Fallout: A Journey Through the Nuclear Age, From the Atom Bomb to Radioactive Waste

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At a moment when a new generation of power stations and weapons are being developed, Fallout is a measured and fascinating exploration of our most misunderstood energy source and asks: what can we learn from our past mistakes, and what role should nuclear play in our future Hiroshima. Bikini Atoll. Windscale. Chernobyl. Fukushima. These names no longer denote a place, but a disaster. In a few syllables, they evoke the heights of human ingenuity clashing with the worst of human error. Individually, each place has its own sobering story to tell; together, they form a timeline of the nuclear age. In this compelling and deeply researched book, Fred Pearce investigates the greatest nuclear incidents and accidents of the past 80 years by visiting their now iconic landscapes. He tours former power stations and abandoned testing sites in the company of scientists and engineers, and in previously toxic wastelands, where radioactive wolves now stalk the streets and genetically-malformed flora blooms, he witnesses the surprising resilience of nature. As well as the physical legacy, Pearce also considers the psychological impact of these disasters. Amid rumours of state cover-ups, corporate deception, and hushed-up medical epidemics, Pearce weighs the evidence on either side of the argument to disentangle the facts from the fear.

Reviews

This tour de force by Fred Pearce takes the reader on a riveting journey through nuclear installations and radioactive landscapes around the world... The author's penetrating political eye and sober scientific gaze combine to reveal the many reasons, including toxic legacies of fear and deception, that it's time to call an end to the nuclear age. Read this book as if the future depended on it -- Betsy Hartmann
Fred Pearce takes you on an extraordinary first-person odyssey through the nuclear world we now live in, whether we like it or not. By turns thoughtful and hair-raising, this is a vivid, immediate travelogue of places most people dare not enter -- Walt Patterson
An extraordinary and necessary investigation of humanity's brief but alarming relationship with atomic power from Britain's distinguished/ veteran reporter. This is an illuminating tale of horrifying hubris, hidden catastrophes and indefensible experiments, which raises profound questions about our post-carbon energy future -- Gaia Vince
At once troubling, surprising and ruthlessly entertaining... yields some hideous examples of the industry's secrecy -- Julie McDowell * Economist *
Pearce lays bare the contradictions of our attitudes to nuclear technology... It's time we realised that fear is part of the fallout -- Caroline Crampton * Mail on Sunday *
This is an ambitious and highly readable study, based on boots-on-the-ground reporting in several countries, and clearly meticulous historical research. But the issues here are as much to do with the future: while nuclear energy might be falling out of favour, the world still can't seem to let go of nuclear weapons. We ignore past lessons at our peril, Pearce reminds us -- Catherine Healy * Sunday Business Post *

Author Bio

Fred Pearce is an award-winning journalist and author, reporting from 87 countries. He is the environment consultant of New Scientist magazine, a regular broadcaster and contributor to the Guardian, Washington Post and others. He has written fourteen books on environmental and development issues, translated into 24 languages. Fallout is his first book for Portobello.