The Doomsday Machine: The High Price of Nuclear Energy, the World's Most Dangerous Fuel

[kristopher]

The Doomsday Machine: The High Price of Nuclear Energy, the World's Most Dangerous Fuel

Today, there are over 400 nuclear reactors in 31 countries, including France, Brazil, India, the UK, and Canada. Proponents claim that nuclear power is the only viable alternative to fossil fuels given rising energy consumption and the looming threat of global warming, and are pushing for an even greater investment. Here, energy economist Andrew McKillop and social scientist Martin Cohen argue that the nuclear power dream being sold to us is pure fantasy. Debunking the multi-layered myth that nuclear energy is cheap, clean and safe, they demonstrate how landscapes are ravaged in search of the elusive yellow cake to fuel the reactors, and how energy companies and politicians rarely discuss the true costs of nuclear power plants - from the subsidies that build the infrastructure to the unspoken guarantee that the public will pick up the cleanup cost in the event of a meltdown, which can easily top a hundred billion dollars. In the wake of the meltdown at Japan's Fukushima power plant, the future of nuclear energy is again uncertain; this is a timely and hard-hitting look at why its costs are simply too high for humanity.

Contents:
Introduction
Myth 1: Nuclear Energy is the Energy of the Future
Myth 2: Nuclear Power is Green
Myth 3: Nuclear Reactors are Reliable and Safe
Myth 4: Nuclear Energy is Cheap - Too Cheap to Meter
Myth 5: Nuclear Energy Avoids Geopolitics
Myth 6: Nuclear Energy is Very Clean
Myth 7: Nuclear Radiation is Harmless
Myth 8: Everyone is Looking to Invest in Nuclear Energy

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[TheWraith]

1. A masterpiece of coal industry propaganda.

It should definitely be studied by anyone interested in learning how astroturf groups seek to manipulate the left for their profit.

[bongbong]

3. OMG!

You mean all those grass-roots anti-nuke protesters & activists are just pawns of the coal industry???

OMG!

[kristopher]

4. Says the prolific poster of nuclear industry mythologies

Are you still claiming nuclear plants are $1000/kw?
Or that their safety record is better than wind or solar?
How about Fukushima - still consider that a non-event?

[Nostradammit]

5. Since neither Cohen nor McKillop support the burning of coal for energy

I wonder why you make the claim that this is "coal industry propaganda."

[kristopher]

6. That goes to yet another nuclear industry myth - renewables are not a viable option

Pure BS, of course.

[madokie]

2. There's no cheap, green, safe, clean or harmless when one is talking about nuclear energy n/t