Nuclear Power: A Very Short Introduction

• Explores the most challenging question facing the world: how will we meet the global energy demand without destroying the planetary environment?
• Dispels some of the current myths about nuclear power and gives a balanced account of nuclear safety, cost, and nuclear waste
• Presents a history of the development of nuclear physics up to the emergence of the nuclear power industry
• Looks specifically at safety records, including accounts of the Windscale fire, the Three Mile Island incident, and the Chernobyl disaster
• Considers the potential of nuclear fusion for the future of energy supply
• Part of the bestselling Very Short Introductions series

Readership: General readers interested in nuclear energy, physics, and power, as well as students of physics.

Maxwell Irvine, Honorary Professor of Physics, Manchester University

"here's your chance to become an instant expert" - The Times

1: A new science is born
2: A new technology is developed
3: Thermal nuclear reactors
4: Nuclear fuel reprocessing and radioactive waste management
5: Nuclear safety
6: The cost of nuclear power
7: Nuclear fusion power
8: The need for nuclear power
Appendix