Reaction Time: Climate Change and the Nuclear Option: Quarterly Essay 27

In Reaction Time, Ian Lowe examines the science and the politics of nuclear power, as well as the feasible alternatives in an era of global warming.

Australia is at a crossroads- do we need to embrace a nuclear future? In Reaction Time, Ian Lowe examines the science and the politics of nuclear power, as well as the feasible alternatives in an era of global warming. Lowe discusses his one-time belief in nuclear power and what led to the faltering of that belief. He engages with the leading environmentalists, like James Lovelock, who advocate going nuclear, as well as with the less savoury aspects of the Australian politicking. He discusses whether other countries might need to use nuclear power, even if Australia doesn’t. He offers an authoritative survey of the leading alternatives for Australia – from ‘hot rocks’ to ‘clean coal’. Above all, he explains why taking the nuclear option would be a decisive step in the wrong direction – economically, environmentally, politically and socially.

Author Biography

Professor Ian Lowe AO is president of the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF), emeritus professor of science, technology and society at Griffith University in Brisbane, as well as being an adjunct professor at Sunshine Coast University and Flinders University. His previous books includeA Big Fix,Living in the HothouseandA Voice of Reason. Professor Lowe has been a referee for the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change, the International Geosphere-Biosphere Program and the Millennium Assessment. He attended the Geneva, Kyoto and Copenhagen conferences of parties to the Framework Convention on Climate Change. He was a member of the Australian delegation to the 1999 UNESCO World Conference on Science and has served on many advisory bodies to all levels of government.