Burleson's book seemed like a "can't-miss" proposition, but the author's poor writing and flawed research leaves much to be desired. On the one hand, the actual stories that he addresses have the potential to be very interesting. Sometime Burleson succeeds, and the reader can actually learn something. Most of the time, however, his writing is a mixture of spotty details and rambling explanations that vacillate between opposing viewpoints without any information to support his claims. In addition, by the time the reader reaches the half-way point of this book, it is painfully clear that Burleson is very much a pro-nuclear power thinker. While I don't begrudge him is point of view, I was incredibly disappointed with his lack of objectivity in "Nuclear Afternoon."

The only thing that saves this book from being a complete disaster is that, in those few spots where the writing is well organized and objective, it is both entertaining and informations. For example, the tales of faulty nuclear waste storage in the former Soviet Union were fascinating to me in that I had never heard of them before. But is seems as though, for every moment of interest, there are twice as many in which the reader is utterly lost. Take the chapter on Karen Silkwood. Having read it completely, I still would not say that I understand the story.

Despite its high points, most of the time, however, "Nuclear Afternoon" is waste of time.

Recommended: No