter's Story (Hardcover)

Kyle Gunby
review-
As a 9th grader curious about the events at 3 Mile Island and Chernobyl, "Meltdown" was an easy to read, first-hand overview of the two events. Wilborn Hampton provided a nice summary of the terror and events at Three Mile Island, and while he was not extremely in depth he gave an easy to understand account of the proceedings. He went through the process of nuclear meltdowns and did a good job of parlaying the dire effects of an actual meltdown. This book shows a very interesting connection between the race for more efficient power and the amazingly devastating potential of that power. A great read that won't overwhelm you but give you a fairly thorough explanation while keeping it entertaining.

summary-
Wilborn Hampton, a foreign news reporter for the U.P.I. was called into duty on March 30, 1979 to investigate an event in which he had no experience. Unit 2 of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Plant in Pennsylvania was blaring with warning sirens. In the days to come the world's eyes would watch as every second inched closer to nuclear catastrophe. President Carter tried to calm the nation but if the unit had melt down, that part of Pennsylvania wouldn't have been livable for decades. Although the crisis was averted in the U.S., the Soviets weren't very lucky. On April 26, 1986 a fire broke out at the Chernobyl Nuclear Plant in Ukraine. Firefighters were called in and mistakenly poured water over the reactor causing huge clouds of radioactive gas. Now the areas all around Chernobyl are not accessible and probably won't be for many more years. While these huge events were both potentially and in reality lethal, many people still support cheap nuclear energy. The users of this great power must be responsible with it so that citizens will not be harmed. With new innovation comes heightened responsibility. But it may be only a matter of time before something goes wrong.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The book served as a good brief summary., March 31, 2008

By 

DHJ (FL, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Meltdown: A Race Against Nuclear Disaster at Three Mile Island: A Reporter's Story (Hardcover)

I was looking for a book that would give me a simple, brief review of the events leading to, during, and after 3 Mile Island and thats exactly what it did. Much of the text read as a journal of the author's actions as a reporter covering the event, but it still was interesting reading since I knew nothing about the sequence of events of the disaster and this was well described by the author.