Atomic Accidents: A History of Nuclear Meltdowns and Disasters: From the Ozark Mountains to Fukushima

by Jim Mahaffey

As you will see, it originates in the initial shock of discovery, when we were introduced to the unsettling concept of death by an invisible, undetectable phenomenon.

For some reason, a cache of thousands of rusting, leaking poisonous nerve-gas cylinders in Aniston, Alabama, does not scare anyone, but the suggestion of fission products stored a mile underground at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, causes great concern.

the handling rod. 109 See it on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FIhafVX_6I

Twenty minutes later, as the twisted wreckage burned from its full load of aviation gasoline, the atomic bomb’s implosion explosive went off, and the shock wave, heard 30 miles away, wiped out a nearby trailer park, killing or injuring 180 military, civilians, and dependents. Among the fatalities in the airplane was Brigadier General Robert F. Travis. The Air Force base, Fairfield/Suison, was renamed Travis Air Force Base to honor him.