Atomic Dreams
Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow
Algonquin Books, $30
Toxic sludge. A glowing radioactive rat. A three-eyed fish named “Blinky.” These are scenes from a 1990 episode of the long-running television show The Simpsons, in which protagonist and oaf Homer is a safety inspector at the fictional Springfield Nuclear Power Plant. The imagined horrors of the plant reflect concerns many real people have had about nuclear energy over the course of its young history, which began with the first sustained nuclear reaction in 1942. That includes the Simpson-esque concern of a corporate plant owner who prioritizes profit over safety.
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