The Road to Yucca Mountain - by J Samuel Walker (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Walker's thoughtful and detailed history of the technology and politics of the nuclear waste problem lucidly illustrates why, more than sixty years after the Dawn of the Atomic Age, we have yet to get any of the stuff into the ground safely and effectively, where it belongs. This book should be required reading for everyone, whether politician, bureaucrat or citizen."--Ronnie D. Lipschutz, author of "Radioactive Waste: Politics, Technology and Risk"
"Measured, informative, and well-argued, "The Road to Yucca Mountain" is typical Walker. One of the most knowledgeable historians on nuclear power has produced an essential work on a complex problem--What to do with radioactive waste? In setting the context on this controversial subject, Walker educates us on how we confront nuclear power as a viable option and its long-range implications."--Martin Melosi, author of "Energy Metropolis"
"Walker's fascinating account details the United States' 60-year search for radioactive waste solutions. Here scientists, policymakers, politicians, activists, and the public alternately clash and cooperate, and prospects for a solution wane and wax accordingly. In the end, after billions of dollars, years of hearings, and miles of tunnels, we're back at square one."--Richard Wolfson, author of "Nuclear Choices: A Citizen's Guide to Nuclear Technology "

Book Synopsis

In The Road to Yucca Mountain, J. Samuel Walker traces the U.S. government's tangled efforts to solve the technical and political problems associated with radioactive waste. From the Manhattan Project through the designation in 1987 of Yucca Mountain in Nevada as a high-level waste repository, Walker thoroughly investigates the approaches adopted by the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). He explains the growing criticism of the AEC's waste programs, such as the AEC's embarrassing failure in its first serious effort to build a high-level waste repository in a Kansas salt mine. Clearly and accessibly, Walker explains the issues surrounding deep geological disposal and surface storage of high-level waste and spent reactor fuel. He analyzes the equally complex and divisive question of fuel "reprocessing." He weaves reliable research with fresh insights about nuclear science, geology, politics, and public administration, making this original and authoritative account an essential guide for understanding the continuing controversy over an illusive and emotional topic.

From the Back Cover

"Walker's thoughtful and detailed history of the technology and politics of the nuclear waste problem lucidly illustrates why, more than sixty years after the Dawn of the Atomic Age, we have yet to get any of the stuff into the ground safely and effectively, where it belongs. This book should be required reading for everyone, whether politician, bureaucrat or citizen."--Ronnie D. Lipschutz, author of Radioactive Waste: Politics, Technology and Risk

"Measured, informative, and well-argued, The Road to Yucca Mountain is typical Walker. One of the most knowledgeable historians on nuclear power has produced an essential work on a complex problem--What to do with radioactive waste? In setting the context on this controversial subject, Walker educates us on how we confront nuclear power as a viable option and its long-range implications."--Martin Melosi, author of Energy Metropolis

"Walker's fascinating account details the United States' 60-year search for radioactive waste solutions. Here scientists, policymakers, politicians, activists, and the public alternately clash and cooperate, and prospects for a solution wane and wax accordingly. In the end, after billions of dollars, years of hearings, and miles of tunnels, we're back at square one."--Richard Wolfson, author of Nuclear Choices: A Citizen's Guide to Nuclear Technology

Review Quotes

"A valuable account of the history/ongoing issues related to this significant problem. . . . Recommended."-- "Choice" (7/8/2010 12:00:00 AM)

"An excellent resource."-- "Enterprise & Society" (7/12/2010 12:00:00 AM)

"Engaging, concise, and disturbing."-- "Metascience" (7/12/2010 12:00:00 AM)

"No author could more expertly exhume the bones of this institutional history than Walker."-- "Metascience" (3/11/2010 12:00:00 AM)

"Walker has demonstrated that there is an important place for public history in the scholarly arena. . . . Well-researched, objective, and informative."-- "Technology And Culture" (5/21/2011 12:00:00 AM)

"Walker's history of U.S. nuclear waste management provides a clear reminder of the potential pitfalls of disposal of this material...to ignore these is to invite failure yet again."-- "Journal Of American History" (4/20/2011 12:00:00 AM)

About the Author

J. Samuel Walker is the historian of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission. He is the author of Three Mile Island: A Nuclear Crisis in Historical Perspective and Permissible Dose: A History of Radiation Protection in the Twentieth Century as well as Containing the Atom: Nuclear Regulation in a Changing Environment, 1963-1971, all from UC Press.