''Contesting the Future of Nuclear Power: A Critical Global Assessment of Atomic Energy'' is a 2011 book by
Benjamin K. Sovacool
Benjamin K. Sovacool is an American academic who is director of the Institute for Global Sustainability at Boston University as well as Professor of Earth and Environment at Boston University. He was formerly Director of the Danish Center for Ene ...
, published by
World Scientific
World Scientific Publishing is an academic publisher of scientific, technical, and medical books and journals headquartered in Singapore. The company was founded in 1981. It publishes about 600 books annually, along with 135 journals in various ...
. Sovacool’s book addresses the current status of the global nuclear power industry, its fuel cycle, nuclear accidents, environmental impacts, social risks, energy payback, nuclear power economics, and industry subsidies. There is a postscript on the Japanese 2011
Fukushima nuclear disaster
The was a nuclear accident in 2011 at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Ōkuma, Fukushima, Japan. The proximate cause of the disaster was the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, which occurred on the afternoon of 11 March 2011 ...
. Based on detailed analysis, Sovacool concludes "that a global nuclear renaissance would bring immense technical, economic, environmental, political, and social costs". He says that it is
renewable energy
Renewable energy is energy that is collected from renewable resources that are naturally replenished on a human timescale. It includes sources such as sunlight, wind, the movement of water, and geothermal heat. Although most renewable energy ...
technologies which will enhance
energy security
Energy security is the association between national security and the availability of natural resources for energy consumption. Access to (relatively) cheap energy has become essential to the functioning of modern economies. However, the uneven d ...
, and which have many other advantages.
The book says the marginal levelized cost for "a 1,000-MWe facility built in 2009 would be 41.2 to 80.3 cents/kWh, presuming one actually takes into account construction, operation and fuel, reprocessing, waste storage, and decommissioning."Sovacool, p. 126.
In a review by author
Mark Diesendorf
Mark Diesendorf is an Australian academic and environmentalist, known for his work in sustainable development and renewable energy. He currently teaches environmental studies at the University of New South Wales (UNSW Sydney), Australia. He wa ...
the book "reviews the little-known research which shows that the life-cycle CO2 emissions of nuclear power may become comparable with those of fossil power as high-grade uranium ore is used up over the next several decades and low-grade uranium is mined and milled using fossil fuels". Diesendorf says that one weakness of the book is the limited coverage of
nuclear weapons proliferation
Nuclear proliferation is the spread of nuclear weapons, fissionable material, and weapons-applicable nuclear technology and information to nations not recognized as " Nuclear Weapon States" by the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Wea ...
. He says that governments of several countries (e.g., France, India, North Korea, Pakistan) have used nuclear power and/or research reactors to assist nuclear weapons development or to contribute to their supplies of nuclear explosives from military reactors.
See also
*
List of books about nuclear issues
This is a list of books about nuclear issues. They are non-fiction books which relate to uranium mining, nuclear weapons and/or nuclear power.
*''The Algebra of Infinite Justice'' (2001)
*'' American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J ...
*
List of books about renewable energy
This is a bibliography of renewable energy.
Renewable energy is energy which comes from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are renewable (naturally replenished). About 16% of global final energy con ...
*
Nuclear or Not?
''Nuclear or Not? Does Nuclear Power Have a Place in a Sustainable Energy Future?'' is a 2007 book edited by Professor David Elliott. The book offers various views and perspectives on nuclear power.Reaction Time (book)
*
Non-Nuclear Futures
''Non-Nuclear Futures: The Case for an Ethical Energy Strategy'' is a 1975 book by Amory B. Lovins and John H. Price.Lovins, Amory B. and Price, John H. (1975). ''Non-nuclear Futures: The Case for an Ethical Energy Strategy'' (Cambridge, Massachu ...