Rad Decision

2005-11-08T03:41:00.000-08:00

RAD DECISIONReader reviews are in the Comments section below.Now AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK at online retailers.TABLE OF CONTENTS Episode 1 Boom!Episode 2 Episode 3 Episode 4 FairviewEpisode 5 Episode 6 BrakesEpisode 7 Episode 8 Episode 9 RadiationEpisode 10 Episode 11 PoliticsEpisode 12 Episode 13 Episode 14 PlansEpisode 15 Episode 16 Episode 17 Episode 18 ChernobylEpisode 19 Episode 20 Episode 21

2005-09-25T12:43:00.000-07:00

RAD DECISIONEpisodes posted 3X a week beginning August 22, 2005 TABLE OF CONTENTS Episode 1 Episode 2 Episode 3 Episode 4 Episode 5 Episode 6 Episode 7 Episode 8 Episode 9 Episode 10 Episode 11 Episode 12 Episode 13 Episode 14 Episode 15 Episode 16 Episode 17 Episode 18Episode 19 Episode 20 Episode 21 Episode 22 Episode 23 Episode 24 Episode 25 Episode 26 Episode 27 Episode 28 Episode 29 Episode

Episode 10

2005-09-16T16:40:00.000-07:00

********** “Yeah, fire in a nuke plant is a big concern,” Tarelli said to Paul as the two walked toward Fairview’s river water pumping station, a half-mile from the main complex. In the bright spring sunshine they were strolling down a dirt road that passed between a patch of woods and a plowed field. “The Browns Ferry incident back in '74 really brought the fire issue home

Episode 9

2005-09-16T16:38:00.000-07:00

------ “So, basically, that's how the plant works,” Tarelli said. “Any questions on the process?” He turned off the overhead projector. The fifteen students slouching in the small desks of the classroom remained silent. “All right,” Tarelli said, “a quick word about the advantages of nuclear power. A big one is no fossil fuels. Fairview Station doesn't use oil

Episode 8

2005-09-16T16:22:00.000-07:00

********** Paul had spent the morning watching repairs on a fuel spray pump. There were two of these which could shower the core with a cooling mist if the feedwater, STurDI and VEPI systems were all broken. He’d also had a chance to watch the mechanics tear apart the small control rod pump that pushed water up past the rods and on into the reactor vessel. The flow kept the

Episode 7

2005-09-16T16:12:00.000-07:00

********** Gary Halvorsen had known this would happen. Things always broke down late on Friday afternoon. One of the last free weekends before the outage could well be shot for both he and his partner. Now, together, they headed down the reactor building hallway. Physically, the two mechanics were opposites: Halvorsen was a burly six footer, his rugged face bearing a few acne

Episode 6

2005-09-16T16:09:00.000-07:00

------ Paul watched as Mike Langford pulled hard on the airlock door, and then the two stepped inside the narrow hallway. He had completed the required training and now had his own security pass. In three days of class work he had learned a lot -- particularly about radiation. A nuclear reactor produced four types: alpha, beta, gamma and neutrons. All four could affect humans

Episode 5

2005-09-16T16:06:00.000-07:00

Paul and his supervisor stepped off the elevator into a spacious hall topped by a rounded dome of off-white concrete. There was no one else about and it was quieter here than anywhere else they had been. At the far end of the room was a large pool of blue-green water surrounded by a bright yellow railing. Tarelli took off toward it, but then halfway there, he stopped atop a circular

Episode 4

2005-09-16T16:02:00.000-07:00

Part Two: Fairview Station 1983 Paul worked his way around the stack of half-filled boxes and slipped into the bathroom of his new apartment. He looked in the mirror at the latest blemish to mar his dark complexion, brushed aside a few stray bangs of brown hair, then fiddled with the open collar on his white shirt. After buttoning the sleeves, he declared himself ready. No

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Figure C

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Figure B

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Figure A

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About the Book

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Rad Decision tells the story of the people and machinery that make up a nuclear power plant, and the dark tale of a man who believes it is his destiny to destroy it. Written by an engineer with over twenty years experience in the American nuclear industry, the novel includes an overview of how electricity is made and a step-by-step, inside look at how a nuclear plant operates - - from its

Episode 38

2005-08-14T13:04:00.000-07:00

********** Sergei took slow, gentle steps as he made his way down the corridor of Moscow Clinical Hospital Number Six. He was weak from the infections and his feet were tender. But, he knew, he was among the lucky ones. While the reappearance of his own radiation sickness had been relatively mild, a number of firemen and operators had already died, their bodies shriveled, blistered

Episode 37

2005-08-14T13:02:00.000-07:00

********** A steady murmur from the four hundred refugees drifted out the entrance to the gym. Inside, there were small children asleep on exercise mats, while others were wide awake, giggling and shrieking as they chased each other around the families that sat in tight groups on the floor. Older, school-age youth were wandering in small packs around the tops of the bleachers,

Episode 36

2005-08-14T13:00:00.000-07:00

----- The radio traffic had slackened and a dog was barking in the distance as Vitaly got up from the couch. His knee was stiff, and he did some stretching, then turned toward the bathroom just as a second dog began to sound off closer to home. Probably the paper boy. Vitaly peeked through the front curtains, expecting to see a boy or girl in the twilight, but instead there was a

Episode 35

2005-08-14T12:58:00.000-07:00

********** There was another round of smiles in the emergency center as the remaining lights came on. Offsite power was back. Tarelli returned from the radio room, and Steve saw the red golf shirt on his second-in-command was soaked with sweat. “Plume's breaking up well,” Tarelli reported. “Is there any chance of another release?” Steve said. “Any way we could burp

Episode 34

2005-08-14T12:56:00.004-07:00

“Control!” the radio beckoned. “Leeman says the diesel still looks fine! Running smooth.” “Roger,” Fleck said. “We’re going for blowdown and VEPI injection. Anything happens, do what you can.” “Diesel's okay, Steve,” Cervantes relayed over the phone. He continued to pace, his wide features drawn, his dark eyes squeezed to a thin, intense line. Fleck lay the radio

Episode 33

2005-08-14T12:56:00.003-07:00

********** FIGURE A (Map) Joel cruised the residential street, briefly adding his own siren to the fire station’s. He made the announcement again: “Attention! There is a problem at the Fairview Nuclear Plant. Brixton is being evacuated. Tune to your radio for details.” It had been only fifteen minutes, and much of Brixton was still

Episode 32

2005-08-14T12:56:00.002-07:00

------ “Great.” The news of the diesel fix was the break Steve had been waiting for. Karl, be right this time. “Where we at?” he asked Cervantes. “Level’s at plus 16. Boiling now. Drywell's at 290.” Too close to 300. “If we get the diesel, drywell cooling is first.” “Agreed. How about ARAFS?” “Understood. That’d be next.” “

Episode 30

2005-08-14T12:56:00.001-07:00

------ “Minus 10!” the assistant operator said. “Torus temperature?” Fleck asked. “140. Slowly rising.” “Not too bad,” Fleck said. The blond, burly supervisor stood back from the panels: his arms crossed, his features more relaxed. He had resumed chewing his gum. “Torus rad levels still going up,” the third operator reported. “Starting to see

Episode 31

2005-08-14T12:56:00.000-07:00

********** The bad news was relayed to the site boundary. There had been a release. Forty milli-rems. “Oh, Christ,” Marty said. “Something's getting out.” “Yes,” Carol said softly, her thin lips barely parting. The worst had finally come. I wish Gary … Concentrate! On her lap, the geiger counter continued to show background. She checked

Episode 29

2005-08-14T12:44:00.003-07:00

********** Gary heard someone coming down the stairs, and the operator re?appeared just as Tama finished emptying the first bucket of oil into the low?slung STurDI-1 tank and tossed the container aside with a clunk. “Another,” Gary said, handing over the second bucket. “How long?” the operator asked. “They want it bad--” “Hang on and I'll tell you!”

Episode 28

2005-08-14T12:44:00.002-07:00

********** Awkwardly holding the copper tubing and duct tape in his burly arms, Gary opened the airlock door and stepped back into the reactor building. The beam of a flashlight caught him in the face, and Gary recognized the woman as she approached. Like his wife, she was a health physics technician. “Where you going?” the HP asked. “STurDI-1.

Episode 27

2005-08-14T12:44:00.001-07:00

********** “I'll get the latest,” Wendell said, pulling open the glass door. The STA gave a distracted nod. The red phone pressed to his ear, he was listening to the next question from the NRC officials in Bethesda. Wendell headed for the center panel, detouring around two men crouched over a drawing spread out on the floor. The assistant operator had returned from

Episode 26

2005-08-14T12:44:00.000-07:00

********** Get there! The lines on the highway sped by as Steve’s mind raced ahead to Fairview. A station blackout left no electric power except the batteries, and with the STurDI pumps gone, there was no way to put water back in the vessel. Then there was the public. Emergency Action Levels. If we don't get this under control, they’ll start evacuating… At last, he

Episode 25

2005-08-14T12:32:00.000-07:00

At his desk, Wendell flipped through the thick binder to the Emergency Action Levels. Loss of power... In the faint glow he could barely read, and he opened a drawer and pulled out a flashlight. Fleck came in and grabbed a phone as he sat down. He began dialing a number taped to the wall. Loss of power...there. Wendell began reviewing the criteria. “

Episode 21

2005-08-14T12:31:00.003-07:00

********** “Well, we’ve made some headway,” Doug Tama sighed as he finished winding the extension cord. “Smoother than I expected,” Gary agreed. He stacked the last of the copper tubing in a corner, and took a final look. The #2 emergency diesel generator had been torn apart, the pieces lying on the floor around him. All to replace a few screws. But, with any luck, a few

Episode 24

2005-08-14T12:31:00.002-07:00

********** May 11, 1986 Time: 2:51:12 am. Reactor Water Level (above Fuel): 192 inches (normal) Reactor Pressure: 1000 pounds per square inch (normal) Drywell Pressure: 1.1 pounds per square inch (normal) Drywell Temperature (Air): 120 degrees Fahrenheit (normal) Torus Pressure: 0.8 pounds per square inch (normal) Torus

Episode 23

2005-08-14T12:31:00.001-07:00

********** Time: 2:07 am. Liz felt a sense of relief that she was finally headed north on the two hour drive to South Bend. Still in her sweatshirt and jeans, her gun in the handbag on the seat of the Bureau car, she ran through her preparations one more time. She had set up a rendezvous with Walt Kreveski and Paul Hendricks, telecopied the appropriate papers to

Episode 22

2005-08-14T12:31:00.000-07:00

********** Time: 9:45 p.m. Vitaly wiped the wrench clean of fingerprints and hung it back on the wall, then took a final look at the STurDI-1 turbine. Perfect. A few minutes later, sweat began rolling down Vitaly’s back as he again raced up the reactor building stairs. He legs ached from the effort. When John Donner reported back to the control room before going

Episode 08

2005-08-14T12:19:00.000-07:00

Episode 20

2005-08-14T12:15:00.000-07:00

********** The clock flipped to 9:30 a.m. and the radio came on. Vitaly sat up and ran a hand through his disheveled hair. His knee ached as he shuffled across the room. Rain. Slipping into a pair of jeans, he considered his plans for the day. John Donner needed to pick up groceries before his three to eleven shift. The radio had begun a news report, and when the

Episode 19

2005-08-14T12:13:00.000-07:00

********** From the rear of the Unit Four control room, Sergei watched as the Chernobyl operators prepared for the test on the generator. On the curving front wall, he could see the circular control rod display, with two operators seated below it, wearing the standard white uniform. It was two o'clock on the afternoon of Friday, April 25, 1986, and Sergei had been

Episode 18

2005-08-14T12:12:00.000-07:00

********** Vitaly pulled out his radio, and the dispatch soon came in: “. . . The Center has developed criteria under which the various versions of your plan, designated A6,B2,V3: Alpha-Six, Bridge-Two, Vector-Three, will be enacted. At such time as these criteria are met and the decision is made, you will be given instructions involving the location of the

Episode 17

2005-08-14T12:10:00.000-07:00

********** “Well, Vitaly,” Doctor Berdyayev said as the meeting finished, “I think you have some excellent plans here.” “Thank you. Your advice was very helpful,” Vitaly replied, closing his copy. The instructions would be stored at the Center for safe-keeping. “Yes, Comrade Doctor,” Dmitri chimed in, “you've given this project a great boost.” The

Episode 16

2005-08-14T12:08:00.004-07:00

********** “Hey, Liz,” a special agent asked from a nearby desk, “what's Russian for beer belly?” “Bpiukhop,” Liz Rezhnitsky said, not looking up from her paperwork. “Why do you want to know? “No reason, really. I saw a picture last night of one of those big Russian weightlifters. He had a massive 'Bff-you-hop' or however you say it.” Liz

Episode 14

2005-08-14T12:08:00.003-07:00

********** Steve stared out the small window and tugged on his aching hand as the corporate jet began its final descent into South Bend. The day’s meeting had been a disappointment, and all he could do now was look past his anger and make the best of the NRC's decision. Checking his schedule book, he grimaced at the reminder that he was having dinner with Brixton’s mayor.

Episode 15

2005-08-14T12:08:00.002-07:00

********** “As you can see,” the instructor said, “there are two principal ways to detect an illegal. Either observation of suspicious behavior or intelligence information.” Clean-cut, with a white shirt and black tie, the lecturer appeared every inch the FBI agent. “Overall, we believe the apprehension rate is still very low. That means, of course, there are lots

Episode 13

2005-08-14T12:08:00.001-07:00

********** Wendell grimaced as he reached for the report, and he squeezed his swollen wrist. “I never knew owning a dog could be so dangerous.” “He bite the hand that feeds him?” Darrel Fleck asked from his desk. “No, I tripped over him.” “I thought you said Karen wanted a cat.” “She did. We settled on a dog and a new refrigerator.” Fleck

Episode 12

2005-08-14T12:08:00.000-07:00

1985: January – August “Halvorsen,” the burly man said, reciting the name on the hard hat of the petite young health physics technician at the entrance to the power block. A few locks of curled auburn hair framed her delicate face, with green eyes and a small mouth that seemed set in a permanent frown. “You related to Gary Halvorsen, the mechanic?” he asked. “Just married

Episode 11

2005-08-14T11:56:00.002-07:00

********** When the annunciator sounded, Wendell Auterman looked up from his desk in the office. The new junior shift supervisor saw it was a routine alarm, given the plant’s shut down condition. Fairview Station had come off line to investigate a leaking pipe inside the drywell. Special tanks within the hollow structure collected the trickles of water that seeped from the

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Episode 01

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Rad Decision A Novel James Aach 2005 Prologue South Bend, Indiana May 11, 1986 Steve Borden could hear the woman's muffled fury as he reached for the door, and he was grateful for the distraction that allowed him to slip in unnoticed. She was standing at the front of the small, bare auditorium, a stout lady in a nylon jacket, unleashing a tirade at the

Episode 03

2005-08-13T13:07:00.000-07:00

********** Fairview, Indiana April, 1976 It was three in the morning, and Fairview Station was quiet. An operator on rounds out by the river water pumping station had reported a bad storm coming in from the west, but at his post in the heart of the power plant, Steve Borden was well isolated from the outside world. The paperwork was light this shift, and he took a moment to

Episode 02

2005-08-13T13:03:00.000-07:00

********** Fairview, Indiana September, 1971 The tour group of four men and three women, hardhats resting awkwardly atop their heads, stepped through a gap in the partially constructed wall and emerged into bright sunshine. Behind them came their guide, a large man in dusty jeans, well-used work boots and a denim jacket. He pointed and led the assembly past a bulldozer and

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Figure 2

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Figure 1

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Endorsements

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*************“I'd like to see Rad Decision widely read.”- Stewart BrandNational Book Award winner,Creator of The Whole Earth Catalog,Author of Whole Earth Discipline,Noted enviromentalist and futurist.***************“I got to about page four and I was hooked, I couldn’t put it down. . . . It was very easy to read, the characters were well described, and they were vibrant.”- David LevyNoted