Meltdown by Dierdre Langeland

Meltdown traces the events that might have led to nuclear Armageddon in Fukishima, Japan, 2011.

Meltdown: Earthquake, Tsunami, and Nuclear Disaster in Fukushima by Dierdre Langeland. Roaring Brook Press, 2021, 146 pages + appendix

Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12

Recommended for: ages 10-up

On March 11, 2011, children in northern Japan were closing out the school day, fishermen were bringing in their boats, and residents were shopping for dinner. Under the ocean, about 100 miles out from the mainland, one massive edge of the earth’s crust slipped over another, causing an eruption in the Japanese Trench. Within half an hour, the first wave of a tsunami reached the mainland. It was followed within minutes by a second wave, reaching up to 50 feet high. The wall of water smashed into the coastline, swallowing entire buildings and drowning thousands—a total count, by the end, of almost 20,000 souls.

But even more horrifying than the shock of disaster was the effect on the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, located in Fukushima Province, only 150 miles from Tokyo. All six reactors were affected, but the second wave knocked out backup generators in Reactors 1, 2, and 4, leading to the threat of fuel rods burning, reactors melting, and an explosion of radiation never before seen. The race to flood the plant, cool the reactors, and forestall Armageddon forms the central narrative.

The author explains in words this non-science-minded reader can understand, using apt comparisons and plain definitions. A glossary in the appendix helps remind us of those terms we have trouble remembering. She also avoids overt politicization, stating both pros and cons of nuclear power. The narrative could have used a little more of the personal recollections that make these accounts so compelling, but even so, I would challenge a reader to get to the end of this book without a profound sense of gratitude that it wasn’t much worse.

Overall Rating: 4 (out of 5)

• Worldview/moral value: 3.5
• Artistic/literary value: 4

Also at Redeemed Reader:

• Fiction Review: The Blackbird Girls traces the wanderings of two girls separated from their parents after the Chernobyl disaster.
• Nonfiction Reviews: Nuclear energy is one of the many topics addressed in two large-format science books: A World of Discovery and David Macaulay’s The Way Things Work Now.
• Reflection: Thoughts on the Higgs boson, the Large Hadron Collider, and where God fits into particle physics

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