As I’ve alluded to, I don’t want this site to be too narrowly focused. I’m going to explore unpopular topics like nuclear power, as well as the arcane, the mainstream, whatever.
Nuclear power is a real problem. a problem in the sense that the reputation in the U.S. is about as tarnished as it can possibly be — yet, nuclear can work, and work well. France is the true example of that, more than 80% of France’s electricity is supplied by nuclear power – yet there has never been a nuclear accident there.
There are, obviously, other problems with nuclear. Nuclear waste is very ‘dirty’, to understate it considerably. In all of this, I’m talking about fission-based nuclear energy. Fusion-based nuclear energy is not yet a reality – but it holds the greatest potential for clean, and limitless, generation of power. If fusion can be tamed, there will never be any shortage of power on earth ever again. Electricity will become free, for all practical purposes.
The recent Fukushima meltthroughs have reignited the debate on nuclear power. Here, a reasoned, objective and scientifically balanced account is given of the relative merits and perils of atomic power as an alternative to the burning of fossil fuels. In addition to recounting the science behind atomic energy and past nuclear accidents, the discourse also includes some remarkable stories of people who caused accidents and some of the heroes who helped to avert major nuclear catastrophes.
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Understanding RadiationNatural and Man-made Sources of RadiationWe are constantly exposed to radiation, whether cosmicradiation from outer space or radiation fromradioactive elements in the earth’s rocks and soil.These sources contribute to the natural backgroundradiation that has always been around us...
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Gwyneth Cravens on Why Going Green Means Going Nuclear "Most of us were taught that the goal of science is power over nature, as if science and power were one thing and nature quite another. Niels Bohr observed to the contrary that the more modest but relentless goal of science is, in his words, 'the gradual removal of prejudice...
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Originally perceived as a cheap and plentiful source of power, the commercial use of nuclear energy has been controversial for decades. Worries about the dangers that nuclear plants and their radioactive waste posed to nearby communities grew over time, and plant construction in the United States virtually died after the early 1980s...
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Nuclear Energy is one of the most popular texts ever published on basic nuclear physics, systems, and applications of nuclear energy. This newest edition continues the tradition of offering a holistic treatment of everything the undergraduate engineering student needs to know in a clear and accessible way...
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