Engaging the Atom

Specialists from several disciplines come together in this volume to counter the tendency of nuclear energy research to split into separate fields and national camps. Through comparative case studies from Europe and the United States, the contributors follow how society and the nuclear sector have related to each other, from the early days of civilian nuclear power to the present. A central question is why nuclear power has provoked far more public dispute in some countries than in others, and why certain nations have never built reactors or have chosen to phase them out while their neighbors have pursued what has been called a nuclear renaissance.

The book also examines the pressures facing the industry today, including ageing reactor fleets, the urgency of climate change, and growing competition from renewable energy sources. Throughout, the contributors place the development of nuclear energy within wider national and international frameworks, paying attention to its role in government policy and in energy markets.

The nine chapters are written by scholars who are established authorities in their respective disciplines.