Power to Save the World

Power to Save the World: The Truth About Nuclear Energy (Knopf, 2007), by Gwyneth Cravens, is an introduction to the benefits of nuclear power and the science behind it. The book continues to be read by members of the lay public who want to learn more about nuclear power, by environmentalists concerned about global warming due to fossil fuel combustion, and by scientists and others who work in the nuclear world.

In the book, Cravens, a skeptic about nuclear energy who actively protested the plan to create a new nuclear plant on Long Island, happens to have a conversation about nuclear power while visiting friends in Albuquerque. One of them, Dr. Richard (Rip) Anderson, a scientist at Sandia National Laboratories, listens to her beliefs about how deadly nuclear plants are and gently suggests that she is not quite correct. Surprised, she begins to ask him questions and, using diagrams, he describes to her how nuclear power actually works. Despite disagreeing with him, she hears him out, having known for years that he’s an upright person with a strong reputation for clarity and accuracy. After more discussions, he suggests that she see for herself what nuclear power has to offer. Anderson, his wife Marcia Fernandez, and Cravens go on a nuclear tour of the United States, visiting power plants and national laboratories.

Cravens, after interviewing leading researchers, engineers, and experts in the fields of nuclear fission and radiation, public health, counterterrorism, and risk assessment, concludes that nuclear power is clean and safe. Exploration of the issues from multiple points of view and her own observations reveal to her that nuclear fission as a power source is being economically and cleanly harnessed in the U.S. She finds that in countries like France and Sweden, which both derive considerable energy from nuclear plants, the environment is far safer and cleaner than in those nations that continue to get most of their electricity from burning fossil fuels. Ultimately she is impressed by the fact that in the power industry worldwide--including wind and solar arrays--nuclear power has by far the fewest deaths per terawatt-hour generated. She concludes that if we are to care for subsequent generations, embracing nuclear energy is an ethical imperative.