Idaho Falls
The Untold Story of America’s First Nuclear Accident
ECW Press · Print & ebook · May 13, 2003
The little-known true story of a mysterious nuclear reactor disaster — years before Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, or Fukushima Before the Three Mile Island incident or the Chernobyl disaster, the world’s first nuclear reactor meltdown to claim lives happened on U.S. soil.
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- Who it’s for
- A little-known 1961 disaster opens onto unsettling questions about nuclear safety and what remained unanswered.
- Themes
- Nuclear reactor disaster, Investigative history, Possible industry cover-up
- Genres
- Technology, Western U.S. History, Nuclear Physics
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Start with this bookAbout this book
The little-known true story of a mysterious nuclear reactor disaster — years before Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, or Fukushima Before the Three Mile Island incident or the Chernobyl disaster, the world’s first nuclear reactor meltdown to claim lives happened on U.S. soil.
Continue reading
Chronicled here for the first time is the strange tale of SL-1, an experimental military reactor located in Idaho’s Lost River Desert that exploded on the night of January 3, 1961, killing the three crewmembers on duty. Through exclusive interviews with the victims’ families and friends, firsthand accounts from rescue workers and nuclear industry insiders, and extensive research into official documents, journalist William McKeown probes the many questions surrounding this devastating blast that have gone unanswered for decades. From reports of faulty design and mismanagement to incompetent personnel and even rumors of sabotage after a failed love affair, these plausible explanations raise startling new questions about whether the truth was deliberately suppressed to protect the nuclear energy industry.
Buried Reactor History
A little-known 1961 disaster opens onto unsettling questions about nuclear safety and what remained unanswered.
Come here for
- A true account of America’s first fatal reactor meltdown
- The uneasy pull of questions left open for decades
Expect
- Family, rescue-worker, and industry-insider accounts
- Several proposed explanations, from mismanagement to sabotage
Where it sits
| Technology | 50% |
|---|---|
| Nuclear Physics | 42% |
| Western U.S. History | 39% |
Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.
Publisher categories
- U.S. Military History
- Authors
- William McKeown
- Publisher
- ECW Press
- Published
- May 13, 2003
- Format
- Print & ebook
- Theme
- Nuclear reactor disaster · Investigative history · Possible industry cover-up
- Reading lane
- U.S. Military History