Synopses & Reviews
andlt;Pandgt;In December 1998, Energy Secretary Bill Richardson announced that the U.S. planned to begin producing tritium for its nuclear weapons in commercial nuclear power plants. This decision overturned a fifty-year policy of keeping civilian and military nuclear production processes separate. Tritium, a radioactive form of hydrogen, is needed to turn A-bombs into H-bombs, and the commercial nuclear power plants that are to be modified to produce tritium are called ice condensers. This book provides an insider's perspective on how Richardson's decision came about, and why it is dangerous.Kenneth Bergeron shows that the new policy is unwise not only because it undermines the U.S. commitment to curb nuclear weapons proliferation but also because it will exacerbate serious safety problems at these commercial power facilities, which are operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority and are among the most marginal in the United States. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's review of the TVA's request to modify its plants for the new nuclear weapons mission should attract significant attention and opposition.Tritium on Ice is part expose, part history, part science for the lay reader, and part political science. Bergeron's discussion of how the issues of nuclear weapons proliferation and nuclear reactor safety have become intertwined illuminates larger issues about how the federal government does or does not manage technology in the interests of its citizens and calls into question the integrity of government-funded safety assessments in a deregulated economy.andlt;/Pandgt;
Review
"This well-researched and well-written book exposes the hypocrisy and deception that lie behind the reversal of the 'no dual use' nonproliferation policy, a reversal likely to diminish long-term prospects for preventing the spread of nuclear weapons throughout the world."
—U.S. Congressman Edward J. Markey (D-MA), senior Member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and co-Chair of the Bipartisan Task Force on Nonproliferation
Review
andquot;This well-researched and well-written book exposes the hypocrisy and deception that lie behind the reversal of the 'no dual use' nonproliferation policy, a reversal likely to diminish long-term prospects for preventing the spread of nuclear weapons throughout the world.andquot;
--U.S. Congressman Edward J. Markey (D-MA), senior Member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and co-Chair of the Bipartisan Task Force on Nonproliferation
Review
"'Tritium on Ice' is a lively and authoritative account and critique of the evolution of U.S. tritium policy. The reader will also learn a great deal about the organization and culture of the U.S. nuclear establishment and about the fundamental safety issues of the 100-odd nuclear power reactors operating in the U.S. today."--Frank von Hippel, Professor of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University The MIT Press
Review
"Civilian and military uses of nuclear power have always been separate. Secretary Richardson's decision blurred what has always been a bright line. Bergeron's book explains how that significant decision was made. He writes with clarity and conviction about nuclear weapons and nuclear power as a knowledgeable insider in both camps. I have never read an account that covers both the Department of Energy and Nuclear Regulatory Commission perspectives with such insight."--Dave Lochbaum, Nuclear Safety Engineer, Union of Concerned Scientists The MIT Press
Review
"Tritium on Ice is an excellent book that deserves to be widely read by experts and lay people alike."
— Jack Harris, The Times Higher
Review
"Tritium on Ice is an excellent book that deserves to be widely read by experts and lay people alike."
— Jack Harris, The Times Higher"This well-researched and well-written book exposes the hypocrisy and deception that lie behind the reversal of the 'no dual use' nonproliferation policy, a reversal likely to diminish long-term prospects for preventing the spread of nuclear weapons throughout the world."
—U.S. Congressman Edward J. Markey (D-MA), senior Member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and co-Chair of the Bipartisan Task Force on Nonproliferation"Tritium on Ice is a lively and authoritative account and critique of the evolution of U.S. tritium policy. The reader will also learn a great deal about the organization and culture of the United States nuclear establishment and about the fundamental safety issues of the 100-odd nuclear power reactors operating in the U.S. today."
—Frank von Hippel, Professor of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University"This is an alarming and absorbing book about the dangers to the Tennessee Valley, the country, and the world from the government's 1998 decision to produce the tritium used to turn A-bombs into H-bombs in three civilian nuclear plants. Kenneth Bergeron, a veteran physicist who worked for twenty-five years on nuclear weapons at the Sandia National Laboratories, exposes the little-known agendas that led to the abandonment of the longstanding policy of separating civilian and military uses of nuclear energy. Environmentalists and citizens supporting nonproliferation initiatives will find Tritium on Ice a distinctly important public service by a nuclear weapons specialist who wants you and other Americans actively involved in reversing this reckless, unnecessary undertaking before it begins."
—Ralph Nader, consumer advocate"Civilian and military uses of nuclear power have always been separate. Secretary Richardson's decision blurred what has always been a bright line. Bergeron's book explains how that significant decision was made. He writes with clarity and conviction about nuclear weapons and nuclear power as a knowledgeable insider in both camps. I have never read an account that covers both the Department of Energy and Nuclear Regulatory Commission perspectives with such insight."
—David Lochbaum, nuclear safety engineer, Union of Concerned Scientists
Review
"This is an alarming and absorbing book about the dangers to the Tennessee Valley, the country, and the world from the government's 1998 decision to produce the tritium used to turn A-bombs into H-bombs in three civilian nuclear plants. Kenneth Bergeron, a veteran physicist who worked for 25 years on nuclear weapons at the Sandia National Laboratories, exposes the little known agendas that led to the abandonment of the long standing policy of separating civilian and military uses of nuclear energy. Environmentalists and citizens supporting non-proliferation initiatives will find Tritium on Ice a distinctly important public service by a nuclear weapons specialist who wants you and other Americans actively involved in reversing this reckless, unnecessary undertaking before it begins."--Ralph Nader, Consumer AdvocatePlease note: Endorser gives permission to excerpt from quote.
Review
"Wave-making author Mark Dowie brings the nearly half-trillion-dollar foundation world under his anti-'drag anchor' microscope, analyzing foundations' past achievements and failures and then critically taking the institutions to task for directing their grants so often away from 'root causes.' Dowie shakes up the complacency, myopia, and insulation of these giant foundations by naming names and places. He keeps readers flipping the pages with eager anticipation as to how these institutions can address abuses of power and wealth. Dowie is a scholar and a muckraker, which makes this book a standout event."--Ralph Nader, Consumer Advocate The MIT Press
Review
Gold Award Winner for Political Science in the 2002 ForeWord Magazine Book of the Year Awards.
Review
"It is ironic that Kenneth Bergeron's Tritium on Ice is reaching bookstores at the same time President Bush is making the case that we must remove Saddam Hussein in order to ensure he does not obtain nuclear weapons. For fifty years, a key principle in U.S. nonproliferation policy has been the prohibition of using civilian nuclear reactors to produce the nuclear ingredients of hydrogen bombs. Now the Bush administration is taking steps to blur the line between the commercial and military uses of atomic energy by allowing the production of tritium in civilian nuclear reactors, reversing the long-standing U.S. ban on reprocessing nuclear fuel, and disposing of excess weapons-grade plutonium in civilian nuclear reactors. If we are serious about reducing the number of nuclear weapons in our arsenal down to the START II treaty levels negotiated by the first President Bush in 1993, let alone to the lower levels the second President Bush agreed to in 2002, then we would not need new tritium for decades, and the current plan to produce it in commercial reactors would be unnecessary. This well-researched and well-written book exposes the hypocrisy and deception that lie behind the reversal of the 'no dual use' nonproliferation policy, a reversal likely to diminish long-term prospects for preventing the spread of nuclear weapons throughout the world."--U.S. Congressman Edward J. Markey, senior Member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and co-Chair of the Bipartisan Task Force on NonproliferationPlease note: Endorser gives permission to excerpt from quote. The MIT Press
Review
andlt;Pandgt;"Wave-making author Mark Dowie brings the nearly half-trillion-dollar foundation world under his anti-'drag anchor' microscope, analyzing foundations' past achievements and failures and then critically taking the institutions to task for directing their grants so often away from 'root causes.' Dowie shakes up the complacency, myopia, and insulation of these giant foundations by naming names and places. He keeps readers flipping the pages with eager anticipation as to how these institutions can address abuses of power and wealth. Dowie is a scholar and a muckraker, which makes this book a standout event."--Ralph Nader, Consumer Advocateandlt;/Pandgt; The MIT Press The MIT Press
Review
andlt;Pandgt;"Civilian and military uses of nuclear power have always been separate. Secretary Richardson's decision blurred what has always been a bright line. Bergeron's book explains how that significant decision was made. He writes with clarity and conviction about nuclear weapons and nuclear power as a knowledgeable insider in both camps. I have never read an account that covers both the Department of Energy and Nuclear Regulatory Commission perspectives with such insight." andlt;Bandgt;David Lochbaum andlt;/Bandgt;, nuclear safety engineer, Union of Concerned Scientistsandlt;/Pandgt; The MIT Press
Review
andlt;Pandgt;" andlt;Iandgt;Tritium on Iceandlt;/Iandgt; is a lively and authoritative account and critique of the evolution of U.S. tritium policy. The reader will also learn a great deal about the organization and culture of the United States nuclear establishment and about the fundamental safety issues of the 100-odd nuclear power reactors operating in the U.S. today." andlt;Bandgt;Frank von Hippel andlt;/Bandgt;, Professor of Public and International Affairs, Princeton Universityandlt;/Pandgt; The MIT Press
Synopsis
In December 1998, Energy Secretary Bill Richardson announced that the U.S. planned to begin producing tritium for its nuclear weapons in commercial nuclear power plants. This decision overturned a fifty-year policy of keeping civilian and military nuclear production processes separate. Tritium, a radioactive form of hydrogen, is needed to turn A-bombs into H-bombs, and the commercial nuclear power plants that are to be modified to produce tritium are called ice condensers. This book provides an insider's perspective on how Richardson's decision came about, and why it is dangerous.Kenneth Bergeron shows that the new policy is unwise not only because it undermines the U.S. commitment to curb nuclear weapons proliferation but also because it will exacerbate serious safety problems at these commercial power facilities, which are operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority and are among the most marginal in the United States. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's review of the TVA's request to modify its plants for the new nuclear weapons mission should attract significant attention and opposition.Tritium on Ice is part expose, part history, part science for the lay reader, and part political science. Bergeron's discussion of how the issues of nuclear weapons proliferation and nuclear reactor safety have become intertwined illuminates larger issues about how the federal government does or does not manage technology in the interests of its citizens and calls into question the integrity of government-funded safety assessments in a deregulated economy.
Synopsis
The dangers of a United States government plan to abandon its fifty-year policy of keeping civilian and military uses of nuclear technology separate.
In December 1998, Energy Secretary Bill Richardson announced that the U.S. planned to begin producing tritium for its nuclear weapons in commercial nuclear power plants. This decision overturned a fifty-year policy of keeping civilian and military nuclear production processes separate. Tritium, a radioactive form of hydrogen, is needed to turn A-bombs into H-bombs, and the commercial nuclear power plants that are to be modified to produce tritium are called ice condensers. This book provides an insider's perspective on how Richardson's decision came about, and why it is dangerous. Kenneth Bergeron shows that the new policy is unwise not only because it undermines the U.S. commitment to curb nuclear weapons proliferation but also because it will exacerbate serious safety problems at these commercial power facilities, which are operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority and are among the most marginal in the United States. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's review of the TVA's request to modify its plants for the new nuclear weapons mission should attract significant attention and opposition.
Tritium on Ice is part expose, part history, part science for the lay reader, and part political science. Bergeron's discussion of how the issues of nuclear weapons proliferation and nuclear reactor safety have become intertwined illuminates larger issues about how the federal government does or does not manage technology in the interests of its citizens and calls into question the integrity of government-funded safety assessments in a deregulated economy.
Synopsis
Tritium on Ice is part expose, part history, part science for the lay reader, and part political science. Bergeron's discussion of how the issues of nuclear weapons proliferation and nuclear reactor safety have become intertwined illuminates larger issues about how the federal government does or does not manage technology in the interests of its citizens and calls into question the integrity of government-funded safety assessments in a deregulated economy.
Synopsis
The dangers of a United States government plan to abandon its fifty-year policy of keeping civilian and military uses of nuclear technology separate.
About the Author
Kenneth D. Bergeron is an Albuquerque-based writer who specializes in social and political aspects of science and technology. For twenty-five years he worked at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, primarily on the safety of commercial nuclear reactors and the military reactors used to produce tritium for nuclear weapons.