Power to Save the World: The Truth About Nuclear Energy by Gwyneth Cravens
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Book Reviews of Power to Save the World: The Truth About Nuclear Energy
Book Review: Another pamphlet from the Nuclear Lobby
Summary: 1 Stars
Another book from a writer who says "I was anti-nuclear but I think different now". What sort of message can we expect from somebody who says "In 50 years of operation, they have caused no deaths to the public"? Obviously she has never heard about Chernobyl, or the cancer clusters near Sellafield and La Hague. And still she does not answer the questions that environmentalists raise about nuclear power: What are we going to use when we run out of uranium? what do we do about people living near nuclear power stations who get sick and die? What are we going to do with nuclear waste? Not to mention all the "what-if's" about accidents and possible terrorist attacks. This book shows you one side of the story, and hides the other one.Book Review: Should be requried reading for any nuclear debate
Summary: 5 Stars
Ms. Cravens has written a very good book discussing the complete nuclear power cycle from a lay person's perspective. Her discussions concerning power baseloading and comparing nuclear sources to coal sources for powering the national power grid are narratives that are rarely, if ever, discussed outside of the power industry due to the emotional issues that nuclear power brings forth in people.
As a non-technical author and former protester against nuclear power, Ms. Cravens tackles the subject material of nuclear power, the security issues, health issues and comparisons to other major power sources with a thoroughness not usually seen at this level. Her approach to "tag along" with noted retired DOE scientist, Rip Anderson and his openness and patience towards teaching a non-technically trained person the ins and outs of the nuclear power cycle add to the narrative. The unique approach she takes to treat her investigation of nuclear power as a personal journey leads to Ms. Cravens' ultimate understanding that nuclear power must be one of the power sources we rely on for our power needs as we go into the 21st century.
The book provides an excellent overview partly due to the length of time it takes for Ms. Craven's accounts of her travels and interviews to be written. Ms. Cravens does not try to write this book in 3 or 6 months just to ride the coattails of the latest nuclear headlines. Instead she took the time she needed to fully understand nuclear power, other sources of electrical power and the subject of baseloading before finalizing her book. The time was well spent as she is able to competently write about the use of nuclear power in today's world of shrinking inventory of carbon based fuels, greenhouse effects and increasing international tensions.
I highly recommend this book for anyone who is truly interested in the discussion and future of nuclear power. It does not answer every technical question but that was never the goal of the book. What Ms. Cravens' book does is address the necessary critical technical and nontechnical questions about the nuclear power cycle and the power needs of the United States from a layperson's level. This book should be used as reference material for any critical discussions or debates concerning the pros and cons of nuclear power.
Book Review: A Comprehensive, Thoughtful Case for Nuclear Power
Summary: 4 Stars
It's thorough and thought provoking -- enough to motivate me to look up parallel information as I read through the book.
I really like how the author balances risk and benefit throughout, and gets her readers to think in those terms. There seemed to be little glossing over hard facts. Overall, the book takes away my concerns about the risks of nuclear, especially as compared to other sources - like the filthy coal industry. I love the idea of solar, but her perspective on the toxic manufacturing and disposal process for solar cells helps answers questions I've long wondered about. She isn't against other forms of energy generation - just puts them in perspective. Nothing is free, easy, or perfect.
It was amazing to learn about the incredible advances in reactor technology and how it can be done with a tiny fraction of the waste now generated.
Her dissection of the disposal issue takes away the scare factor.
The book informs a highly emotional discussion in a rational, reasonable way and demolishes a lot of mythology. There are parts I had to re-read to digest, but it's written about as easy to understand as it could be to cover the subject with the depth it does for a layperson.
Book Review: Very good read, but a bit simple.
Summary: 4 Stars
The good sides of this book are manifold. First of all, probably due to the fact that the author is a professional novelist, one has to say that "it reads like a book": it is difficult to put it down, and the fourhundred something pages are read with ease and fun. The second good side of this book is that it is full of very interesting, and not always well-known information, even to people in the field. It is a mixture of technical issues and human relationships.
However, there were two points that irritated me somewhat. First of all is the somewhat naive attempt at "showing that we are environmental activists too". The arguments put forward should stand by themselves, and not because the authority in the book (Rip Anderson) and his wife are also local concerned activists for one or other ecological cause.
The other point I found disappointing was the somewhat simplistic technical treatment of several key aspects in the nuclear power happening. The main point I found disappointing was the missing of a clear discussion of fuel reprocessing, fast breeders, thermal reactors and so on. These subjects are touched upon, but they are very vaguely treated ; nevertheless, this is an essential part in the future of nuclear power if it is to have a future. In other words, at the end of the day, you have to take some expert's word for it, as the book doesn't give you the means to verify some aspects yourself in a logical derivation, even though most of the information in the book is factually correct.
That said, this book is a very good read for people who have been fed on the vocal absurdities spread around by anti-nuclear activists such as Helen Caldicott. A read of both is probably a good thing, but one should start with "Power to save the world", as it gets most of its facts right.
Book Review: Just the Pertinent Facts, Ma'am
Summary: 2 Stars
If you like your science with endless, irrelevant narrative concerning facts arbitrarily selected by the author based on their romantic attachment to whatever, then this book is for you. I bought this book for some meat-on-bone reading. What I got was tedium ad nauseam. "The driveway and an area around a garage were occupied by an ancient wooden hay wagon with iron-bound wheels from the Idaho ranch, a battered van, an antique school bus Rip had turned into a camping vehicle, various tools and farm equipment, and a metal-working shop with sheets of corrugated metal, lengths of pipe, and coils of wire". (p.22) Oh PUH-lease. Let's get on with it. The book reads like a kindergartener's first reader, and the name of the scientist involved adds to this feel. "See Rip run. See Rip exhale carbon dioxide. See Rip's exhaled carbon dioxide contribute global climate catastrophe."
The chapters on WIPP and subsea were the best, and are the sole reason for my giving this book two stars. As a degreed engineer, I could seriously have done without the grandma-knows-best, romantic visions of the environment discourse.