Nuclear Choices for the Twenty-First Century

An authoritative and unbiased guide to nuclear technology and the controversies that surround it.

Are you for nuclear power or against it? What's the basis of your opinion? Did you know a CT scan gives you some 2 millisieverts of radiation? Do you know how much a millisievert is? Does irradiation make foods safer or less safe? What is the point of a bilateral Russia-US nuclear weapons treaty in a multipolar world? These are nuclear questions that call for nuclear choices, and this book equips citizens to make these choices informed ones. It explains, clearly and accessibly, the basics of nuclear technology and describes the controversies surrounding its use.Preface
Chapter 1 Nuclear Questions, Nuclear Choices
Part I The Nuclear Difference
Chapter 2 Atoms and Nuclei
Chapter 3 Radioactivity
Chapter 4 Radiation
Chapter 5 Energy from the Nucleus
Part II Nuclear Power
Chapter 6 Energy: Using It, Making It
Chapter 7 Nuclear Reactors
Chapter 8 Reactor Safety
Chapter 9 Nuclear Waste and Fuel Cycles
Chapter 10 A Future for Nuclear Fission?
Chapter 11 Nuclear Fusion
Part III Nuclear Weapons
Chapter 12 Nuclear Weapons: History and Technology
Chapter 13 Effects of Nuclear Weapons
Chapter 14 Delivering Nuclear Weapons
Chapter 15 Nuclear Strategy
Chapter 16 Nuclear Terrorism
Chapter 17 Defense in the Nuclear Age
Chapter 18 Arms Control and Nuclear Proliferation
Chapter 19 A World Without Nuclear Weapons?
Chapter 20 Nuclear Power, Nuclear Weapons, Nuclear Futures
Index“This book tells you everything you wanted to know about nuclear issues but may have been too overwhelmed to ask.”
—Patricia Lewis, Director, International Security Programme, The Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House
 
“A comprehensive introduction to nuclear issues written in a simple and engaging style but containing such a wealth of information that experts too can learn interesting things. Each side in the debate over nuclear power will find both ammunition and a better understanding of the other side.”
—Frank N. von Hippel, Senior Research Physicist and Professor of Public and International Affairs Emeritus, Program on Science and Global Security, Princeton University 
 
“This book should become a valued reference for specialist and general readers alike, and I look forward to having a copy on my shelf.”
—Cameron Reed, Charles A. Dana Professor of Physics emeritus, Alma CollegeRichard Wolfson is Benjamin F. Wissler Professor of Physics at Middlebury College. Ferenc Dalnoki-Veress is Scientist-in-Residence and Adjunct Professor at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies.