We Almost Lost Detroit

We Almost Lost Detroit
	First edition
Author	John G. Fuller
Subject	Nuclear power plants
Publisher	Reader's Digest Press
Publication date	1975
ISBN	0883490706
Dewey Decimal	621.483
LC Class	TK1344.M5

We Almost Lost Detroit, a 1975 Reader's Digest book by John G. Fuller,[1] presents a history of Fermi 1, America's first commercial breeder reactor, with emphasis on the 1966 partial nuclear meltdown.[2][3]

It took four years for the reactor to be repaired, and then performance was poor. In 1972, the reactor core was dismantled and the reactor was decommissioned. America's first effort at operating a full-scale breeder had failed.[2]

Reception

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists felt it was "a significant book and it is well worth reading." They felt it explained how the accident happened but not why.[4] Kirkus Reviews called it "the heaviest broadside against the Atomic Energy Commission in years".[5]

Cultural impact

Spoken word and rap pioneer Gil Scott-Heron has a song titled "We Almost Lost Detroit",[6] dealing with the same issue. It has appeared on his 1977 album, Bridges. The song is covered by Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. on their album It's a Corporate World.

This song was also covered by Ron Holloway on his album, Groove Update, which features Gil Scott-Heron on vocals.[7]

Scott-Heron’s song, in turn, provides the reference to the 2020 documentary We Almost Lost Bochum about the hip hop group RAG from Bochum in western Germany.[8]

References

Fuller, John Grant (1975). We almost lost Detroit. Reader's Digest Press. pp. 248-261. ISBN 0883490706. LCCN 75017870.
Clarfield, Gerard H.; Wiecek, William M. (1984). Nuclear America: Military and Civilian Nuclear Power in the United States, 1940-1980. Harper & Row. p. 469. ISBN 9780060153366.
Patterson, Walter C (1976). Nuclear Power (PDF). Penguin Books. pp. 185–186.
"We Almost Lost Detroit (Book Review)". Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists: 48. Nov 1975. ISSN 0096-3402.
"Kirkus Review: We Almost Lost Detroit". Kirkus Reviews. 1975-10-13. Retrieved 2017-11-02.
Gil Scott-Heron: We Almost Lost Detroit on YouTube (March 14, 1990 in London, UK)
"The Ron Holloway Band: Music". Retrieved 2017-11-02.
"We Almost Lost Bochum - Films - home". www.german-documentaries.de. Retrieved 2020-11-09.

Anti-nuclear movement in the United States
General	Anti-nuclear groups in the US California movement Great Peace March Nuclear history of the United States Nuclear power in the US Canceled nuclear reactors in the US Nuclear weapons and the US Protests in the US Anti-nuclear advocates in the US
Organizations and groups	Abalone Alliance Alliance for Nuclear Responsibility Clamshell Alliance Committee for Nuclear Responsibility Corporate Accountability International Critical Mass Energy Project Friends of the Earth Greenpeace USA Institute for Energy and Environmental Research Mothers for Peace Musicians United for Safe Energy Nevada Desert Experience Nuclear Control Institute Nuclear Information and Resource Service Physicians for Social Responsibility Plowshares movement Ploughshares Fund Public Citizen Shad Alliance Sierra Club Three Mile Island Alert Women Strike for Peace Kings Bay Plowshares
People	Daniel Berrigan William J. Bichsel Bruce G. Blair Larry Bogart Helen Caldicott Barry Commoner Norman Cousins Frances Crowe Carrie Barefoot Dickerson Paul M. Doty Bernard T. Feld Randall Forsberg John Gofman Paul Gunter John Hall Jackie Hudson Sam Lovejoy Amory Lovins Bernard Lown Arjun Makhijani Gregory Minor Hermann Joseph Muller Ralph Nader Graham Nash Linus Pauling Eugene Rabinowitch Phil Radford Bonnie Raitt Carl Sagan Martin Sheen Karen Silkwood Thomas Louis Vitale Harvey Wasserman Victor Weisskopf
Main protest sites	Black Fox Bodega Bay Diablo Canyon Indian Point Lawrence Livermore Montague Naval Base Kitsap Nevada Test Site Rancho Seco Rocky Flats San Onofre Seabrook Shoreham Three Mile Island Trojan Vermont Yankee White House Peace Vigil Y-12 Weapons Plant Yankee Rowe
Books	Carbon-Free and Nuclear-Free Conservation Fallout: Nuclear Protest at Diablo Canyon Contesting the Future of Nuclear Power Critical Masses: Opposition to Nuclear Power in California, 1958–1978 The Cult of the Atom The Doomsday Machine (book) Fallout: An American Nuclear Tragedy Killing Our Own Licensed to Kill? The Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Shoreham Power Plant Making a Real Killing: Rocky Flats and the Nuclear West Nuclear Implosions: The Rise and Fall of the Washington Public Power Supply System Nuclear Politics in America We Almost Lost Detroit
Films	Atomic Ed and the Black Hole The China Syndrome Countdown to Zero Dark Circle Nuclear Tipping Point Silkwood

We Almost Lost Detroit

Reception

Cultural impact

See also

References

Further reading