About the Book
Earth Is a Nuclear Planet is a book on nuclear energy unlike any other. It makes the reader feel like a genius by clearly explaining all the relevant basic science in a fun and entertaining way.
Faced by the looming catastrophe of devastating climate change, more and more environmentalists and climate scientists are turning to nuclear power as the cleanest, safest, and ultimately least costly technology for generating the electricity we all need. But there are many myths and conceptions about nuclear energy, irresponsibly hyped by the sensational media, which require to be understood, debunked, and cleared away.
Earth Is a Nuclear Planet goes through all these myths and misconceptions, carefully noting all the fallacies and misunderstandings which plague discussion of the energy options confronting humankind.
Mike Conley and Tim Maloney, two superbly talented popular writers, have spent years questioning a select panel of leading scientists to arrive at a fresh and luminous understanding of the issues surrounding nuclear power. All their factual claims are documented with abundant citations, which some readers will readily skip while others will follow them up. Every scientific claim made in the book has been checked and rechecked a dozen times by fully accredited experts.
On the issue of nuclear safety, Conley and Maloney pay special attention to the notorious accidents, Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima, identifying the misconceptions which prevail, and spotlighting many surprising facts along the way.
"Fears of nuclear energy are often completely backward. For example, should a person be more afraid of a radioactive material with a long half-life or a short half-life? Anti-nuclear propaganda encourages more fear of the long half-life material. "It's going to be radioactive for a million years!" Actually, something that will continue to be radioactive for a long time means it isn't very radioactive right now. All other things being equal (size of sample, type of radiation) material with a short half-life is more dangerous.
"I have always known the half-life example of mistaken fear, but I was amazed to see how many examples the authors of Earth Is a Nuclear Planet found. Writing this book must have been an amazing research project. It has 60 pages of endnotes plus 30 pages of supplements. The supplements are more detailed explanations of things like calculations of mining wastes. By relegating some of the heavy-duty material to a separate section, the authors made the main part of the book very readable.
"For example, the book has several chapters on the Linear No Threshold (LNT) theory: the title of one chapter is 'No Safe Dose of BS'. LNT claims that there is 'no safe dose' of radiation. Since life on Earth includes background radiation, I guess we are all going to die. Wait, . . . wait, . . . we ARE all going to die! But not of the effects of radiation.
"The authors explain that BS in the chapter title means Bad Science. (Of course, it does. Why didn't I notice that?) For me, reading this book was enjoyable as well as informative.
"We live on a planet with a great deal of natural radioactivity. There are also many ways in which radioactive material can be used for human health and happiness. This comprehensive book is a guide to our nuclear planet and our nuclear future. Please read it!"
Meredith Angwin, author of Shorting the Grid
Table of Contents:
ContentsAcronyms and Abbreviations xiii
Foreword xvii
It May Surprise You to Learn That xix
Chapter One: The Only Thing We Have to Fear 1
Chapter Two: Zoomies! We're Doomed! 15
Chapter Three: A Half-life Well Lived 39
Chapter Four: A Fate Worse Than Global Warming 49
Chapter Five: "Waste Not, Want Not." 63
Chapter Six: Back to the Future 81
Chapter Seven: To Be Perfectly Blunt 99
Chapter Eight: How Clean Should Clean Energy Be? 111
Chapter Nine: How It All Began 123
Chapter Ten: There Is No Safe Dose of BS 135
Chapter Eleven: How Ed Lewis Went Off the Fails 149
Chapter Twelve: Who Framed Nuclear Power? 163
Chapter Thirteen: LNT vs. the 100 mSv Threshold 173
Chapter Fourteen: LNT vs. Common Sense 181
Chapter Fifteen: That Depends on What You Mean by "Reasonable" 201
Chapter Sixteen: The Forbidden Zone 209
Chapter Seventeen: What Are the Odds? 219
Chapter Eighteen: Contain Yourself 231
Chapter Nineteen: You Can't Get There from Here 255
Chapter Twenty: "Strange Days, Indeed." 265
Chapter Twenty-One: Make Energy, Not War 281
Chapter Twenty-Two: We Will Now Begin Boarding 295
Endnotes 307
Supplements 391
Afterword 451
Index 453
About the Author :
As a lifelong science nerd, MIKE CONLEY became interested in nuclear power in 2010, and quickly saw that the field was in dire need of writers who could explain the technology to the average reader. So he joined the Thorium Energy Alliance, met dozens of scientists and engineers, and made them an offer: “You explain it to me and I’ll explain it to the world.”
The son of a career naval officer, Mike Conley has lived in Yokohama, Oslo, Idaho, Washington, Nevada, Arizona, Illinois, Maryland, Hawaii, and California, and has backpacked through Thailand and Cambodia. Born in Chicago, he’s been a resident of Southern California since 1967 and has lived in the Echo Park Hills of Los Angeles since 1994, working on screenplays for Hollywood.
TIM MALONEY, PH.D., is a graduate of Case Institute of Technology and the University of Toledo. He has been a start-up engineer and a professor of electronic technology and wrote the standard textbook, Modern Industrial Electronics.
Review :
“I have always known the half-life example of mistaken fear, but I was amazed to see how many examples the authors of Earth Is a Nuclear Planet found. Writing this book must have been an amazing research project. It has 60 pages of endnotes plus 30 pages of supplements. The supplements are more detailed explanations of things like calculations of mining wastes. By relegating some of the heavy-duty material to a separate section, the authors made the main part of the book very readable.
“For example, the book has several chapters on the Linear No Threshold (LNT) theory: the title of one chapter is ‘No Safe Dose of BS’. LNT claims that there is ‘no safe dose’ of radiation. Since life on Earth includes background radiation, I guess we are all going to die. Wait, . . . wait, . . . we ARE all going to die! But not of the effects of radiation.
“The authors explain that BS in the chapter title means Bad Science. (Of course, it does. Why didn’t I notice that?) For me, reading this book was enjoyable as well as informative.
“We live on a planet with a great deal of natural radioactivity. There are also many ways in which radioactive material can be used for human health and happiness. This comprehensive book is a guide to our nuclear planet and our nuclear future. Please read it!”
Meredith Angwin, author of Shorting the Grid
“Rarely do we find a book that is both extremely entertaining and educational to read. This is one of those rare gems.”
Rauli Partanen, award-winning energy analyst and CEO of Think Atom
“I’ve known for many years that nuclear power is safe, reliable, and one centrally important answer to both air pollution and global warming. What I hadn’t realized is how entertaining a discussion can be of the misunderstandings that complicate its adoption. Earth Is a Nuclear Planet is just that—a great read about a great subject.”
Richard Rhodes, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Human History and The Making of the Atomic Bomb
“In this blunt and fact-filled book, the authors prove that we can’t rely on transient energy from the wind and the sun. Instead, we have to charge past unfounded fears about radiation and embrace the staggering power of fission. As B.F. Randall has said, ‘we should be splitting atoms, not mining them’. Highly recommended!”
Robert Bryce, author of A Question of Power: Electricity and the Wealth of Nation
“A must-read for anyone, but particularly fellow Greens and environmentalists who seek a balanced perspective on nuclear energy's potential to shape a sustainable and carbon-neutral future.”
Mark Yelland, founder of Greens for Nuclear Energy
“Cleverly demystifies radiation and delivers a well-sourced perspective on our clean energy choices.”
Rich Powell, CEO of Clear Path and Clear Path Action
“If understanding is the antidote to fear and ignorance, then this book is strong medicine. Comprehensive, informative, and fun, it tells the truth about nuclear power and debunks the widespread misinformation about it.”
Joshua Goldstein, author of A Bright Future, co-scriptwriter with Oliver Stone of Nuclear Now
“The policies we adopt in this decade will determine the planet’s climate for the next ten thousand years. There is one proven path to safety: nuclear power. Anyone seeking a thorough explanation of this path will find it in this book. The authors cover matters from the disposal of nuclear waste to how the health effects of radiation came to be misunderstood, with full technical detail yet in a readable and even entertaining style.”
Spencer Weart, author of The Rise of Nuclear Fear
“An outstanding primer in a crowded field. The authors have delivered a deeply-informative and well-paced journey through the topic, full of terrific explanations which I look forward to adding to my own communications toolkit. It’s an enjoyable trip up the learning curve, which I wish was available fifteen years ago! With so much at stake in our energy future, our opinions need to be factually informed. This is a great resource for those embarking on that journey.”
Ben Heard, founder of Bright New World
“Lays to rest the myths we have been told about nuclear power, and gives us hope that we can shift to green energy—abundant enough not just to replace fossil fuels, but to help lift the developing world out of poverty as well.”
Kerry Emanuel, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Atmospheric Science, MIT, and publisher of over 200 peer-reviewed scientific paper
“A deeply-researched wealth of knowledge, tied together in a cohesive narrative discussing the misperceptions, bad science, and fundamental truth about nuclear power. The authors’ final paragraph sums it all up: ‘A practical solution to the issues we face already exists, and it’s already been proven at scale. The only obstacle is nuclear fear’.”
Ray Rothrock, nuclear engineer, philanthropist, and venture investor
“Earth Is a Nuclear Planet is a science-focused, passionate rebuttal that aptly addresses and dispels the panic that has been disproportionately directed at the clear advantages of splitting the atom.”
Kyle Hill, award-winning science educator and science communication advisor to the White House.
“Earth Is a Nuclear Planet is the real story of why we are late—but it’s not too late for our young people’s future.”
Dr. James Hansen, world-renowned climate scientist
“Nothing in life is without risk. Striking the balance between the risks and benefits of different methods of energy production is paramount. For many years, public attitudes to the risks associated with nuclear power have been led by urban myths rather than scientific evidence. Part of the problem is finding a way to explain a complex area of science in an understandable way. This book seeks to do just this and should lead to a more informed discussion over energy policy in the future.”
Dr. Geraldine Thomas, Director of Chernobyl Tissue Bank
