This is the third (?) review of mine to start ... “Well, he would say that, wouldn’t he ?”. A big ‘thank you’ to our local library service who, with a little prompting, bought lots of extra copies of this, because there was only one and it was out all of the time, with an ever-expanding reservation queue. Lots of people are interested in this topic, so why only two reviews ? Anyway, Mr Gregory has a very readable style and can explain things in lots of sensible steps, going from simple to complicated, with occasional diagrams. According to Mr Gregory, too many people suffer from an irrational fear of nuclear radiation, caused by an ignorance of the subject. It was interesting comparing his book with a recent tv documentary on Fukushima, and finding that yes, actually the radiation wasn’t as bad as people make out, it was mechanical stuff that failed not the nuclear stuff, and that only 1 person died from radiation poisoning (a fireman). It is not good reading about how the UK could be having vastly cheaper power had politicians not given in to the public’s irrational fears, and how we could be turning our so-called nuclear ‘waste’ into useful other nuclear substances to re-use or sell to others for peaceful ends. Criticisms include his boundless, red setter crossed with a collie, enthusiasm that gets a little wearing after a while, that we might have benefitted from even more diagrams, and the final ‘wishful thinking’ chapter of ‘mights’ that have become ‘wills’: these are common in science books, and get embarrassing after about 10 years as the author’s hopes, predictions, wants fail to happen. Along with the TSR-2, Blue Streak / our space programme, and maglev, now fast-breeder nuclear power and cheap, eco-friendly electricity now goes down as a fantastically wasted opportunity. Why do we continue to elect these sorts of people ? It would be nice if critics of nuclear power could read this too.

A great, easy read but also still detailed enough for those who are aware of the surrounding knowledge of nuclear studies. Love how it demystifies what the average person knows about nuclear energy! Thank you Penguin Books for the copy !