num_pages: 344
description: How the discovery of a harmless leak of radiation sparked a media firestorm political grandstanding and fearmongering that closed a vital scientific facility.In 1997 scientists at Brookhaven National Laboratory found a small leak of radioactive water near their research reactor. Brookhaven wasand isa world-class Nobel Prizewinning lab and its reactor was the cornerstone of US materials science and one of the worlds finest research facilities. The leak harmless to health came from a storage pool rather than the reactor. But its discovery triggered a media and political firestorm that resulted in the reactors shutdown and even attempts to close the entire laboratory. A quarter century later the episode reveals the dynamics of todays controversies in which fears and the dismissal of science disrupt serious discussion and research of vital issues such as vaccines climate change and toxic chemicals. This story has all the elements of a thriller with vivid characters and dramatic twists and turns. Key players include congressmen and scientists; journalists and university presidents; actors supermodels and anti-nuclear activists all interacting and teaming up in surprising ways. The authors each with insider knowledge of and access to confidential documents and the key players reveal how a fact of no health significance could be portrayed as a Chernobyl-like disaster. This compelling expos reveals the gaps between scientists politicians media and the public that have only gotten more dangerous since 1997. Peter Bond is a retired physicist who worked at Brookhaven National Laboratory for 43 years in a wide variety of roles including interim laboratory director during much of the period covered by this book.
language: English
title: The Leak: Politics, Activists, and Loss of Trust at Brookhaven National Laboratory
publisher: The MIT Press