The apocalypse factory Plutonium and the making of the atomic age

Science writer Olson (Eruption) delivers a lucid, fast-paced chronicle of the discovery and weaponization of plutonium and the unforeseen consequences of the nuclear arms race. Delving deeply into the history of the Hanford nuclear facility in south-central Washington State, the first full-scale nuclear reactor in the world, Olson documents how material produced at Hanford as part of the Manhattan Project during WWII was tested at the Trinity site in New Mexico and used in the bomb detonated over Nagasaki in August 1945. He covers the struggle between researchers and the military for control of nuclear weaponry, and the sincere but ultimately counterproductive efforts by scientists to reduce the chances of nuclear war by "stoking people's fears" of nuclear annihilation. During the Cold War, the Hanford site expanded from three to nine nuclear reactors and supplied most of the plutonium for the American nuclear arsenal. Meanwhile, inadequate safety standards and waste disposal procedures, as well as rushed production, contributed to groundwater contamination and high cancer rates in the surrounding region. Olsen has a knack for explaining complex chemistry in ways that even the most science-averse reader can follow, and he packs many intriguing tangents into the narrative. This comprehensively researched and compulsively readable account deserves a large audience. (July)

The thesis of Olson's (Eruption: The Untold Story of Mount St. Helens) latest work of nonfiction is that Washington State, in particular the Hanford Nuclear Facility, played a lesser-known, but equally vital role in the creation of the atomic bomb. Glenn Seaborg, who discovered plutonium, is spotlighted along with several other scientists in the late 1930s as they raced against time to discover atomic weaponry before the Germans. These discoveries led to the production of plutonium in Washington in the early to mid-1940s. Olson does a solid job of framing the strategy of the Manhattan Project within global affairs. While readers may know the story of Los Alamos, New Mexico, and the eventual bombing of Japan, few will know how those bombs were truly made. Ultimately, Olson brings a philosophical eye to the scientific details described, asking how humans live in a world they now have the power to destroy. VERDICT While avid readers of World War II will turn to Richard Rhodes's The Making of the Atomic Bomb as the definitive book on the Manhattan Project, those looking for a digestible and humanistic version of events will find Olson's book fascinating and thought provoking. The rare crossover nonfiction for history and science readers to enjoy and ponder.--Keith Klang, Port Washington P.L., NY

How Americans made the plutonium that went into the first atomic bomb. Beginning a captivating, unnerving history, Seattle-based journalist Olson emphasizes that while uranium gets the headlines, plutonium makes up almost all of the thousands of bombs in arsenals around the world. In 1943, everyone in an immense southern Washington area received orders to move out within a month. Tens of thousands of workers poured in to build entire cities and infrastructure and then three nuclear reactors to produce plutonium and three huge factories to extract it. Olson delivers gripping accounts of the Hanford Nuclear Reservation's construction, the iconic summer 1945 test in New Mexico, and the bombs' destruction of Japanese cities. Hanford's output peaked in the 1960s before obsolescence and overproduction took its toll. By the 1970s, most reactors had shut down. With the project's declassification, the first historical accounts extolled its immense effort, technical accomplishments, and ultimate triumph, but time has produced more unsettling information--especially regarding the health effects, given that "Hanford had released far more radioactivity into the air, water, and soil than outsiders had known." Until Hanford, no one had handled radioactive material on an industrial scale, and readers will be dismayed as Olson describes the results. In addition to the problems associated with radioactive gas, cooling water and factory chemicals flowed into the nearby Columbia River. Radioactive solid waste lay in open dumps until experts decided that this was a bad idea; then it was collected in huge steel containers with a predicted lifetime of 20 years, after which someone would surely find a better way to deal with it. Most are still there, corroded and leaking. Billions of dollars have been spent in a cleanup, but a huge area remains poisoned. If it's any comfort, Kate Brown's superb Plutopia (2013) reveals that the Soviet Union's version of Hanford was worse. A riveting history of a lesser-known Manhattan Project triumph that, like so many wartime triumphs, has lost its luster. (32 illustrations) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.