The Nuclear Bargain: A 21st Century Deal with the Devil

Proponents of nuclear power argue that reactors are safe and clean and produce plentiful cheap and virtually carbon free electricity. Nuclear reactors by themselves appear to be clear and safe, mostly. This work will show that the processes that feed them are not. The author’s aim is to put nuclear power in context, including the false promises of radium in the early twentieth century, the scientists who identified the nature of uranium, through the building and use of atomic bombs, to the development of commercial nuclear power, and the rough spots along the way. It includes the widespread waste from largely unregulated uranium mining and milling practices, contamination from the production of reactor fuel and uranium slugs for weapons production at the Hanford Engineer Works in Washington, and the thousands of people who died along the way.