Japan Nuclear

By midsummer 1945, Japan had long since lost the war in the Pacific. The people were not told the truth, and neither was the emperor. Japanese generals, admirals, and statesmen knew, but only a handful of leaders were willing to accept defeat. Most were bent on fighting the Allies until the last Japanese soldier died and the last city burned to the ground.

HISASHI OUCHI :: TOKAIMURA :: NUCLEAR DISASTER :: REAL EVENTS :: RADIOACTIVITY On September 30, 1999, Japan witnessed a radiation tragedy as shocking as the Chernobyl nuclear disaster: the Tokaimura accident. Three workers were exposed to extremely high doses of radiation while handling enriched uranium during nuclear fuel preparation. Among them was Hisashi Ouchi, who became globally known as “the most radioactive man in history.” This book carefully and respectfully reconstructs what happened inside the plant where Hisashi Ouchi worked. Drawing on decades of expertise in nuclear ...

Here, for the first time, in a brilliant, panoramic portrait by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Making of the Atomic Bomb, is the definitive, often shocking story of the politics and the science behind the development of the hydrogen bomb and the birth of the Cold War. Based on secret...

From New York Times bestselling author Sam Kean comes the gripping, untold story of a renegade group of scientists and spies determined to keep Adolf Hitler from obtaining the ultimate prize: a nuclear bomb. Scientists have always kept secrets. But rarely have the secrets been as vital as they...

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.

Almost 24 hours to the minute since the tsunami hit Fukushima Daiichi, Unit 1 exploded. The building wrenched apart, sending shards of irradiated concrete and metal knifing through the air in all directions. The reactor’s massive heavy-duty gantry crane bent like a twig and collapsed onto the refueling floor control room, crushing everything that wasn’t expelled in the blast. Outside, chunks of debris rained down on the fire crew, injuring five and shredding the hoses they had just laid.

What truly happened in Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the final days of World War II? Beyond the iconic mushroom cloud images, what do science and history reveal about the events that changed the world forever? In "20 Facts You Didn’t Know About Hiroshima and Nagasaki," a Ph.D. physicist provides a clear, rigorous, and accessible analysis of the nuclear bombings that marked the end of the War in the Pacific. Moving beyond complex physics, this book reaches into the profound human dimension of the catastrophe, answering questions that have persisted for generations. Why did Hiroshima return...

Atomic Bomb Island tells the story of an elite, top-secret team of sailors, airmen, scientists, technicians, and engineers who came to Tinian in the Marianas in the middle of 1945 to prepare the island for delivery of the atomic bombs then being developed in New Mexico, to finalize the designs of the bombs themselves, and to launch the missions that would unleash hell on Japan. 

This book traces the history of the Manhattan Project, from the first glimmerings of the possibility of such a catastrophic weapon to the aftermath of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It profiles the architects of the bomb, including J. Robert Oppenheimer, and how they tried to reconcile their personal feelings with their ambition as scientists. It looks at the role of the politicians and it includes first-hand accounts of those who experienced the effects of the bombings.

Autumn 1944. World War II is nearly over in Europe, but in the Pacific, American soldiers face an enemy who will not surrender, despite a massive and mounting death toll. Meanwhile, in Los Alamos, New Mexico, Dr. J. Robert Oppenheimer and his team of scientists are preparing to test the...

Japan experienced the biggest earthquake in its history. When it occurred, I was in the room upstairs of my apartment. At first, I felt faint quivers and went downstairs just in case it grew stronger and I needed to escape outside. As soon as I reached the foot of the stairs, it showed its main force. The building began to shake violently and I held the LCD monitor with my right hand and the toaster with my left hand without thinking. The shaking got even stronger and it was hard to stay standing. As a native of Japan, I was supposed to be accustomed to an earthquake since we have one quite...

Here, for the first time, in a brilliant, panoramic portrait by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Making of the Atomic Bomb, is the definitive, often shocking story of the politics and the science behind the development of the hydrogen bomb and the birth of the Cold War. Based on secret...

An epic, “painstakingly researched” (Los Angeles Times) work of historical nonfiction, based on new interviews and research, that elucidates the approval, construction, and fateful decision to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima—one of the most consequential moments in World War II history...

In this concise account of why America used atomic bombs against Japan in 1945, J. Samuel Walker analyzes the reasons behind President Truman's most controversial decision. Delineating what was known and not known by American leaders at the time, Walker evaluates the options available for ending the war with Japan. In this new edition, Walker incorporates a decade of new research - mostly from Japanese archives only recently made available - that provides fresh insight on the strategic considerations that led to dropping the bomb.

A gripping full-cast dramatisation of Japan’s 2011 nuclear emergency, narrated by Romola Garai When a tsunami hit Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant in March 2011, surging past defences and flood reactors, it triggered the worst nuclear incident since the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. This...

An operation to break up a major smuggling ring that supplies hard currency and cutting-edge missile technologies to the North Korean regime goes horribly wrong. The event rocks Japan which, in the midst of a political transition, finds itself the target of Pyongyang's increasingly hostile words and actions. And for Trinh Archer, the American operative who spearheaded the effort, and for her Japanese partner Ryutaro Nishi, the failure becomes deadly personal. Meanwhile, Wilson Bennett, the US administration's new National Security Council executive with extensive ties to Asia, believes he ...

Author Ari M. Beser knows that in war, there is no such thing as “the truth”—each side has a version of their own to which they cling. Yet with one grandfather bearing the distinction as the only man to fly on both planes that carried the atomic bombs, and another grandfather with close ties to a survivor of these bombings, Beser decided to see if he could find a version of the truth somewhere in the middle. His investigation culminates in The Nuclear Family. Part personal memoir, part history text, it weaves multiple story lines into a rich, multifaceted look at the price we’ve ...

Hiroshima, 1945—a city incinerated by nuclear attack, and the forge that creates a beautiful psychopath named Mito Mitsui, bent on ultimate revenge against America. What is born in these ashes will change the world forever… Baltimore, Maryland, present day—a simple supply problem for fighter planes escalates into a much more deadly threat—fueled by an obsession spanning more than five decades. A Japanese keiretsu, formed in vengeance, is driven toward lethal conflict with the United States by Mito Mitsui—Japan’s most beloved performer for over fifty years. What she demands is ...

Before the Second World War, military conflicts were fought under orthodox conditions, usually termed “conventional warfare”, but several innovations had significantly changed combat, leading inextricably to the race for a nuclear weapon in the 1930s and 1940s. Conflicts had been fought by armies on horseback with guns of varying sophistication since the 16th century, but mechanized warfare and machine guns changed this calculus and set the stage for future combat by the end of World War I.

—character-driven, hard science fiction with a heart— —the epic finale to a globe-spanning, first contact story of aliens, AIs, and humans— As the alien arkship nears Earth, plans for good and evil reach their climax. At sea, Interstellar Ambassador Miharu and her friends battle typhoon winds and North Korean assassins. But Miharu’s deadliest enemy may be her own wounded heart. In space, a Chinese taikonaut defies orders. UN Secretary-General Pirez fights to celebrate alien law and generosity. The hearts, values, and loyalties of humans, aliens, and AIs alike are laid bare. If you...