Too hot to touch the problem of high-level nuclear waste /

"When the nuclear energy industry was launched in the 1950s, Robert Oppenheimer dismissed the waste problem as "unimportant." Over a half-century later, the waste issue is as prominent as reactor safety in the international controversies surrounding nuclear power. It is particularly t...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Alley, William M.
Corporate Author: ebrary, Inc
Other Authors: Alley, Rosemarie
Format: Electronic eBook
Language:English
Published: Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2013.
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Online Access:An electronic book accessible through the World Wide Web; click to view
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Summary:"When the nuclear energy industry was launched in the 1950s, Robert Oppenheimer dismissed the waste problem as "unimportant." Over a half-century later, the waste issue is as prominent as reactor safety in the international controversies surrounding nuclear power. It is particularly topical in the US since the 2010 closure of the Yucca Mountain repository project. With no long-term plan in sight, high-level radioactive waste remains scattered across 121 sites in 39 States. William and Rosemarie Alley provide an engaging and authoritative account of the controversies and possibilities surrounding disposal of nuclear waste in the US, with reference also to the difficulties and progress of other countries around the world. The book tells the full history from the early days after World War II up to the present time, with an insightful perspective drawn from William Alley's expertise in the field, including leading the USGS survey of Yucca Mountain. Stories of key players bring to life the pioneering science, the political wrangling and media drama, and the not-in-my-backyard communities fighting to put the waste somewhere else. "--
Physical Description:xiv, 370 p. : ill., maps.
Bibliography:Includes bibliographical references and index.