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Publisher's Weekly Review |
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Week of November 11
Novelist and science reporter Cravens (The Black Death) begins this journey of discovery “through the Nuclear world” dubious of nuclear power’s safety and utility: “I’d participated in ban-the-bomb rallies” but “never considered the fate of a retired weapon.” Her trip begins with a casual conversation with nuclear physicist Dr. Richard “Rip” Anderson on the hidden warheads being dismantled outside Albuquerque, N.M.; as it turns out, the nuclear “pits” were to be used for fuel in nuclear reactors.
Curiosity, and Rip’s conviction that no other large-scale energy
source is as “safe, reliable, and clean,” drives Craven to spend 10
years with the scientist traveling to national laboratories, uranium
mines and nuclear waste sites; reviewing accounts of Chernobyl and
Three Mile Island; and examining modern reactor designs, the life cycle
of uranium and studies on radiation’s effects since 1945. Gradually
convinced that “uranium is cleaner and safer throughout its shielded
journey from cradle to grave than our other big baseload electricity
resource, fossil fuel,” Cravens has submitted a thorough, persuasive
report from the front lines of the world’s energy and climate crises,
illuminating for general readers the pros and cons of a highly
misunderstood resource. (Oct.)
www.publishersweekly.com
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