Nuclear Power Is Not The Answer.

AuthorKaminski, Ryan
PositionFurther Reading - Book review

NUCLEAR POWER IS NOT THE ANSWER

Helen Caldicott (New York: New Press, 2006), 221 pages.

Helen Caldicott, Nobel Peace Prize nominee and co-founder of Physicians for Social Responsibility, sounds the alarm on the onset of the global nuclear renaissance. Equipped with an arsenal of statistics, scientific studies, real life anecdotes and frank common sense, Caldicott eloquently deconstructs popular fears about the spread of nuclear power.

Caldicott claims that nuclear power exacerbates climate change, is unsafe, and is not financially sound. Moreover, it promotes the proliferation of nuclear weapons and causes near irreparable environmental damage.

Even the most enthusiastic proponents of nuclear power will likely have difficulty parrying Caldicott's straightforward observation that mistakes happen. No corporation or government agency can guarantee that a nuclear plant will have a flawless safety record, that a freak natural disaster will never occur, or that a terrorist will never attempt to sabotage a nuclear power plant. If even one of these scenarios materialized, the results would be catastrophic and long lasting. Caldicott notes that the Chernobyl accident gradually impacted hundreds of thousands of people in Europe...

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