The nuclear lion: What every citizen should know about nuclear power and nuclear war

Book · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1991

OSTI ID:6536416

Jagger, J

The stupendous energy in the atomic nucleus can be used to advance human welfare, and it has been so used ever since we learned how to release it. Nuclear medicine has revolutionized medical diagnosis and treatment, notably in dealing with cancer. Nuclear reactors have provided us with valuable radioactive atoms (radioisotopes) for use in research and industry, and they have given us cheap, clean power, which can drive a ship around the world on a tiny charge of fuel. On the other hand, we have unleashed the awesome power of nuclear weapons, and we must now face the almost incomprehensible devastation that awaits the world as it contemplates nuclear war. An all-out nuclear war would end modern civilization, and might well end humankind, to say nothing of countless other species of plants and animals. It would be, without question the greatest disaster of the last million years of the history of the Earth.

• OSTI ID: 6536416
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

29 ENERGY PLANNING, POLICY, AND ECONOMY
290202* -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Sociology-- (1992-)
290600 -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Nuclear Energy
A-BOMB SURVIVORS
ACCIDENTS
ASIA
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
EUROPE
EXPLOSIONS
GLOBAL ASPECTS
HIROSHIMA
HUMAN POPULATIONS
JAPAN
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MEDICINE
NORTH AMERICA
NUCLEAR EXPLOSIONS
NUCLEAR FACILITIES
NUCLEAR MEDICINE
NUCLEAR POWER
NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS
NUCLEAR WEAPONS
POPULATIONS
POWER
POWER PLANTS
PROCESSING
RADIOACTIVE WASTE DISPOSAL
RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT
RADIOACTIVE WASTE PROCESSING
RADIOACTIVE WASTE STORAGE
SAFETY
STORAGE
THERMAL POWER PLANTS
USA
USSR
WARFARE
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE MANAGEMENT
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