Midnight in Chernobyl

Researching alternative sources of clean energy, I was very curious about the prospects of nuclear fission reactors. I knew of the horrible accident at Chernobyl during the Reagan/Gorbachev administrations. But I knew nothing about the causes of the accident in detail. Big kudos to Adam Higginbotham for this fine and valuable piece of work! Yes, it's a relatively long read, but it communicates the full picture of this historic event perfectly—and without exaggerated drama. This book conveys a huge indictment, not only of overly ambitious, risky engineering, but also, of a political system that meddles where it least belongs to the result of many deaths, environmental poison, and its refusal to be held rightfully accountable.Sadly, too few of us non-scientists, ordinary "civilians," have the time to read authoritative accounts of the facts on important issues from credible sources like this. In that vein, this is a MUST-read. I had to look up a few technical words, but that's just part of this kind of learning about this kind of event. Now, I'm convinced that indeed there are major differences between nuclear power plants designed and built to US NRC requirements and this terrible machine built by the Russians under a corrupt political system that added further reasons for failure to those already built into the faulty design of this reactor.The bottom line for me is that, truly, MOST of the anti-nuclear power sentiment in the US, if not the world, is based on flat-out FEAR arising from stone-cold IGNORANCE of the tech basics, and FEAR of an ideological group incited by its political opponents. Tragic. The truth is that there are technical solutions to the real problems with nuclear power reactors. These solutions are being tested in the new Gen-IV, small modular fission reactors, three of which will be operational with US DOE sponsorship, as demo reactors, late this decade. Not so for the elusive fusion reactor. ITER and CFS notwithstanding, don't look for a demo of one until the late 2030s or early 2040s earliest. Read this book and come out from the darkness of needless fear.

I could barely stop reading from the moment I started, this book captures the humanism, genius, hope and hubris of one of the most riveting disasters in human history. Impeccably written, I commend it highly to anyone interested in science, politics, and/or history.

I have just skimmed the book at this point. I have read two previous books (by Russian authors). This has a much more "you are there" feeling plus political judgments. Appears to be a good read.

I was afraid this book would be over my head or would be a struggle to read. Instead it was riveting, read like a real life dystopia and I learned a lot. While nuclear power may have the ability to solve our energy demands, I'm not sure I'll ever trust the human race to design and operate a reactor safely. (the fact that we humans now visit a highly radioactive site as a tourist attraction validates my lack of trust) One accident could truly destroy the planet. This book is a powerful account of what happened at Chernobyl, told through the lens of those who were there.

I read the book before I watched the show. Both are worth more than a look. Def recommend.

‘Midnight in Chernobyl’ is a good example of why people should read history books. Mr. Higginbotham’s work that was published in 2019 not only explains the Rube-Goldberg-machine-like structure of the Soviet Union bureaucracy, he gives a clear blueprint of why the future Chernobyl accident was practically baked into the bread. Man oh man, farting around with nuclear energy is not for the cognizant weak-hearted or the careless, no matter how advertising agencies and power companies spin their rosy atomic-energy scenarios.The author gives a clear explanation of the various ways nuclear power can be produced, how radiation affects living tissue, and a brief overview of its history. The book’s descriptions of the victims succumbing to acute radiation were gruesome and chilling. Mr. Higgenbotham gives the full scope of what occurred, how the Soviet bureaucrats reacted, and the world’s response. He also incorporates human-interest stories of the workers and families who inhabited the adjacent town of Pripyat that gives the reader a ground-level perspective when everything went to Hell in a handbasket. The Soviet Union’s pathological desire for secrecy and attempts to not look bad to the outside world led to needless deaths. Bureaucrats’ careers were more important than the fate of the unsuspecting citizens, both in Russia and the rest of the world, who were in the path of the deadly radiation clouds and rain as well as dust. Mercy, the communist bureaucrats were practically all bullies when it came to management styles and issuing unrealistic timetables. The author shows how the worst nuclear disaster almost became much more cataclysmic and concerns about the destroyed Chernobyl reactor having another nuclear chain reaction (an atomic time bomb) was very real. Environmental contamination was widespread and severe. ‘Midnight in Chernobyl’ shows the importance of a free press and the inhumane nature of leadership under communism in the USSR. Naturally, most high-ranking Russian bureaucrats made huge efforts to deflect blame by finding scapegoats for the disaster. It appears the Chernobyl disaster greatly contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union. Mr. Higginbotham concludes the story with an update of where things stand today. There are seven pages of helpful maps and diagrams as well as four pages listing the cast of characters but no photographs.It might not have been the author’s intent, but in my humble opinion, Mr. Higginbotham’s book is not only great history but also a cautionary tale. The Chernobyl accident was not a one-off. In March of 2011, the Toyko Electric Power Company’s Fukushima nuclear power plant was disabled by a tsunami. All three reactor cores largely melted in the first three days. Mass evacuations and nuclear contamination were once again unleashed upon the world. In September 2020, malfunctions and the deaths of passengers in Boeing’s 737 Max accidents led to the worldwide grounding of the plane. An investigation showed factors involved in the Chernobyl accident echoed in the Boeing tragedy including engineering flaws, mismanagement, cost cutting, hiding critical information, and a severe lack of oversight. Despite our advancements in science and engineering since 1986, democracies are not immune from having our own nuclear accident. Democracies are just as susceptible to the wildcard components of human greed, pride, lying, and CYA that are unavoidable in large corporations who are seeking to cash in. ‘Midnight in Chernobyl’ presents the risks and rewards of nuclear energy. If nations are gung-ho on the stuff, they should be 100% sure they always have this atomic dragon under control for all our sakes. It’s a gripping informative book.

Great book, perfectly written with just the right amount of physics for a layman. My biggest take away was the total incompetence and hubris of the Soviet leadership. On the other hand, the bravery and self-sacrifice of those who actually were on the ground (and in the air) fighting this disaster is a true testament to the Russian and Ukrainian people. God bless them.

This is a wonderful book. It covers the causes and effects of the Chernobyl catastrophe, and the event-sequence of its occurrence, better than any popular work has yet done. I do have one gripe about the technical presentation (more below), but the book overall is so outstanding that I'm giving the five stars anyway, and never mind the logical inconsistency.The main aspects of the story of the Chernobyl nuclear explosion and meltdown are the history of the USSR nuclear industry; the society and environment within which the civilian (electricity-generation) arm of the industry operated; the technical aspects of the disaster itself; the enormous Soviet recovery effort; the medical, health and environmental effects; and the long-term consequences and aftermath. No author can be a specialist at them all, but Mr Higginbotham nevertheless handles than all with equal facility, thoroughness and clarity. It's a tour de force.One of my other reviews is of 'Chernobyl: History of a Tragedy' by the Ukrainian writer Serhii Plokhy. It's good but is simply outshone by 'Midnight...'. Mr Higginbotham's work is superior in its technical exposition of the disaster; in its use of numbers and radiation metrics; in its description of the immediate Soviet response; on the construction of the sarcophagus; on what happened inside the entombed reactor in subsequent years; and, critically, in its assessment and identification of the underlying causes. In an unsentimental way, 'Midnight...' also expresses compassion for the victims as well as the poignancy of the consequences affecting individuals. Lastly, and in contrast to Mr Plokhy, 'Midnight...' seems to me to remain at all times politically disinterested and impartial.For identification of underlying cause -- as opposed to the immediate technical triggers of the accident -- I can do no better than quote from page 347: '...the origins of the Chernobyl disaster lay in a combination of "scientific, technological, socioeconomic, and human factors" unique to the USSR. The Soviet nuclear industry, lacking even rudimentary safety practices, had relied upon its operators to behave with robotic precision night after night, despite constant pressure to beat deadlines and "exceed the plan" that made disregard for the letter of the regulations almost inevitable.' Case rests.The gripe? Yes. Mr Higginbotham's technical account of how fission reactors operate (pp35-38) doesn't maintain a continuous logical thread. Reading and re-reading didn't clarify for me the inherent design flaw of the Soviet RBMK reactor. One sentence on p38 threw me and left me guessing: "In reactors that use water as both coolant and moderator, as the volume of steam increases, fewer neutrons are slowed, so reactivity falls.". This seems counterintuitive: surely, if *fewer* neutrons are slowed, reactivity would tend *not* to fall? Explanation came from a high-school physics text that I paraphrase and summarise thus:-Natural uranium comes in two isotopes: Uranium238 (99.3%) and Uranium235 (0.7%).-Fission is caused by neutrons striking uranium atoms.-Fast neutrons are caused by fission of U235 atoms.-Fast neutrons striking U238 do not cause fission.-Fast neutrons striking U235 cause negligible fission.-Slow neutrons are only slightly absorbed by U238, and cause negligible fission.-**Slow neutrons striking U235 cause fission**.-For U235 fission to happen such that a self-sustaining chain reaction may occur, there needs to be sufficient mass of U235 (at least 2-3% enriched) in the total (U238+U235) mass of uranium.-Then, a good neutron moderator -- water or graphite -- is needed to **slow down enough fast neutrons** to sustain a chain reaction in U235.-If the moderator is water (most Western reactors), and if the water boils and turns to steam, steam is far less effective as moderator than water, *fewer* neutrons are slowed and the continuing U235 reaction stops spontaneously.-If the moderator is graphite (Chernobyl RBMK) and if surrounding coolant water boils and turns to steam, neutron moderation by the graphite is unchanged (the chain reaction continues) but the neutron absorbtion function of the coolant water reduces.-Moderation by the graphite as a consequence increases; reactivity increases; heat increases; more coolant water turns to steam and the escalation (expressed as the *positive void*) continues.-The unchecked result is fire in the graphite.-To control and reduce moderation by the graphite, the control rods must be inserted in the graphite core, and they **must work**.A layman's sequencing, perhaps, which I am sure experts will fault. But it is logically joined-up and is superior to the explanations given by either Messrs. Higginbotham or Plokhy.Gripe allowed for, Midnight in Chernobyl is a fabulous book that I recommend unreservedly.

I have read a lot of books and technical reports on this appalling disaster.This books adds little that is new.It contains a number of technical inaccuracies which make me wonder if the author actually understood what happened that day."The truth about Chernobyl" by Grigory Medvedev and "Atomic accidents" by James Mahaffey are both more accurate,the first giving a full account and the second a brief overview.

This is possibly the scariest book I have ever read, and makes any zombie horror film pale into insignificance.A series of avoidable problems (at least they would have been if not for the curious mirror world of Soviet politics) meant that a hastily designed, badly built and poorly maintained nuclear reactor (or to you and me a horrific world threatening disaster waiting to happen) had it's predictable explosive melt-down.Because the Soviet system could not admit that their technology was not the world-leading miracle that their government proclaimed - they couldn't tell anyone that a huge and deadly poisonous cloud of god knows what was heading out of Chernobyl and about to cross into Europe.And so for several weeks, whilst they fumbled about trying to fix it (which mostly meant sending untrained and unprotected men to try and cover the deadly nuclear core with a variety of things - some of which only made it worse), the world was unaware of the imminent radioactive menace bearing down on them.Read this and be VERY VERY afraid.Some of my family with young children at that moment in time were living in one of the places in the UK most affected by the radio-active fallout. It is curious (and unproven) but three out of four of them (including my young niece) all ended up with cancer of some form...

Insofar as the facts surrounding the catastrophe are known (for as the author says, even today not all are), Adam Higginbotham has made immense efforts to assemble them into a highly readable account. What struck me even more was the degree to which the then Soviet bureaucracy and government covered up the accident, failed to accept responsibility for fundamental design failings, ignored warnings from respected scientists and operators over a long period, apportioned blame 'conveniently', disregarded the safety of its own citizens and of the world in general...and a host of other things. Contrary to what 'Dr Barry Clayton' says in his review here, I can assure you that the book is NOT full of unnecessary detail: it is the small details and the human factors that make it readable. Were they not there, the book would be a very dry account. Don't be put off by the rather melodramatic title - it is a thoroughly recommended read.

I can remember the disaster unfolding whilst at school and seemingly thinking at the time why we were only just hearing about it (3 days after it happened). The book answers this and many other subsequent questions and I cannot possibly imagine the amount of time and effort that went into the research for this book let alone the terrible consequences to those who so bravely and blindingly fought to contain the disaster whilst the politics tried to cover it up. Fascinating, frightening and wonderful in equal measure