Nuclear is not the solution : the folly of atomic power in the age of climate change

Nuclear is not the solution The folly of atomic power in the age of climate change

M. V. Ramana, 1966-

Book - 2024

"Nuclear power will slow our response to climate change and increase the risk of weapons proliferation and catastrophe. The climate crisis has propelled nuclear energy back into fashion. Its proponents argue we already have the technology of the future and that it only needs perfection and deployment. Nuclear Is Not the Solution demonstrates why this sort of thinking is not only nave but dangerous. Even beyond the horrific implications of meltdown and the intractable problem of waste disposal, nuclear is not practicable on such a large scale. Any appraisal of future energy technology depends on two important parameters: cost and time. Nuclear fails on both counts. It is more costly than its renewable competitors wind and solar. And, im...portantly given the need for rapid transformation, it is slow. A plant takes a decade to come online. If you include permits and fundraising, this adds another decade. And we should not forget the deep roots it has in the defense industry. M. V. Ramana's powerful book destroys any illusion that nuclear is our answer to climate change, untangling technical arguments into simple and sensible language. Importantly, Nuclear Is Not the Solution also unmasks the powerful groups with vested interests in the maintenance of the status quo, currently working hard to greenwash a spectacularly dirty industry" -- Front dust jacket.

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Subjects
Nuclear power plants > Risk assessment.
Nuclear energy > Government policy > United States.
Climate change mitigation > Government policy.
Published
London ; Brooklyn, New York : Verso 2024.
Language
English
Main Author
M. V. Ramana, 1966- (author)
Physical Description
viii, 264 pages ; 22 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN
9781804290002
  • Acknowledgments
  • Introduction
  • 1. Undesirable: Risks to the Environment and People's Health from Nuclear Energy
  • 2. Infeasible: The Financial and Temporal Costs of Nuclear Energy
  • 3. Private Profits, Social Costs: Industry Strategies
  • 4. Enabling Moneymaking, Singing Praise: Governments and Nuclear Power
  • 5. May the Atom Be a Soldier: Nuclear Power for War
  • 6. Magical Thinking and Billionaire Messiahs: New Technology as Solution?
  • Conclusion
  • Notes
  • Index
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review

Ramana (The Power of Promise), a global affairs professor at the University of British Columbia, argues against the expansion of nuclear power in this vehement treatise. Increased reliance on atomic energy will exacerbate the risk of serious accidents, Ramana contends, explaining that while reactors can be shut down during emergencies, the fission products can under certain circumstances melt through the fuel assembly and leak into the environment. Reactors produce harmful radioactive waste that takes millions of years to decay, he writes, suggesting that proposals to store waste in underground repositories carry a high risk of failure due to long-term natural changes in geological conditions that could break the container's seal. Elsewhere, Ramana notes that nuclear power is less cost-effective than solar and suggests atomic energy makes "catastrophic nuclear war more likely" because of the increased availability of nuclear technology. Detailed case studies demonstrate the practical difficulties involved in commissioning nuclear plants (Ramana describes how an as-yet-unfinished Somerset, England, plant whose planning began in 2008 has taken longer to build and been more expensive than anticipated, costing at least twice as much as the £16 billion initially estimated), and Ramana builds a persuasive case that the costs of nuclear power outweigh the benefits. Environmentally-conscious readers will have their eyes opened. (July)

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