Britain, Europe and Civil Nuclear Energy, 1945–62

Britain, Europe and Civil Nuclear Energy, 1945–62 PDF Author: Martin Theaker
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319739271
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 308

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Book Description
This book examines the role played by civil nuclear energy in Britain’s relationship with Europe between the end of the Second World War and London’s first application to join the European Communities. Tracing the development of the British nuclear programme as it emerged as a global leader in constructing the world’s first atomic power stations, it analyses how the threat of energy shortages throughout the 1950s presented ministers with a golden opportunity to utilise nuclear cooperation as an instrument to influence the political shape of Europe. Importantly, this book will show how this chance was missed by ministers due to a combination of disorganization and diplomatic pressure, as well as a perennial lack of domestic resources. In so doing, this book joins the long-disconnected historiographies of European integration and nuclear energy to offer a new perspective on both scholarly fields.

Britain, Europe and Civil Nuclear Energy, 1945–62

Britain, Europe and Civil Nuclear Energy, 1945–62 PDF Author: Martin Theaker
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319739271
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 308

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Book Description
This book examines the role played by civil nuclear energy in Britain’s relationship with Europe between the end of the Second World War and London’s first application to join the European Communities. Tracing the development of the British nuclear programme as it emerged as a global leader in constructing the world’s first atomic power stations, it analyses how the threat of energy shortages throughout the 1950s presented ministers with a golden opportunity to utilise nuclear cooperation as an instrument to influence the political shape of Europe. Importantly, this book will show how this chance was missed by ministers due to a combination of disorganization and diplomatic pressure, as well as a perennial lack of domestic resources. In so doing, this book joins the long-disconnected historiographies of European integration and nuclear energy to offer a new perspective on both scholarly fields.

The Cold War [5 volumes]

The Cold War [5 volumes] PDF Author: Spencer C. Tucker
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 4179

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Book Description
This sweeping reference work covers every aspect of the Cold War, from its ignition in the ashes of World War II, through the Berlin Wall and the Cuban Missile Crisis, to the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The Cold War superpower face-off between the Soviet Union and the United States dominated international affairs in the second half of the 20th century and still reverberates around the world today. This comprehensive and insightful multivolume set provides authoritative entries on all aspects of this world-changing event, including wars, new military technologies, diplomatic initiatives, espionage activities, important individuals and organizations, economic developments, societal and cultural events, and more. This expansive coverage provides readers with the necessary context to understand the many facets of this complex conflict. The work begins with a preface and introduction and then offers illuminating introductory essays on the origins and course of the Cold War, which are followed by some 1,500 entries on key individuals, wars, battles, weapons systems, diplomacy, politics, economics, and art and culture. Each entry has cross-references and a list of books for further reading. The text includes more than 100 key primary source documents, a detailed chronology, a glossary, and a selective bibliography. Numerous illustrations and maps are inset throughout to provide additional context to the material.

Independence and Deterrence

Independence and Deterrence PDF Author: Lorna Arnold
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 1349155268
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 518

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Book Description
Independence and Deterrence , commissioned by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, continues the story of Britain's atomic project begun in Britain and Atomic Energy 1939-1945 , and covers the years from 1945 to the first British bomb test at the end of 1952. Volume 1 studies policy making at the highest levels - the strategic, political and international considerations, the administrative and constitutional machinery. It shows how and why Britain decided to make atomic bombs and follows traumatic negotiations for Anglo-American atomic collaboration and their effect on Britain's relations with Europe and the Commonwealth. There is important material on Anglo-Canadian affairs. The book sheds new light on Britain's rights to consultation on any American use of atmoic bombs. Volume 2 studies the execution of the project. It analyses the cost of the project in money and manpower, the problems of health and safety, secrecy and security, the relationship between government and private industry. Above all it gives a 'nuts and bolts' description of the work of the scientists and engineers in carrying out - with great success - a complex technological project operating on the furthest frontiers of knowledge, which culminated in making and testing the Mark I weapon. There is an illuminating chapter on the origins of Britian's nuclear power programme and her choice of reactor. These chapters emphasise not only ecomomic, managerial and technological aspects, but also the great influence of personalities. This is the first peacetime official history to be authorised for publication. It has been written with free access to official documents and very little has been modified or omitted on public interest grounds. Most of the material is completely new. Ronald Clark wrote of Britain and Atomic Energy , '[Mrs Gowning] has been able to let cats out of bags by the litterful'. This is even more true of Independence and Deterrence.

The Cambridge History of the Cold War

The Cambridge History of the Cold War PDF Author: Melvyn P. Leffler
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 0521837197
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 663

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Book Description
This volume examines the origins and early years of the Cold War in the first comprehensive historical reexamination of the period. A team of leading scholars shows how the conflict evolved from the geopolitical, ideological, economic and sociopolitical environments of the two world wars and interwar period.

Independence and Deterrence

Independence and Deterrence PDF Author: Lorna Arnold
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
ISBN: 9780333166956
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 559

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Book Description
Independence and Deterrence , commissioned by the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, continues the story of Britain's atomic project begun in Britain and Atomic Energy 1939-1945 , and covers the years from 1945 to the first British bomb test at the end of 1952. Volume 1 studies policy making at the highest levels - the strategic, political and international considerations, the administrative and constitutional machinery. It shows how and why Britain decided to make atomic bombs and follows traumatic negotiations for Anglo-American atomic collaboration and their effect on Britain's relations with Europe and the Commonwealth. There is important material on Anglo-Canadian affairs. The book sheds new light on Britain's rights to consultation on any American use of atmoic bombs. Volume 2 studies the execution of the project. It analyses the cost of the project in money and manpower, the problems of health and safety, secrecy and security, the relationship between government and private industry. Above all it gives a 'nuts and bolts' description of the work of the scientists and engineers in carrying out - with great success - a complex technological project operating on the furthest frontiers of knowledge, which culminated in making and testing the Mark I weapon. There is an illuminating chapter on the origins of Britian's nuclear power programme and her choice of reactor. These chapters emphasise not only ecomomic, managerial and technological aspects, but also the great influence of personalities. This is the first peacetime official history to be authorised for publication. It has been written with free access to official documents and very little has been modified or omitted on public interest grounds. Most of the material is completely new. Ronald Clark wrote of Britain and Atomic Energy , '[Mrs Gowning] has been able to let cats out of bags by the litterful'. This is even more true of Independence and Deterrence.

Postwar

Postwar PDF Author: Tony Judt
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 9780143037750
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 1000

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Book Description
Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize • Winner of the Council on Foreign Relations Arthur Ross Book Award • One of the New York Times’s 100 Best Books of the 21st Century “Impressive . . . Mr. Judt writes with enormous authority.” —The Wall Street Journal “Magisterial . . . It is, without a doubt, the most comprehensive, authoritative, and yes, readable postwar history.” —The Boston Globe Almost a decade in the making, this much-anticipated grand history of postwar Europe from one of the world's most esteemed historians and intellectuals is a singular achievement. Postwar is the first modern history that covers all of Europe, both east and west, drawing on research in six languages to sweep readers through thirty-four nations and sixty years of political and cultural change-all in one integrated, enthralling narrative. Both intellectually ambitious and compelling to read, thrilling in its scope and delightful in its small details, Postwar is a rare joy.

The Rise and Fall of a National Strategy, 1945-1963

The Rise and Fall of a National Strategy, 1945-1963 PDF Author: Alan S. Milward
Publisher: Psychology Press
ISBN: 9780714651118
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 536

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Book Description
This text analyses British official thinking behind the UK's standing aloof from the moves after 1945 towards European economic collaboration. The volume ends with General de Gaulle's veto of 1963.

Energy Abstracts for Policy Analysis

Energy Abstracts for Policy Analysis PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Power resources
Languages : en
Pages : 1438

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Book Description


Nuclear Fear

Nuclear Fear PDF Author: Spencer R. WEART
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674044983
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 550

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Book Description
Our thinking is inhabited by images-images of sometimes curious and overwhelming power. The mushroom cloud, weird rays that can transform the flesh, the twilight world following a nuclear war, the white city of the future, the brilliant but mad scientist who plots to destroy the world-all these images and more relate to nuclear energy, but that is not their only common bond. Decades before the first atom bomb exploded, a web of symbols with surprising linkages was fully formed in the public mind. The strange kinship of these symbols can be traced back, not only to medieval symbolism, but still deeper into experiences common to all of us. This is a disturbing book: it shows that much of what we believe about nuclear energy is not based on facts, but on a complex tangle of imagery suffused with emotions and rooted in the distant past. Nuclear Fear is the first work to explore all the symbolism attached to nuclear bombs, and to civilian nuclear energy as well, employing the powerful tools of history as well as findings from psychology, sociology, and even anthropology. The story runs from the turn of the century to the present day, following the scientists and journalists, the filmmakers and novelists, the officials and politicians of many nations who shaped the way people think about nuclear devices. The author, a historian who also holds a Ph.D. in physics, has been able to separate genuine scientific knowledge about nuclear energy and radiation from the luxuriant mythology that obscures them. In revealing the history of nuclear imagery, Weart conveys the hopeful message that once we understand how this imagery has secretly influenced history and our own thinking, we can move on to a clearer view of the choices that confront our civilization. Table of Contents: Preface Part One: Years of Fantasy, 1902-1938 1. Radioactive Hopes White Cities of the Future Missionaries for Science The Meaning of Transmutation 2. Radioactive Fears Scientific Doomsdays The Dangerous Scientist Scientists and Weapons Debating the Scientist's Role 3. Radium: Elixir or Poison? The Elixir of Life Rays of Life Death Rays Radium as Medicine and Poison 4. The Secret, the Master, and the Monster Smashing Atoms The Fearful Master Monsters and Victims Real Scientists The Situation before Fission Part Two: Confronting Reality, 1939-1952 5. Where Earth and Heaven Meet Imaginary Bomb-Reactors Real Reactors and Safety Questions Planned Massacres "The Second Coming" 6. The News from Hiroshima Cliché Experts Hiroshima Itself Security through Control by Scientists? Security through Control over Scientists? 7. National Defenses Civil Defenses Bombs as a Psychological Weapon The Airmen Part Three: New Hopes and Horrors, 1953-1963 8. Atoms for Peace A Positive Alternative Atomic Propaganda Abroad Atomic Propaganda at Home 9. Good and Bad Atoms Magical Atoms Real Reactors The Core of Mistrust Tainted Authorities 10. The New Blasphemy Bombs as a Violation of Nature Radioactive Monsters Blaming Authorities 11. Death Dust Crusaders against Contamination A Few Facts Clean or Filthy Bombs? 12. The Imagination of Survival Visions of the End Survivors as Savages The Victory of the Victim The Great Thermonuclear Strategy Debate The World as Hiroshima 13. The Politics of Survival The Movement Attacking the Warriors Running for Shelter Cuban Catharsis Reasons for Silence Part Four: Suspect Technology, 1956-1986 14. Fail/Safe Unwanted Explosions: Bombs Unwanted Explosions: Reactors Advertising the Maximum Accident 15. Reactor Poisons and Promises Pollution from Reactors The Public Loses Interest The Nuplex versus the China Syndrome 16. The Debate Explodes The Fight against Antimissiles Sounding the Radiation Alarm Reactors: A Surrogate for Bombs? Environmentalists Step In 17. Energy Choices Alternative Energy Sources Real Reactor Risks "It's Political" The Reactor Wars 18. Civilization or Liberation? The Logic of Authority and Its Enemies Nature versus Culture Modes of Expression The Public's Image of Nuclear Power 19. The War Fear Revival: An Unfinished Chapter Part Five The Search for Renewal 20. The Modern Arcanum Despair and Denial Help from Heaven? Objects in the Skies Mushroom and Mandala 21. Artistic Transmutations The Interior Holocaust Rebirth from Despair Toward the Four-Gated City Conclusion A Personal Note Sources and Methodology Notes Index Reviews of this book: Nuclear Fear is a rich, layered journey back through our 'atomic history' to the primal memories of monstrous mutants and mad scientists. It is a deeply serious book but written in an accessible style that reveals the culture in which this fear emerges only to be suppressed and emerge again. --Ellen Goodman, Boston Globe Reviews of this book: A historical portrait of the quintessential modern nightmare...Weart shows in meticulous and fascinating detail how [the] ancient images of alchemy-fire, sexuality, Armageddon, gold, eternity and all the rest-immediately clustered around the new science of atomic physics...There is no question that the image of nuclear power reflects a complex and deeply disturbing portrait of what it means to be human. --Stephan Salisbury, Philadelphia Inquirer Reviews of this book: A detailed, probing study of American hopes, dreams and insecurities in the twentieth-century. Weart has a poet's acumen for sensing human feelings ... Nuclear Fear remains captivating as history...and original as an anthropological study of how nuclear power, like alchemy in medieval times, offers a convenient symbol for deeply-rooted human feelings. --Los Angeles Times Reviews of this book: Weart's tale boldly sweeps from the futuristic White City of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair and the discovery of radioactivity in 1896 through Hiroshima and Star Wars... (An] admirable call for synthesis of art and science in a true transmutation that takes us beyond nuclear fear. --H. Bruce Franklin, Science

The Technological and Economic Future of Nuclear Power

The Technological and Economic Future of Nuclear Power PDF Author: Reinhard Haas
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3658259876
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 382

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Book Description
This open access book discusses the eroding economics of nuclear power for electricity generation as well as technical, legal, and political acceptance issues. The use of nuclear power for electricity generation is still a heavily disputed issue. Aside from technical risks, safety issues, and the unsolved problem of nuclear waste disposal, the economic performance is currently a major barrier. In recent years, the costs have skyrocketed especially in the European countries and North America. At the same time, the costs of alternatives such as photovoltaics and wind power have significantly decreased.