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NUCLEAR ENERGY
Promise or Peril?
edited by B C C van der Zwaan (Institut Français des Relations Internationales, France), C R Hill (Institute of Cancer Research, University of London), A L Mechelynck (Huldenberg, Belgium) & G Ripka (Centre d'Etudes de Saclay, France)
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 "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.
Contents:
- Nuclear Electricity — An Aide Memoire
- Preventing Climate Change:
The Role of Nuclear Energy
- World Energy and Climate in the Next Century
- Energy Efficiency is the Key
- Problems and Prospects for Nuclear Power in India
- Energy in a Changing World
- Safety of Nuclear Power — Some Observations
- The Nature and Management of Nuclear Wastes
- The Storage of Nuclear Wastes
- Spent Fuel Management
- The Nuclear Fuel Cycle: Does Reprocessing Make Sense?
- Why Reprocess? — A UK Case Study
- The Disposal of Separated Plutonium Stocks
- The Disposal of Plutonium
- Fast Neutron and Accelerator-Driven Reactors
- Prospects for Accelerator-Driven Reactors: The Energy Amplifier
- The Risk of Proliferation and International Safeguards
- The Risk of Proliferation: The Role of International Agencies
Readership: Environmentalists, energy strategists, political scientists and
nuclear engineers.
"This is an important and very informative book ... It makes no claim to having a definitive answer to the 50-year-old question in the title. Instead, it aims to explain, to the (very) intelligent layman and to scientists in other fields, the complex problems that have to be addressed in trying to find the answer."
| Int. J. Radiation Biology |
"... the book may well achieve its aim to stimulate informed discussion of the many pressing issues surrounding nuclear energy."
| 288pp |
Pub. date: Aug 1999 |
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