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Books > Earth & environment > The environment > Nuclear issues
The first atomic bombs were constructed at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, where lab workers disposed of waste plutonium in nearby canyons leading to the Rio Grande. Today, the environmental consequences are just beginning to be understood as scientists examine the effects created by past mishandling of one of the most toxic chemical wastes known. Written in an engaging, accessible style, Plutonium and the Rio Grande is the first book to offer a complete exploration of this environmental history. It includes an explanation of what plutonium is, how much of it was released by the Los Alamos workers, and how much entered the river system directly from waste disposal and indirectly, as a result of atomic bomb fallout. The book includes extensive appendices, maps, diagrams, and photographs. Environmental managers, ecologists, hydrologists and other river specialists, as well as concerned general readers will find the book readable and informative.
The citizens of the United States generally oppose new energy developments, yet the public does not want to go without cheap, plentiful energy. This book explores the intricate relationship between public opinion and energy issues. Using the state of California as a model, the author addresses such questions as, What roles do ideology and other values play in influencing opinions on energy issues? How much does the public understand about energy issues? Who favors further oil development or the expansion of nuclear power? How have people's opinions changed over time and how are they likely to change in the future? Are people guided by self-interest or other motives? Energy, the Environment, and Public Opinion sheds light on how much the public understands about energy policy, what the public wants officials to do about our energy problems, and how governments at various levels are likely to come to grips with energy shortages in the future.
At a moment when a new generation of power stations and weapons are being developed, Fallout is a measured and fascinating exploration of our most misunderstood energy source and asks: what can we learn from our past mistakes, and what role should nuclear play in our future? Hiroshima. Bikini Atoll. Windscale. Chernobyl. Fukushima. These names no longer denote a place, but a disaster. In a few syllables, they evoke the heights of human ingenuity clashing with the worst of human error. Individually, each place has its own sobering story to tell; together, they form a timeline of the nuclear age. In this compelling and deeply researched book, Fred Pearce investigates the greatest nuclear incidents and accidents of the past 80 years by visiting their now iconic landscapes. He tours former power stations and abandoned testing sites in the company of scientists and engineers, and in previously toxic wastelands, where radioactive wolves now stalk the streets and genetically-malformed flora blooms, he witnesses the surprising resilience of nature. As well as the physical legacy, Pearce also considers the psychological impact of these disasters. Amid rumours of state cover-ups, corporate deception, and hushed-up medical epidemics, Pearce weighs the evidence on either side of the argument to disentangle the facts from the fear.
Emma Watson's Our Shared Shelf book club choice New York Times bestseller 'Fascinating.' Sunday Times 'Thrilling.' Mail on Sunday All they wanted was the chance to shine. Be careful what you wish for... 'The first thing we asked was, "Does this stuff hurt you?" And they said, "No." The company said that it wasn't dangerous, that we didn't need to be afraid.' As the First World War spread across the world, young American women flocked to work in factories, painting clocks, watches and military dials with a special luminous substance made from radium. It was a fun job, lucrative and glamorous - the girls shone brightly in the dark, covered head to toe in dust from the paint. However, as the years passed, the women began to suffer from mysterious and crippling illnesses. It turned out that the very thing that had made them feel alive - their work - was slowly killing them: the radium paint was poisonous. Their employers denied all responsibility, but these courageous women - in the face of unimaginable suffering - refused to accept their fate quietly, and instead became determined to fight for justice. Drawing on previously unpublished diaries, letters and interviews, The Radium Girls is an intimate narrative of an unforgettable true story. It is the powerful tale of a group of ordinary women from the Roaring Twenties, who themselves learned how to roar. Further praise for The Radium Girls 'The importance of the brave and blighted dial-painters cannot be overstated.' Sunday Times 'A perfect blend of the historical, the scientific and the personal.' Bustle 'Thrilling and carefully crafted.' Mail on Sunday
The hydrogen test-bomb Bravo, dropped on the Marshall Islands in 1954, had enormous consequences for the Rongelap people. Anthropologists Barbara Rose Johnston and Holly Barker provide incontrovertible evidence of physical and financial damages to individuals and cultural and psycho-social damages to the community through use of declassified government documents, oral histories and ethnographic research, conducted with the Marshallese community within a unique collaborative framework. Their work helped produce a $1 billion award by the Nuclear Claims Tribunal and raises issues of bioethics, government secrecy, human rights, military testing, and academic activism. The report, reproduced here with accompanying materials, should be read by everyone concerned with the effects of nuclear war and is an essential text for courses in history, environmental studies, bioethics, human rights, and related subjects.
The hydrogen test-bomb Bravo, dropped on the Marshall Islands in 1954, had enormous consequences for the Rongelap people. Anthropologists Barbara Rose Johnston and Holly Barker provide incontrovertible evidence of physical and financial damages to individuals and cultural and psycho-social damages to the community through use of declassified government documents, oral histories and ethnographic research, conducted with the Marshallese community within a unique collaborative framework. Their work helped produce a $1 billion award by the Nuclear Claims Tribunal and raises issues of bioethics, government secrecy, human rights, military testing, and academic activism. The report, reproduced here with accompanying materials, should be read by everyone concerned with the effects of nuclear war and is an essential text for courses in history, environmental studies, bioethics, human rights, and related subjects.
The complexity of the twenty-first century threat landscape contrasts markedly with the bilateral nuclear bargaining context envisioned by classical deterrence theory. Nuclear and conventional arsenals continue to develop alongside anti-satellite programs, autonomous robotics or drones, cyber operations, biotechnology, and other innovations barely imagined in the early nuclear age. The concept of cross-domain deterrence (CDD) emerged near the end of the George W. Bush administration as policymakers and commanders confronted emerging threats to vital military systems in space and cyberspace. The Pentagon now recognizes five operational environments or so-called domains (land, sea, air, space, and cyberspace), and CDD poses serious problems in practice. In Cross-Domain Deterrence, Erik Gartzke and Jon R. Lindsay assess the theoretical relevance of CDD for the field of International Relations. As a general concept, CDD posits that how actors choose to deter affects the quality of the deterrence they achieve. Contributors to this volume include senior and junior scholars and national security practitioners. Their chapters probe the analytical utility of CDD by examining how differences across, and combinations of, different military and non-military instruments can affect choices and outcomes in coercive policy in historical and contemporary cases.
How did Andrei Sakharov, a theoretical physicist and the
acknowledged father of the Soviet hydrogen bomb, become a human
rights activist and the first Russian to win the Nobel Peace Prize?
In his later years, Sakharov noted in his diary that he was "simply
a man with an unusual fate." To understand this deceptively
straightforward statement by an extraordinary man, The World of
Andrei Sakharov, the first authoritative study of Andrei Sakharov
as a scientist as well as a public figure, relies on previously
inaccessible documents, recently declassified archives, and
personal accounts by Sakharov's friends and colleagues to examine
the real context of Sakharov's life.
Hundreds of studies have investigated public perceptions and preferences about nuclear power, waste management, and technology. However there is clear lack of uniformity in the style, aims and methods applied. Consequently, the body of results is inconsistent and it is difficult to isolate relevant patterns or interpretations. Nuclear Waste Management, Nuclear Power and Energy Choices: Public Preferences, Perceptions and Trust presents a theoretical base for public reactions then classifies and reviews the large body of surveys carried out over the past decade. Particular focus is placed on residents within 50 miles US nuclear waste facilities due to the disproportionate presence of nuclear factors in their lives such as the legacy of nuclear waste disposal and job dependency. The motivations and reasons for their views such as fear, attraction to the economic benefits, trust of site managers and federal agencies, cultural views, personal history, and demographic attributes of the people are also considered to provide a balanced and detailed overview. Nuclear Waste Management, Nuclear Power and Energy Choices: Public Preferences, Perceptions and Trust includes a comprehensive treatment of the theories and literature, and most important is grounded in surveys in 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011 which includes questions considering the impact of Fukushima on US public opinion. By including real life data alongside the analysis, Nuclear Waste Management, Nuclear Power, and Energy Choices: Public Preferences, Perceptions and Trust provides a relevant and concise reference for nuclear industry professionals. It also acts a resource for students and researchers studying nuclear-related topics including political, social and environmental factors. Particular focus is placed on residents within 50 miles US nuclear waste facilities due to the disproportionate presence of nuclear factors in their lives such as the legacy of nuclear waste disposal and job dependency. The motivations and reasons for their views such as fear, attraction to the economic benefits, trust of site managers and federal agencies, cultural views, personal history, and demographic attributes of the people are also considered to provide a balanced and detailed overview. Nuclear Waste Management, Nuclear Power and Energy Choices: Public Preferences, Perceptions and Trust includes a comprehensive treatment of the theories and literature, and most important is grounded in surveys in 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011 which includes questions considering the impact of Fukushima on US public opinion. By including real life data alongside the analysis, Nuclear Waste Management, Nuclear Power, and Energy Choices: Public Preferences, Perceptions and Trust provides a relevant and concise reference for nuclear industry professionals. It also acts a resource for students and researchers studying nuclear-related topics including political, social and environmental factors. Particular focus is placed on residents within 50 miles US nuclear waste facilities due to the disproportionate presence of nuclear factors in their lives such as the legacy of nuclear waste disposal and job dependency. The motivations and reasons for their views such as fear, attraction to the economic benefits, trust of site managers and federal agencies, cultural views, personal history, and demographic attributes of the people are also considered to provide a balanced and detailed overview. Nuclear Waste Management, Nuclear Power and Energy Choices: Public Preferences, Perceptions and Trust includes a comprehensive treatment of the theories and literature, and most important is grounded in surveys in 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011 which includes questions considering the impact of Fukushima on US public opinion. By including real life data alongside the analysis, Nuclear Waste Management, Nuclear Power, and Energy Choices: Public Preferences, Perceptions and Trust provides a relevant and concise reference for nuclear industry professionals. It also acts a resource for students and researchers studying nuclear-related topics including political, social and environmental factors. By including real life data alongside the analysis, Nuclear Waste Management, Nuclear Power, and Energy Choices: Public Preferences, Perceptions and Trust provides a relevant and concise reference for nuclear industry professionals. It also acts a resource for students and researchers studying nuclear-related topics including political, social and environmental factors. By including real life data alongside the analysis, Nuclear Waste Management, Nuclear Power, and Energy Choices: Public Preferences, Perceptions and Trust provides a relevant and concise reference for nuclear industry professionals. It also acts a resource for students and researchers studying nuclear-related topics including political, social and environmental factors.
The decline in central financing for Russia's nuclear complex and the known interest of terrorist groups in acquiring fissile material and technologies, has made the state of Russia's far-flung nuclear enterprises a pressing international issue. In this important volume, a group of leading US and Russian policy experts - drawing on extensive interviews with officials, facility personnel, and analysts in Russia's regions - explores the intersecting problems of Russian nuclear insecurity and decentralization, including the growing influence of regional, political and economic forces. The work presents insights into both nuclear safety issues and post-Soviet intra-agency governance, as well as detailed case studies of critical nuclear regions: the Far East, the Urals, Siberia, and the Volga area. The volume also offers major new findings on the interface linking Russia's evolving center-periphery relations, its ailing nuclear facilities, and the role played by foreign assistance providers.
As well as the application to food irradiation, nuclear techniques can be used in the detection of contaminants and the verification of the origins and authenticity of food. This publication presents the findings of a joint FAO/IAEA coordinated research project (CRP) on utilizing isotope and trace element analysis, and other complementary analytical techniques, to characterize the origin of authentic milk and dairy products sampled by the participating institutes. The purpose of the CRP was to develop a methodology to implement a sustainable system for the independent verification of the claimed origin of food. Questions concerning origin are among the first to be asked when a food safety incident arises. The results of the project described in this publication will assist Member States to better communicate the qualities and origin related attributes, or terroir, of different food commodities. In addition, verifying the origin of food can help to prevent fraud and thereby reduce barriers to trade and protect and promote added-value products with a strong regional or national identity.
This publication outlines the concepts and models supporting the requirements for understanding organizational competence within the nuclear context. It aims to help in the development of organizational competencies in countries with an existing nuclear power capability and those wishing to embark on a nuclear power programme. The publication summarizes necessary processes for mapping organizational competencies, as well as tools and techniques used for assessing them. Specific information provided in this publication will help organizations to determine competence needs based on strategic/corporate objectives and business processes, and to identify their existing success factors.
Experts agree, though it is already important, nuclear power will soon be critical to the maintenance of contemporary society. With the heightened importance of nuclear energy comes a heightened threat of terrorism. The possibility of nuclear energy infrastructure terrorism-that is, the use of weapons to cause damage to the nuclear energy industrial sector, which would have widespread, devastating effects-is very real. In Nuclear Infrastructure Protection and Homeland Security, authors Frank R. Spellman and Melissa L. Stoudt present all the information needed for nuclear infrastructure employers and employees to handle security threats they must be prepared to meet. The book focuses on three interrelated nuclear energy infrastructure segments: nuclear reactors, radioactive materials, and nuclear waste. It presents common-sense methodologies in a straightforward manner, so the text is accessible even to those with little experience with nuclear energy who are nonetheless concerned about the protection of our nuclear infrastructure. Important safety and security principles are outlined, along with security measures that can be implemented to ensure the safety of nuclear facilities.
Be prepared for the worst case scenario with t this field-tested guide to surviving a nuclear attack, written by a revered civil defense expert. This edition of Cresson H. Kearny's iconic Nuclear War Survival Skills (originally published in 1979 and updated by Kearny himself in 1987 and again in 2001), offers expert advice for ensuring your family's safety should the worst come to pass. Chock-full of practical instructions and preventative measures, Nuclear War Survival Skills is based on years of meticulous scientific research conducted by Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Featuring a new introduction by ex-Navy SEAL and New York Times bestselling author Don Mann, this book also includes Instructions for six different fallout shelters Food and water Myths and facts about the dangers of nuclear weapons Tips for maintaining an adequate food and water supply Shelter sanitation and preventive medicine Surviving without doctors A foreword by "the father of the hydrogen bomb," physicist Dr. Edward Teller, An "About the Author" note by Eugene P. Wigner, physicist and Nobel Laureate. Written at a time when global tensions were at their peak, Nuclear War Survival Skills remains relevant in the dangerous age in which we now live.
To address the challenges posed by climate change, and to achieve the goals established in the 2015 Paris Agreement, nuclear power has been identified to have great potential to contribute to the 1.5°C climate change mitigation target. This topical conference on climate change and the role of nuclear power, the first of its kind, served as a unique forum for exchanging science-based information on the role of nuclear power in supporting the low carbon energy transformation and for conducting objective discussions on the opportunities and challenges of safe, secure and safeguarded nuclear technology development. The major themes of the conference covered energy and climate change policies, implications for the power sector, environmental perspectives and potential roles of existing, evolutionary and innovative nuclear power systems, including the integration of nuclear/renewable energy systems. In addition to nuclear power’s interim and long term contributions, some strategic and cross-cutting issues relating to public perception, regulations, markets and finance were also addressed. These proceedings provide a summary of the different plenary, technical and side event sessions as well as the full text of the speeches delivered in the opening, closing and high-level plenary sessions of the conference.
This book seeks to go beyond conventional literature on the North Korean nuclear issue by examining the chances of survival of the Kim Jong Un regime, both with and without the nuclear weapons program. It offers a detailed historical background of the dysfunctional North Korean economy, explores the contemporary socioeconomic condition of the country, examines the failures of the Six-party Talks and other attempts at negotiations with North Korea, and outlines a blueprint for the survival of the regime through rapid economic modernization to be put forward by the five stakeholder nations in exchange for dismantlement of the nuclear weapons program.
As the Soviet Union was collapsing in late 1991, reports began to reach the West about agents "shopping" for weapons systems - and weapons scientists - in the beleaguered Soviet military-industrial complex. In response, the United States, the European Community, and Japan, in cooperation with the Russian government, created a program to reemploy Soviet scientific personnel in civilian projects dealing with the legacy of the Soviet system - a polluted environment, unsafe nuclear power facilities, and economic underdevelopment. In this fascinating first-person account, the American environmental scientist who led the effort to establish the International Science and Technology Center in Moscow tells the diplomatic, scientific, and human story behind a remarkable post-Cold War conversion initiative.
This publication provides guidance for assessing the sustainability of a nuclear energy system (NES) in the area of nuclear fuel cycle facility (NFCF) safety. It deals with NFCFs that may be potentially involved in the NES such as, mining, milling, refining, conversion, enrichment, fuel fabrication, spent fuel storage, and spent fuel reprocessing facilities. It augments the information presented in the earlier INPRO publications on the methodology for sustainability assessments. The publication is intended for use by organizations involved in the development and deployment of a NES, including planning, design, modification and technical support for NFCFs.
The basic logic is very simple. Countries around the globe have a need for more electrical generating capacity because of increases in population and increases in energy use per capita. The needs are constrained by the requirement that the ba- load energy source be economical, secure, and not emit climate-changing gases. Nuclear power fits this description. Therefore, many countries that have not had a nuclear power program (or only had a small program) see a need to develop one in the future. However, the development of a national nuclear energy program is not so simple. The purpose of the NATO Advanced Research Workshop on Nuclear Power and Energy Security was to contribute to our understanding of how these programs might evolve. The workshop took place 26-29 May 2009 in Yerevan, Armenia. Approximately 50 participants discussed the infrastructure that is needed and some of the reactor options that might be considered. The papers in this book helped define the discussion that took place. The infrastructure that is needed includes a legal framework, a functioning regulator, a plan for waste disposal, a plan for emergency response, etc. These needs were explained and just as importantly, it was explained what international, bilateral, and regional cooperation is available. Although there were many co- tries represented, the Armenian experience was of particular interest because of where the meeting was located. The papers on reactor options covered both innovative and evolutionary designs.
Safe and Secure Transport and Storage of Radioactive Materials reviews best practice and emerging techniques in this area. The transport of radioactive materials is an essential operation in the nuclear industry, without which the generation of nuclear power would not be possible. Radioactive materials also often need to be stored pending use, treatment, or disposal. Given the nature of radioactive materials, it is paramount that transport and storage methods are both safe and secure. A vital guide for managers and general managers in the nuclear power and transport industries, this book covers topics including package design, safety, security, mechanical performance, radiation protection and shielding, thermal performance, uranium ore, fresh fuel, uranium hexafluoride, MOX, plutonium, and more.
This book presents a compilation of selected papers from the Fourth International Symposium on Software Reliability, Industrial Safety, Cyber Security and Physical Protection of Nuclear Power Plant, held in August 2019 in Guiyang, China. The purpose of the symposium was to discuss inspection, testing, certification and research concerning the software and hardware of instrument and control (I&C) systems used at nuclear power plants (NPP), such as sensors, actuators and control systems. The event provides a venue for exchange among experts, scholars and nuclear power practitioners, as well as a platform for the combination of teaching and research at universities and enterprises to promote the safe development of nuclear power plants. Readers will find a wealth of valuable insights into achieving safer and more efficient instrumentation and control systems.
This book analyses the 1980s as a nuclear decade, focusing on British and United States fiction. Ranging across genres including literary fiction, science fiction, post-apocalyptic fiction, graphic novels, children's and young adult literature, thrillers and horror, it shows how pressing nuclear issues were, particularly the possibility of nuclear war, and how deeply they penetrated the culture. It is innovative for its discussion of a "nuclear transatlantic," placing British and American texts in dialogue with one another, for its identification of a vibrant young adult fiction that resonates with more conventionally studied literatures of the period and for its analysis of a "politics of vulnerability" animating nuclear debates. Placing nuclear literature in social and historical contexts, it shows how novels and short stories responded not only to nuclear fears, but also crystallised contemporary debates about issues of gender, the environment, society and the economy.
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (2017) sets out to challenge deterrence policies and military defence doctrines, taking a humanitarian approach intended to disrupt the nuclear status quo. States with nuclear weapons oppose its very existence, neither participating in its development nor adopting its final text. Civil society groups seem determined, however, to stigmatize and delegitimize nuclear weapons towards their abolition. This book analyzes how the Treaty influences the international security architecture, examining legal, institutional and diplomatic implications of the Treaty and exploring its real and potential impact for both states acceding to the Treaty and those opposing it. It concludes with practical recommendations for international lawyers and policymakers regarding non-proliferation and disarmament matters, ultimately noting that nuclear weapons threaten peace, and everyone should have the right to nuclear peace and freedom from nuclear fear. |
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