The Warning: Accident at Three Mile Island: A Nuclear Omen for the Age of Terror

This factual, riveting thriller is based on exclusive interviews with key operating personnel. Mike Gray, author of The China Syndrome, and Ira Rosen, producer for CBS's 60 Minutes, have updated this jackhammer narrative of mechanical failure and human error with an analysis of the current threats to our nuclear power plants. With a new introduction and epilogue for this reissue edition.

I read it at least 5 times because I found it so fascinating and I loved the characters that Rosen and Gray bring to life, such as plant superintendent Gary Miller and control room operator Bill Zewe. The technical details are explained in easy-to-understand language that makes reading the book a pleasure, not a pain.

I plan on buying this book again to reread it, as my original copy is long lost. But, I enjoyed it the first 5 times I read it, and I'm buying another copy.

If you want a great overall perspective on the America's "Near-Chernobyl," pick up a copy and enjoy.


Surprisingly good mix of technical detail and storytelling   May 15, 2001
 10 out of 12 found this review helpful

As someone who works at a Nuclear plant, I've had much training on the accident at TMI in much greater detail than provided in this book (although, Gray does do a decent job at explaining how operators responded to that paricular event...he does leave out a lot, however). The best thing about this, for me, was his obvious research with regard to other facilities that had the same problem prior to TMI and the lack of a Nuclear network to help get the word out (we have an extensive network of information sharing now). The character descriptions are excellent and the story does flow like a novel...get this book (if you can find it...it's been out of print for a while) if you want a reasonably close explanation of what occured at TMI, but get it more for the story and the background information.


Couldn't put it down   July 15, 1999
 11 out of 12 found this review helpful

Very intriguing book about the near disaster at Three Mile Island. Very well written, it keeps you spellbound to the very last period. It explains what went wrong with excellent detail. Enough information to keep you spellbound, but not enough to bore you with unnecessary details. A very well written book. A must if you want to learn the true story about Three Mile Island.