Today, there are over 400 nuclear reactors in 31 countries, including France, Brazil, India, the UK, and Canada. Proponents claim that nuclear power is the only viable alternative to fossil fuels given rising energy consumption and the looming threat of global warming, and are pushing for an even greater investment. Here, energy economist Andrew McKillop and social scientist Martin Cohen argue that the nuclear power dream being sold to us is pure fantasy. Debunking the multi-layered myth that nuclear energy is cheap, clean and safe, they demonstrate how landscapes are ravaged in search of the elusive yellow cake to fuel the reactors, and how energy companies and politicians rarely discuss the true costs of nuclear power plants - from the subsidies that build the infrastructure to the unspoken guarantee that the public will pick up the cleanup cost in the event of a meltdown, which can easily top a hundred billion dollars. In the wake of the meltdown at Japan's Fukushima power plant, the future of nuclear energy is again uncertain; this is a timely and hard-hitting look at why its costs are simply too high for humanity.
| ISBN | 0230338348 | | Pages | 256 | | ISBN13 | 9780230338340
(What's this?) | | Weight (grammes) | 420 | | Publisher | Palgrave Macmillan | | Published in | Basingstoke | | Imprint | Palgrave Macmillan | | Height (mm) | 242 | | Format | Hardback | | Width (mm) | 160 | | Publication date | 26 Apr 2012 | | Spine width (mm) | 22 | | DEWEY | 333.7924 | | Academic level | General | | DEWEY edition | DC23 | |
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Introduction Myth 1: Nuclear Energy is the Energy of the Future Myth 2: Nuclear Power is Green Myth 3: Nuclear Reactors are Reliable and Safe Myth 4: Nuclear Energy is Cheap - Too Cheap to Meter Myth 5: Nuclear Energy Avoids Geopolitics Myth 6: Nuclear Energy is Very Clean Myth 7: Nuclear Radiation is Harmless Myth 8: Everyone is Looking to Invest in Nuclear Energy
"Intensively researched...The authors deliver a convincing account of the partnership between industry and government to build wildly expensive generators whose electricity remains uncompetitive without more subsidies. A persuasive if discouraging argument that nuclear power offers different but no less nasty environmental problems than burning hydrocarbons."--"Kirkus Reviews"
"How refreshing to read such a well-reasoned and thoughtful perspective on the real costs of nuclear power. The only way to become informed is to be read books like "The Doomsday Machine". Martin Cohen and Andrew McKillop's newest book contains so much important information that it completely rips the curtain aside for us all to see, at last, the real cost of nuclear power. Truly a must read."--Graham Nash, of "Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young""Nuclear power is humankind's most expensive technological failure, with the price tag skyrocketing after each new mega-disaster. Its prime accomplishment has been to irradiate large swaths of the planet while delaying the essential transition to a green-powered future based on renewables and efficiency. With uncommon wit and brilliance, the Dooms Day Machine makes it clear why this horrific technology has left us a financial, ecological and health disaster only a Strangelove could love."--Harvey Wasserman, author of "Solartopia"""
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