Robert Earle

The historical background of this book is more interesting than the book itself. To start, did you know that NASA operated not one, but two nuclear reactors? These research reactors, at NASA's Plum Brook Station in Sandusky, Ohio, supported the nuclear powered airplane and nuclear rockets in the 1960's and early 1970's. This book was written by a supervisor at Plum Brook named Robert Earle Oldrieve.

In reading this novel, you can tell how passionate the author was about the possibilities of nuclear reactors and nuclear science. The problem with the novel is how technical it is. It is so technical that anyone who hasn't had an immersive education in nuclear physics and engineering will be hopelessly lost. It is very dense and very dry, and doesn't make for very interesting reading.

The first part of the novel introduces us to Richard Rendfel, and engineer who is arriving to a nuclear research facility to oversee the construction of a new Hot Lab facility. He's pretty young and without much experience, so we're really just following him around as he gets to know the existing facility and the men who work there. This is the most interesting part of the novel, getting to see and work in a functional hot lab.

We also get to meet Rendfel's wife, who is essentially a woman without personality or the ability to help herself. This book is stereotypically sexist in describing the two (!) women featured in the text. You have Rendfel's wife, who is perfectly content at staying home all day and balks at the idea of leaving even to take an art class for herself. The other woman is a librarian that works at the facility who throws herself at any man who speaks to her. The fact that these are the only two women and each represents one end of a continuum is stereotypically sexist for the time it was written.

The author does take the time to mention a radioactive junk yard in such detail that I have to wonder if such things exist at nuclear research facilities. Have equipment too contaminated to safely use anymore? Here, dump it in this open field to cool down a bit. Seriously. So, rain washing radioactive particles into the ground and water system isn't a problem to anyone here? I really hope this isn't true, but I wouldn't be terribly surprised if it is.

Another pulled from reality topic covered is the use of open-air reactors. This actually happened at Air Force Plant 67 in Georgia, and is just breathtakingly reckless. Ever wonder how you can "instantly taxidermy" a bird in mid-flight? Yeah, look it up and hope you don't live around there.

The second half of the book gets into sci-fi territory, with a new fusion reactor being built at this research facility. This part is even more technical than the first as we see the facility being planned, built and eventually operated.

This book is considered a "career novel," which is thankfully a genre that seems to have died out by now. Judging this book purely as fiction, it fails quite massively. Again, most of the text is made up of technical discussions between two characters with is ever so interesting to read. Don't read this unless you're super into nuclear history or the development of fusion reactors.… (mehr)