Sellout

March 13, 2017
Time to reclaim America’s technological base—and military capabilities—from the Chinese, argues this anguished saga of industrial decline. Journalist Bruce (Hostage Nation) profiles brash entrepreneur Jim Kennedy as he lobbies Washington to bolster U.S. production of “rare earth” metals that are critical to advanced weaponry; China has cornered the global market on them, leaving America’s high-tech military vulnerable to embargo. Her admiring profile recounts Kennedy’s battles with an abusive father, dyslexia, and congressional staffers and Pentagon bureaucrats who shrug off the threat, but skates unsatisfyingly past his murkier business wranglings. (Kennedy owns rare earth deposits in Missouri and has a financial stake in government preferments for domestic sources.) Still, the book adroitly examines crucial aspects of economic and national security; it’s an homage to America’s lost military-industrial complex, exploring abandoned mines and factories that once epitomized manufacturing prowess and revisiting breakthroughs at national laboratories from a post-war era of vigorous federal support for advanced technology. The author gives an interesting account of the “molten salt reactor,” a revolutionary nuclear reactor pioneered at U.S. labs but then mothballed; it’s now being developed by the Chinese government. Bruce makes an absorbing and timely plea for government leadership in reviving America’s technological supremacy.

March 15, 2017

Journalist Bruce (No Apparent Danger) tells the story of Jim Kennedy, a retired securities portfolio manager who purchased a mining operation only to learn about China's rare earth monopoly. Kennedy tried to convince the U.S. government to return to domestic supply chains, especially for rare earth elements, which are critical to many consumer electronics and 70 different military weapons systems. He partnered with engineer John Kutsch to lobby for a much safer alternative to nuclear power: molten salt reactor technology, which is based on thorium, a byproduct of rare earth mining. Together, they presented a win-win solution for technological and energy independence to various government staffers and the U.S. Department of Defense. Tangential narratives about the various players with whom Kennedy interacted during his quest provide helpful backstory, but their breadth and depth often take the focus unnecessarily far from him. Though the subject matter may seem daunting, Bruce manages to extract a compelling narrative from a formidable amalgam of land histories, geological surveys, patent applications, and foreign trade policies. Readers will share Kennedy's considerable frustration with the shortsightedness of profit-driven stakeholders and the hubris of politicians. VERDICT For those interested in solving world economic and energy problems.--Ricardo Laskaris, York Univ. Lib., Toronto

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2017
An award-winning science journalist charges that the United States is ceding first place to the Chinese in the development of technologies invented by American scientists.As Bruce (No Apparent Danger: The True Story of Volcanic Disaster at Galeras and Nevado del Ruiz, 2001, etc.) writes, "the tsunami of science and tech companies rolling into China," is well-known, but free market ideology has blinded us to the political consequences of allowing the Chinese to achieve international hegemony in global markets. She dates her personal interest in the story from her college years as an undergraduate majoring in geology. During a field trip to the Mojave Desert in 1994, she received a rock containing a rare-earth metal from a geologist who contended that the Chinese were putting American mining companies out of business. They were appropriating our technology and selling it at bargain prices in order to capture the world market. Bruce thought about this incident again in 2011 when she met Jim Kennedy, who had invested in an iron mine that turned out to contain radioactive thorium mixed with rare-earth elements. Consequently, his mining operation was subject to strict nuclear regulatory measures, which reduced the profitability of his operation; American investors, in particular, were wary of "the nightmarish costs and complications around the disposal of nuclear waste." Ultimately, Kennedy could not compete with Chinese investors, who have become the leading global suppliers of the rare-earth elements needed to produce semiconductors. They are also at the forefront of the development of next-generation nuclear technology. Not only does the Chinese government encourage private investment, but it offers financial incentives to investors in high-end nuclear technology. In contrast, Kennedy has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars of his own money as an investor and political activist. Bruce provides a concise, inspiring story of personal transformation and dedication to American technology production. An instructive tale of one man's "burning mission to bring back manufacturing and innovation to America."

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May 15, 2017
A master of her craft, Bruce (Hostage Nation, 2010) combines intellect and a no-nonsense tone to tell a complicated scientific and global story through the lens of one determined man. Jim Kennedy's life was shaped by an abusive father and took several dramatic turns, including the purchase of a bankrupt mine, prompting him to learn about rare earth elements. Those materials are essential for manufacturing technology, including defense weapons and clean nuclear energy. Kennedy learned that post-Desert-Storm globalization policies from Washington allowed the Chinese to purchase most of the world supply of rare earth elements and patent the American-invented technology required to develop them. With that, the U.S. became dependent on another nation for its major defense systems. Kennedy heard the alarm bells and adopted the call to action with passion and tenacity that must be admired. Bruce's thorough work explains the historical context for Kennedy's mine, the evolution of nuclear energy at the Oak Ridge laboratories, and the globalization process, all balanced with Kennedy's biography. This book will, no doubt, spur policy change.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)