As is my usual habit, I feel compelled to review the book before I have completed it. However, I think I have absorbed the core of the material, having read 2/3 of it at this point.
There is much that is excellent with this book and only a little I can find fault with. Let me dispense with the latter first and then discuss the good things.
I believe the author is a bit too informal in his style. I don't think prefacing sentences with "Well, ...", or making heavy use of the word "cool" to express enthusiasm, etc., really contributes to the book.
If you look beyond that, however, I believe the author does indeed do an excellent job of writing the material in a form that is easy and engaging to read by a layman.
The material gets a bit more serious and less conversational in the chapters on nuclear physics and reactor engineering, but I think they are written with a superb balance between technical soundness but avoidance of technical abstration beyond the level appropriate for the target reader.
I am an engineer in another field; I have never had a course in nuclear physics, and the material in chapters 4-5 was virtually all new to me, and yet I feel that just from the few hours I spend reading that material I have gained a good fundamental background (for a non-specialist) in this field.
My original motivation for reading the book was the fact that I am nearing retirement and have decided to take up the study of alternative energy in retirement.
In the 1970's I was adamantly opposed to nuclear power. However, when one looks at the alternatives we have today, including such factors as global warming, clearly nuclear power deserves a higher place on the list of future energy sources than it has had in the United States in the recent past.
I think probably its main weak point is its complexity. If our society devolves to a more primitive state due to such factors as incompetent leadership, international conflict, the threat of terrorism, and failure to create a new liquid fuel source to replace fossil fuels (since electricity is not a suitable form for some of our energy needs- transportation, chemicals, etc)in time to avoid disruption to our economy and society, then being able to continue to produce nuclear power may become a "recipe that we will have lost".
Hopefully, society won't proceed in that direction, and, if so, it seems likely that nuclear fission will play a crucial role in our energy supply for at least the next several centuries.
I have a lot more study to do on energy sources before I feel I have a more complete picture, but this book has been an incredible source for me to increase my understanding of this particular piece of the puzzle.
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