Continuing the Nuclear Dialogue: Selected Essays

by Alvin M. Weinberg

Alvin Weinberg has been a key contributor to nuclear power for more than 40 years and has also been a prolific writer on the interaction between modern technology and society. Included in this collection are 21 essays and reviews that span the past four decades of the nuclear era. In his early essays, Weinberg forecast the industrial uses of nuclear energy and outlined the requirements for economic nuclear power generation. More recently, the author considered the problems, perceived risks, and moral imperatives of nuclear technology and put such events as the accident at Three Mile Island-2 in perspective. These essays will be stimulating reading for anyone interested in the complex role of nuclear energy in today's world.

204 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

Alvin Weinberg (1915-2006) was a scientist and director of Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) from 1955–1973.

From the ORNL website: "Weinberg came to ORNL in 1945 to join the Physics Division at the urging of mentor Eugene Wigner, became division chief in 1947, then succeeded Wigner as ORNL research director in 1948. Weinberg is credited with communicating the meaning and intent of "Big Science," a phrase that has become commonplace among both scientists and policymakers. Weinberg led ORNL through years of maturing and diversification, and served as a scientific advisor to Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy. A proponent of nuclear energy, he wrote often of issues concerning nuclear energy and the broader relationship between society and technology."