"Bohjalian (whose many novels include the Oprah favorites “Midwives” and “The Sandcastle Girls”) writes about the nuclear aftermath in a scrupulously realistic way. He doesn’t blow the slightest apocalyptic or dystopian wind on those fuel rods. It’s nonetheless a scary scenario, the frightening flip side of every Homer Simpson mishap that millions of us have laughed at.”
“They said the nuclear plant was totally safe. They were wrong.”
An overview of fuel failures in water cooled reactors, including light water reactors, boiling water reactors, and heavy water reactors, as well as their mechanisms and mitigation measures.
An update of a 1998 publication of the same name. Includes descriptions of fuel failures between 1994 and 2006.
FAQs on license renewal, addressing the environmental review process, health concerns, waste disposal, security, public involvement, and more.
Author(s): US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (published annually)
A compilation of facts and information about the NRC and the nuclear
industry, available in print and online. Includes information about the NRC finances and activities, US and worldwide nuclear energy, currently operating nuclear reactors, uranium mining and other nuclear materials, and radioactive waste.
Author(s): Gronlund, Lochbaum & Lyman (2007)
A report by the Union of Concerned Scientists. Addresses safety, nuclear proliferation and terrorist attacks, nuclear waste disposal, and nuclear reactor design.
A report from David Lochbaum from the Union of Concerned Scientists about year-plus outages at nuclear power plants, including an evaluation of the NRC’s performance.
Renowned for their research on the effects of radiation on the environment and human health, scientists Gofman and Tamplin present their case against nuclear power, and “expose the moral corruption of scientists, lawyers, physicians, industrialists, and government leaders in attempting to deceive the public into believing that there exists such a thing as a ‘safe,’ ‘permissible,’ or ‘allowable’ dose of radiation.”
The NRC’s Reactor Safety Study (RSS) was published in 1975, and was used by the Federal government as definitive proof that nuclear reactors were safe to operate. In 1977 the Union of Concerned Scientists published this independent evaluation of the NRC’s study, which challenged the NRC’s position.
Just two years later in 1979 the Three Mile Island nuclear plant melted down and changed history…
Recommended by Fairewinds board member Les Kanat, “We Almost Lost Detroit” details the history of Fermi 1, America’s first commercial breeder reactor, with particular emphasis on the partial meltdown that occurred in 1966 and ultimately closed the plant. This partial meltdown could have left the Detroit region virtually uninhabitable. This history book is particularly relevant today, as Detroit Edison attempts to open another reactor on the Fermi site.
Gould studies the link between deadly diseases and proximity to nuclear reactors, and believes that nuclear fallout patterns show that many health problems have more to do with “where you live than how you live.”
Fairewinds Energy Education is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization dedicated to furthering public understanding of nuclear power and nuclear safety related issues.
