Contesting the Future of Nuclear Power

Contesting the Future of Nuclear Power: A Critical Global Assessment of Atomic Energy is a 2011 book by Benjamin K. Sovacool, published by World Scientific. Sovacool’s book explores the global nuclear power industry, its fuel cycle, nuclear accidents, environmental impacts, social risks, and economics. There is a postscript on the Japanese 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster. Based on detailed analysis, Sovacool concludes "that a global nuclear renaissance would bring immense technical, economic, environmental, political, and social costs". He says that it is renewable energy technologies which will enhance energy security, and which have many other advantages.
Reviewer Mark Diesendorf says that one weakness of the book is the limited coverage of nuclear weapons proliferation. He says that governments of several countries (e.g., France, India, North Korea, Pakistan) have used nuclear power and/or research reactors to assist nuclear weapons development.