The Apocalypse Factory - Plutonium and the Making of the Atomic Age

A thrilling narrative of scientific triumph, decades of secrecy, and the unimaginable destruction wrought by the creation of the atomic bomb. It began with plutonium, the first element ever manufactured in quantity by humans. Fearing that the Germans would be the first to weaponize the atom, the United States marshaled brilliant minds and seemingly inexhaustible bodies to find a way to create a nuclear chain reaction of inconceivable explosive power. In a matter of months, the Hanford nuclear facility was built to produce and weaponize the enigmatic and deadly new material that would fuel atomic bombs. In the desert of eastern Washington State, far from prying eyes, scientists Glenn Seaborg, Enrico Fermi, and many thousands of others#8212;the physicists, engineers, laborers, and support staff at the facility#8212;manufactured plutonium for the bomb dropped on Nagasaki, and for the bombs in the current American nuclear arsenal, enabling the construction of weapons with the potential to end human civilization. With his characteristic blend of scientific clarity and storytelling, Steve Olson asks why Hanford has been largely overlooked in histories of the Manhattan Project and the Cold War. Olson, who grew up just twenty miles from Hanford's B Reactor, recounts how a small Washington town played host to some of the most influential scientists and engineers in American history as they sought to create the substance at the core of the most destructive weapons ever created. The Apocalypse Factory offers a new generation this dramatic story of human achievement and, ultimately, of lethal hubris "A thrilling narrative of scientific triumph--and the unimaginable, world-ending peril it brought us. Fearing that the Germans would be the first to weaponize the atom, the United States marshaled brilliant minds and seemingly inexhaustible bodies to find a way to create a nuclear chain reaction with unimaginable explosive power. It would begin with plutonium, the first element ever manufactured by humans. In a matter of months, a city designed to produce this dangerous material arose from the desert of eastern Washington State. Plutonium powered the bomb that dropped on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945 (a target selected in almost arbitrary fashion). And the work of Glenn Seaborg, Enrico Fermi, and hundreds of thousands of others--the physicists, engineers, laborers, and support staff of the Hanford Nuclear Facility--would remain the basis of the entire US nuclear arsenal during the Cold War and into the present. With his characteristic blend of scientific clarity and human stories, Steve Olson offers this dramatic story of human achievement--and hubris--to a new generation"-- Provided by publisher Title Contents Prologue Part 1: The Road to Hanford Chapter 1: Beginnings Chapter 2: The Chain Reaction Chapter 3: Element 94 Chapter 4: The Decision Chapter 5: The Met Lab Chapter 6: Plutonium at Last Chapter 7: The Demonstration Part 2: A Factory in the Desert Chapter 8: The Evicted Chapter 9: The Builders Chapter 10: The B Reactor Chapter 11: The T Plant Chapter 12: Implosion Chapter 13: Washington, DC Chapter 14: Trinity Chapter 15: Tinian Island Part 3: Under the Mushroom Cloud Chapter 16: Nagasaki Medical College Hospital Chapter 17: The Urakami Valley Chapter 18: Nagasaki Part 4: Confronting Armageddon Chapter 19: The Cold War Chapter 20: Building the Nuclear Arsenal Chapter 21: Peak Production Chapter 22: The Reckoning Chapter 23: Remembering Epilogue Acknowledgments Notes Bibliography Index Also by Steve Olson Copyright