Nuclear Power or a Promise Lost

Nuclear Power or a Promise Lost
Author: Edward T. Burns
Publisher: BrownWalker Press
Total Pages: 708
Release: 2020-05-01
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 1627347445

This book captures the status of current electrical energy markets including the principal forces affecting decisions on selecting an energy source. It represents a seminal work that lays out the electrical energy decision tree for selecting an energy source in a world that is on the verge of catastrophic global warming because of the choices that have been made in the name of cheap energy. The impetus for this book includes the dire need to mitigate continued anthropogenic causes of global warming by turning to carbon free energy sources. Nuclear energy represents such a carbon-free energy source and could be a partial solution to the existential threat facing future society---the threat of a warming planet and its consequential, catastrophic effects on future generations. The world is at a crossroads in human interaction with their environment. The effects of radiation and the relationship of nuclear power to nuclear weapons are both discussed in an understandable and compelling manner. Nuclear energy is contrasted with other energy sources including fossil fuels and renewable energy sources regarding the risks and benefits imposed by each. Important personalities and world events that shaped nuclear power's development are recounted. The historical origins of nuclear power are outlined and the continued impetus to include nuclear power as part of the electric grid energy mix is assessed exposing the obstacles and road blocks to the continued use of nuclear power. Specific attention is paid to revealing the causes and lessons learned from the three severe accidents in commercial nuclear plants: TMI-2, Chernobyl, and Fukushima. An extensive discussion of nuclear waste disposal is provided as part of the decision tree for energy selection. The context for the future of nuclear power as a viable energy source is illuminated by the current battle between economic growth and the harm created by burning fossil fuels. The status of the world's climate and projections for the disruptive effects of global warming on future populations, migration, economics, and world strife are debated against the backdrop of an increasing world population and the drive by developing nations to achieve economic parity with the industrialized nations. Within the context of increased world strife, the quest by nations to obtain nuclear weapons is also discussed. The steps taken by the world to limit nuclear weapons proliferation are examined with emphasis on potential links between nuclear power generation and access to nuclear weapons.The final chapter discusses the moral responsibility of current generations with respect to future generations, specifically, the applicability of "intergenerational equity" in political and social decision-making regarding the actions that add to global warming and those risk averse actions that can be taken to minimize global warming.

Nuclear Power Or a Promise Lost

Nuclear Power Or a Promise Lost
Author: Edward T. Burns
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2020
Genre: Energy policy
ISBN: 9781627347457

"This book captures the status of current electrical energy markets including the principal forces affecting decisions on selecting an energy source. It represents a seminal work that lays out the electrical energy decision tree for selecting an energy source in a world that is on the verge of catastrophic global warming because of the choices that have been made in the name of cheap energy. The impetus for this book includes the dire need to mitigate continued anthropogenic causes of global warming by turning to carbon free energy sources. The battle for the environment and public health encompasses the moral struggle involving current and future generations. The ability to monetize or otherwise engage populations and central governments regarding both the short term and long term attributes of the energy sources is critical to optimizing the choices selected. The discovery and development of nuclear energy---its power, its uses, and the risks are central to the discussion. The effects of radiation and the relationship of nuclear power to nuclear weapons are both discussed in an understandable manner. Nuclear energy is contrasted with other energy sources including fossil fuels and renewable energy sources regarding the risks and benefits imposed by each. Important personalities and world events that shaped nuclear power's development are recounted. The historical origins of nuclear power are outlined and the continued impetus to include nuclear power as part of the electric grid energy mix is assessed exposing the obstacles and road blocks to the continued use of nuclear power. Specific attention is paid to revealing the causes and lessons learned from the three severe accidents in commercial nuclear plants: TMI-2, Chernobyl, and Fukushima. An extensive discussion of nuclear waste disposal is provided as part of the decision tree for energy selection. The context for the future of nuclear power as a viable energy source is illuminated by the current battle between economic growth and the harm created by burning fossil fuels. The status of the world's climate and projections for the disruptive effects of global warming on future populations, migration, economics, and world strife are debated against the backdrop of an increasing world population and the drive by developing nations to achieve economic parity with the industrialized nations. Within the context of increased world strife, the quest by nations to obtain nuclear weapons is also discussed. The steps taken by the world to limit nuclear weapons proliferation are examined with emphasis on potential links between nuclear power generation and access to nuclear weapons. The final chapter discusses the moral responsibility of current generations with respect to future generations, specifically, the applicability of "intergenerational equity" in political and social decision-making regarding the actions that add to global warming and those risk averse actions that can be taken to minimize global warming"--

Nuclear Energy: Promise Or Peril?

Nuclear Energy: Promise Or Peril?
Author: C R Hill
Publisher: World Scientific
Total Pages: 286
Release: 1999-08-16
Genre: Science
ISBN: 9814494461

Nuclear energy will inevitably become an important issue worldwide in the 21st century. It pollutes the environment, with consequences that are highly controversial; and it generates plutonium — the essential component of nuclear weapons. At the same time, it is a realistic alternative to at least some of the expected huge increase in global demand for fossil-fuel burning, which itself is a major source of environmental pollution, and not least of “greenhouse” gases.This invaluable book attempts to provide, for the non-technical reader, an objective and critical account of the main issues involved. The authors are authorities in their own fields, and their contributions have been read in manuscript, discussed and criticised by a wider, international group of experts. Thus, whilst much of its contents may arouse controversy, the book should be an excellent starting point for informed public discussion of a vitally important topic.

Revisiting Nuclear Power

Revisiting Nuclear Power
Author: Anne C. Cunningham
Publisher: Greenhaven Publishing LLC
Total Pages: 250
Release: 2017-07-15
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 1534501290

In an era defined by anxiety over global warming and the search for alternative fuel sources, nuclear power is rarely part of the conversation. It promises limitless power and a drastic reduction in greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. Yet, it is by no means perfectly safe or “clean,” as Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima remind us. Even so, thirty countries are operating 444 reactors, accounting for almost 11 percent of the world’s electricity production. The debate over nuclear energy is a fierce and emotional one, and arguments, agendas, assumptions, and factual information must be scrutinized meticulously and carefully. This volume allows readers to do just that as they begin to form their own opinions on the viability of nuclear power.

SuperFuel

SuperFuel
Author: Richard Martin
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2012-05-08
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0230341918

A riveting look at how an alternative source of energy is revoluntionising nuclear power, promising a safe and clean future for millions, and why thorium was sidelined at the height of the Cold War In this groundbreaking account of an energy revolution in the making, award-winning science writer Richard Martin introduces us to thorium, a radioactive element and alternative nuclear fuel that is far safer, cleaner, and more abundant than uranium. At the dawn of the Atomic Age, thorium and uranium seemed to be in close competition as the fuel of the future. Uranium, with its ability to undergo fission and produce explosive material for atomic weapons, won out over its more pacific sister element, relegating thorium to the dustbin of science. Now, as we grapple with the perils of nuclear energy and rogue atomic weapons, and mankind confronts the specter of global climate change, thorium is re-emerging as the overlooked energy source as a small group of activists and outsiders is working, with the help of Silicon Valley investors, to build a thorium-power industry. In the first book mainstream book to tackle these issues, Superfuel is a story of rediscovery of a long lost technology that has the power to transform the world's future, and the story of the pacifists, who were sidelined in favour of atomic weapon hawks, but who can wean us off our fossil-fuel addiction and avert the risk of nuclear meltdown for ever.

The Life and Times of Walter Reuther

The Life and Times of Walter Reuther
Author: James TenEyck
Publisher: Page Publishing Inc
Total Pages: 566
Release: 2016-06-03
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1683482077

The Life and Times of Walter Reuther: An Unfinished Liberal Legacy recounts the events and social movements that have shaped modern America and examines Reuther’s involvement in them. For over thirty years, Walter Reuther and his United Automobile Workers union were in the vanguard of voices advancing liberal economic and social policies that raised the standard of living for many Americans, extended the protection of the law, and provided a measure of security for the aged, infirm, disabled, and unemployed. In the narrative, Reuther serves as the lens through which a period of labor advances, civil rights struggle, and hot and cold wars are viewed from a liberal perspective. The book follows Walter and Victor Reuther on their European adventure to their ancestral homeland during the rise of Hitler and into the Gorky autoworks factory in Soviet Russia. The pair returned home to the labor battles in Flint and Dearborn that established a UAW presence in the factories and brought Walter Reuther to the bargaining table to negotiate the agreements that served as the treaty between labor and management for over two decades. Reuther’s story includes assassination attempts, confrontations with Senator Goldwater and Nikita Khrushchev, and a presence on the world stage and on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial when Martin Luther King recounted his dream. In the later chapters, the book looks beyond the life of the man and the events of his time and seeks to advance a liberal legacy that recently has been relentlessly attacked and too timidly defended.

Nuclear 2.0

Nuclear 2.0
Author: Mark Lynas
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Total Pages: 76
Release: 2014-01-30
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1906860467

Everything you thought you knew about nuclear power is wrong. This is just as well, because nuclear energy is essential to avoid catastrophic global warming. While renewables will surely play an important part in our future energy strategy, expecting them to deliver all the world's power is dangerously delusional. In 2014, statistics showed that wind and solar power contributed only 1 per cent of global primary energy. Similarly, while energy saving has a key role to play in the developed world, there is no possibility of humanity as a whole using less energy while the developing world is extracting itself from poverty. And the fact is that the anti-nuclear movement of the 1970s and '80s has made the world more dependent on fossil fuels. In Nuclear 2.0, environmental campaigner Mark Lynas debunks the myths that have cast nuclear energy in a bad light. Often overlooked because of concerns surrounding nuclear waste and radiation poisoning after the Chernobyl disaster, atomic energy is one of the most impressive sources of low-carbon power. In this enlightening read, Mark looks at the science and re-evaluates the situation to unravel why our future is threatened not just by the big fossil-fuel companies, but also the professional anti-nuclear Green groups. This book is a call for all those who want to see a low-carbon future to join forces and advocate a huge, Apollo-Program-scale investment in wind, solar and nuclear power.

Atomic Accidents

Atomic Accidents
Author: Jim Mahaffey
Publisher: Open Road Media
Total Pages: 664
Release: 2014-02-04
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1480447749

A “delightfully astute” and “entertaining” history of the mishaps and meltdowns that have marked the path of scientific progress (Kirkus Reviews, starred review). Radiation: What could go wrong? In short, plenty. From Marie Curie carrying around a vial of radium salt because she liked the pretty blue glow to the large-scale disasters at Chernobyl and Fukushima, dating back to the late nineteenth century, nuclear science has had a rich history of innovative exploration and discovery, coupled with mistakes, accidents, and downright disasters. In this lively book, long-time advocate of continued nuclear research and nuclear energy James Mahaffey looks at each incident in turn and analyzes what happened and why, often discovering where scientists went wrong when analyzing past meltdowns. Every incident, while taking its toll, has led to new understanding of the mighty atom—and the fascinating frontier of science that still holds both incredible risk and great promise.