Nuclear Choices: A Citizen's Guide to Nuclear Technology

The benefits of nuclear technology are real. So are the dangers. In Nuclear Choices,physicist Richard Wolfson provides the background needed to make informed choices about nuclear technologies, introducing concepts that can be used for evaluating the claims of both proponents and opponents. Wolfson clearly and concisely explains the basics of nuclear energy, radiation, and nuclear power (electricity, reactors, nuclear waste, and alternatives to nuclear fission). For this edition he has completely revised the chapter on nuclear weapons (their history, technology,effects, delivery systems, strategy, and control). Readers are encouraged to make their own judgments on controversial nuclear issues.Richard Wolfson is Professor of Physics at Middlebury College.

background needed to make informed choices about nuclear technologies, introducing concepts that can be used for evaluating the claims of both proponents and opponents

Library Journal

Initially conceived by physicist Wolfson for his students at Middlebury College, this book provides a wonderfully lucid and comprehensive examination of nuclear technologies that is both accessible to lay readers and interesting to scholars in the field. The author explains the basic concepts of nuclear energy, nuclear power (electricity, reactors, nuclear waste, and energy alternatives), and nuclear weapons (their technology, history, effects, delivery systems, strategy , and control). Each chapter includes a glossary, brief summary of the main ideas, a well-chosen list of further readings, and excerpts from newspaper articles that provide a lively political context for each topic. A real addition to the growing body of literature on nuclear issues, this highly reliable and sensitive guide is recommended for scholars, activists, and citizens seeking to understand a complex set of issues too often ``left to the experts.''-- Jennifer Scarlott, World Policy Inst., New York

Richard Wolfson is Professor of Physics at Middlebury College.