The Plutonium Business and the spread of the bomb

London: Paladin Granada Publishing. 1984. Presumed First Edition, First printing thus. Mass market paperback. xvi, 272 pages. Tables. Appendices. Bibliography. Notes. Index. Cover has some wear and soiling. Ink marks on several pages noted. Corners creased on several pages. Inscribed on the first page by the author. The author noted that this work was for the Nuclear Control Institute. There is a Greenpeace stamp on the bottom edge. Walter C. Patterson (born November 4, 1936) is a UK-based Canadian physicist and widely-published writer and campaigner on energy. Trained as a nuclear physicist, Patterson has spent his life teaching, writing and campaigning. In 1984-5, Patterson acted as series advisor to the award-winning BBC drama series Edge of Darkness. Patterson has published fourteen books and hundreds of papers, articles and reviews, on nuclear power, energy policy, and electricity. Since 1991 Patterson has been a Fellow of what is now the Energy, Environment and Resources Programme at Chatham House in London. He is a Fellow of the Energy Institute, London. In approaching Walter C. Patterson to write The Plutonium Business, Nuclear Control Institute had one basic objective in mind: to simplify and de-mystify for the general public the evolution of plutonium from the rare stuff of atomic bombs to a plentiful civilian fuel that may yet be used in nuclear power plants throughout the world. The danger is enormous. By the turn of the century, less than two decades away, there may be plutonium fuel being trafficked in commerce sufficient to build about 100,000 atomic bombs. This will be the situation if those who would make a business out of plutonium get their way. How did the material used in the Nagasaki bomb become their fuel of the future? What is the potential for 'civilian' plutonium being made into weapons by nations or by terrorists? Walt Patterson is ideally suited to answer these questions. This report is intended to engage the reader and provide some practical suggestions on how to stop the global spread of plutonium before it gets out of control. Condition: Good.

Keywords: Plutonium, Nuclear Fuel, Reprocessing, Pokharan, Proliferation, Fission, Breeder Reactor, Atomic Energy, Fast Breeder, Nuclear Weapons, International Safeguards, Spent Fuel, Windscale, Uranium

ISBN: 0586084827

[Book #75757]

Price: $50.00