Fukushima: The Story of a Nuclear Disaster

By: Susan Stranahan, David Lochbaum, The Union of Concerned Scientists, Edwin Lyman

Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross

Length: 12 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

On March 11, 2011, an earthquake large enough to knock the earth from its axis sent a massive tsunami speeding toward the Japanese coast and the aging and vulnerable Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power reactors. Over the following weeks, the world watched in horror as a natural disaster became a man-made catastrophe: fail-safes failed, cooling systems shut down, nuclear rods melted.

In the first definitive account of the Fukushima disaster, two leading experts from the Union of Concerned Scientists, David Lochbaum and Edwin Lyman, team up with journalist Susan Q. Stranahan, the lead reporter of the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Pulitzer Prizewinning coverage of the Three Mile Island accident, to tell this harrowing story. Fukushima combines a fast-paced, riveting account of the tsunami and the nuclear emergency it created with an explanation of the science and technology behind the meltdown as it unfolded in real time.

The narrative also extends to other severe nuclear accidents to address both the terrifying question of whether it could happen elsewhere and how such a crisis can be averted in the future.

©2014 Union of Concerned Scientists (P)2014 Audible Inc.

Much is NOT about Fukushima

A significant amount of this relates only to the US nuclear industry and regulators. The United States isn’t at the center of the universe, and the writers seem to have missed that point. I’m still hunting for a GOOD history of this event. This is not it.

Well done

Non-biased. Well presented summary of events and the complex implications, then and now. I was there as a responder. I appreciated the view from other perspectives. Well done.

need to stick to the facts

the story about what happen at Fukushima is really good. As the book ran on it became very clear the writers of this book were trying to force the facts into fitting within their specific and narrow minded opinion. what they really wanted to blame the United States for problems in Japan. further they want to force the nuclear industry into taking policy positions that would made it impossible to actually operate nuclear power plants. plus they refused to give any credit to efforts being done to improve nuckear safety if the possitions did not fit into their narrow view. This started out as a really good book but then drives way to deep into unsupportable political opinion and so I will probably never listen to this book again.

Good story of a terrible catastrophe

Very informative, explains a lot about the nuclear industry, some segements were a bit dry

A scholarly take on the subject

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

If you are interested in a factual account mixed with policy implications for the nuclear industry you have found your book. For me this was just "meh". Good non- fiction writers have a way of infusing a true story with a narrative that offers some suspense, tension, or at least lets you get behind the scenes to get to know the players and their take on what happened and it's impact on them. All that is missing here and the result reads more like an extended encyclopedia entry rather than an engrossing page turner. The problem may lie with the group of writers - all from the field. Would have benefitted from a ghost writer to help them along.

What does Jonathan Todd Ross bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Can't complain about the narration. Well read.

Could you see Fukushima: The Story of a Nuclear Disaster being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

If so, would need some major script doctoring, even if it were a documentary, Can't see Tarantino directing this.

Better books on this topic out there

The first half was good, the rest anti-nuclear drivel. if the story stuck to the facts without letting its bias show, I might have been able to finish this book, instead it's one of 3 or 4 in the 20 years of using Audible that I didn't have the stomach to finish.

What I didn't know, Truth must be told

This was a great book, more peope should know more. This does just that. It was just the right amount technical detail. Was not hard to follow, one thing it should of ended better. There has to be more. I would recomend.

Scary and informative

I really enjoyed this book. It was very informative about what happened in Japan in 2011. It definitely made me decide to never live anywhere near a nuclear power plant!

Trust us there is no danger!

You can trust those in charge of the safety even though stockholders must be satisfied.

Not actually about Fukushima

Although compelling, 80% of the book was complaints about the USA - only 20% was the actual accident.