Tritium on Ice: The Dangerous New Alliance of Nuclear Weapons and Nuclear Power [Hardcover]

Kenneth D. Bergeron (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 15, 2002 | ISBN-10: 0262025272 | ISBN-13: 978-0262025270

In December 1998, Energy Secretary Bill Richardson announced that the U.S. planned to begin producing tritium for its nuclear weapons in commercial nuclear power plants. This decision overturned a fifty-year policy of keeping civilian and military nuclear production processes separate. Tritium, a radioactive form of hydrogen, is needed to turn A-bombs into H-bombs, and the commercial nuclear power plants that are to be modified to produce tritium are called ice condensers. This book provides an insider's perspective on how Richardson's decision came about, and why it is dangerous.Kenneth Bergeron shows that the new policy is unwise not only because it undermines the U.S. commitment to curb nuclear weapons proliferation but also because it will exacerbate serious safety problems at these commercial power facilities, which are operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority and are among the most marginal in the United States. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's review of the TVA's request to modify its plants for the new nuclear weapons mission should attract significant attention and opposition.Tritium on Ice is part expose, part history, part science for the lay reader, and part political science. Bergeron's discussion of how the issues of nuclear weapons proliferation and nuclear reactor safety have become intertwined illuminates larger issues about how the federal government does or does not manage technology in the interests of its citizens and calls into question the integrity of government-funded safety assessments in a deregulated economy.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Wave-making author Mark Dowie brings the nearly half-trillion-dollar foundation world under his anti-'drag anchor' microscope, analyzing foundations' past achievements and failures and then critically taking the institutions to task for directing their grants so often away from 'root causes.' Dowie shakes up the complacency, myopia, and insulation of these giant foundations by naming names and places. He keeps readers flipping the pages with eager anticipation as to how these institutions can address abuses of power and wealth. Dowie is a scholar and a muckraker, which makes this book a standout event."--Ralph Nader, Consumer Advocate

"Civilian and military uses of nuclear power have always been separate. Secretary Richardson's decision blurred what has always been a bright line. Bergeron's book explains how that significant decision was made. He writes with clarity and conviction about nuclear weapons and nuclear power as a knowledgeable insider in both camps. I have never read an account that covers both the Department of Energy and Nuclear Regulatory Commission perspectives with such insight." David Lochbaum , nuclear safety engineer, Union of Concerned Scientists

" Tritium on Ice is a lively and authoritative account and critique of the evolution of U.S. tritium policy. The reader will also learn a great deal about the organization and culture of the United States nuclear establishment and about the fundamental safety issues of the 100-odd nuclear power reactors operating in the U.S. today." Frank von Hippel , Professor of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University

" Tritium on Ice is a lively and authoritative account and critique of the evolution of US tritium policy. The reader will also learn a great deal about the organization and culture of the United States nuclear establishment and about the fundamental safety issues of the 100-odd nuclear power reactors operating in the US today." Frank von Hippel , Professor of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University

"Civilian and military uses of nuclear power have always been separate. Secretary Richardson's decision blurred what has always been a bright line. Bergeron's book explains how that significant decision was made. He writes with clarity and conviction about nuclear weapons and nuclear power as a knowledgeable insider in both camps. I have never read an account that covers both the Department of Energy and Nuclear Regulatory Commission perspectives with such insight."--Dave Lochbaum, Nuclear Safety Engineer, Union of Concerned Scientists

"'Tritium on Ice' is a lively and authoritative account and critique of the evolution of U.S. tritium policy. The reader will also learn a great deal about the organization and culture of the U.S. nuclear establishment and about the fundamental safety issues of the 100-odd nuclear power reactors operating in the U.S. today."--Frank von Hippel, Professor of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University

"It is ironic that Kenneth Bergeron's Tritium on Ice is reaching bookstores at the same time President Bush is making the case that we must remove Saddam Hussein in order to ensure he does not obtain nuclear weapons. For fifty years, a key principle in U.S. nonproliferation policy has been the prohibition of using civilian nuclear reactors to produce the nuclear ingredients of hydrogen bombs. Now the Bush administration is taking steps to blur the line between the commercial and military uses of atomic energy by allowing the production of tritium in civilian nuclear reactors, reversing the long-standing U.S. ban on reprocessing nuclear fuel, and disposing of excess weapons-grade plutonium in civilian nuclear reactors. If we are serious about reducing the number of nuclear weapons in our arsenal down to the START II treaty levels negotiated by the first President Bush in 1993, let alone to the lower levels the second President Bush agreed to in 2002, then we would not need new tritium for decades, and the current plan to produce it in commercial reactors would be unnecessary. This well-researched and well-written book exposes the hypocrisy and deception that lie behind the reversal of the 'no dual use' nonproliferation policy, a reversal likely to diminish long-term prospects for preventing the spread of nuclear weapons throughout the world."--U.S. Congressman Edward J. Markey, senior Member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and co-Chair of the Bipartisan Task Force on NonproliferationPlease note: Endorser gives permission to excerpt from quote.

About the Author

Kenneth D. Bergeron is an Albuquerque-based writer who specializes in social and political aspects of science and technology. For twenty-five years he worked at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, primarily on the safety of commercial nuclear reactors and the military reactors used to produce tritium for nuclear weapons.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 232 pages
• Publisher: The MIT Press (November 15, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0262025272
• ISBN-13: 978-0262025270
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,534,421 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wake-Up Call, November 14, 2002

By 

Robert Gorham (New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tritium on Ice: The Dangerous New Alliance of Nuclear Weapons and Nuclear Power (Hardcover)

This is a compelling, timely and informative work by a knowledgable insider. Kenneth Bergeron explains in this clear, concise narrative the inner workings of our nuclear establishment and why civilian and military uses had been historically kept separate. A policy that is even more important today. He documents the complex and disturbing process that culminated in a 1998 decision to abandon this vital policy and the underlying factors that subordinated the public interest. This is a "must read" work that will move readers to add their voices to those seeking to reverse a dangerous decision before it is too late.

4 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Is there a hydrogen bomb in Libya's future?, November 5, 2002

By 

Henry L. Shipman (Newark, DE USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tritium on Ice: The Dangerous New Alliance of Nuclear Weapons and Nuclear Power (Hardcover)

Someone wishing to make a hydrogen bomb needs to obtain some tritium. At the present time, tritium in suitable quantities can only be obtained in the U.S. through the highly guarded nuclear weapons program. In this extraordinarily well written book, Bergeron calls attention to a little-known 1998 decision by then energy secretary Bill Richardson which, when implemented, would shift tritium production to the commercial side of the nuclear industry. One purpose of the great wall that used to separate nuclear power from nuclear weapons was minimizing the chance that third-world countries like Libya could obtain the ingredients to make A-bombs and even the more powerful h-bombs. Bergeron, a nuclear insider, leads his readers through the dark corners and hallways of the nuclear power and nuclear weapons industries. He shows how the great wall would be breached by implementation of this decision. The story is captivating. Bergeron tells it very well. The problem is real. And Bergeron points out that there's still time to do something about it. With the end of the Cold War, the US doesn't need more tritium any time soon.