The Green Nuclear Option

We have been hearing it for decades: our planet is riding a deadly wave toward climate devastation. But current actions to reduce carbon emissions are insufficient. In The Green Nuclear Option, William Donald Needham, MIT and Duke graduate, nuclear engineer, and advocate for the Sierra Club, describes what some might consider a radical way to turn the tide but that Needham sees as the most powerful, science-supported way: with nuclear power, the only proven carbon neutral means of generating electricity.

From a history of nuclear power’s beginnings with the Manhattan Project through detailed accounts of the accidents at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, Needham does not shy from the ugly side of nuclear power. In being blunt, he addresses the environmental dismissal of nuclear reactors as dangerous and dirty. Needham also explains what has been done to prevent recurrence and makes a financial case for nuclear energy. Needham concludes with hope for the reader: that proven nuclear technology can bridge the gap to a much-reduced fossil fuel future.