Article ID: CBB837463109

Reckless Proliferation and Guardianship Proliferation: The Fast Breeder Nuclear Reactor and the Plutonium Economy (July 2019)

unapi

This article examines the history of the fast breeder reactor as a forerunner technology in three Western nuclear nations—the United States, the United Kingdom, and France—to clarify just how this charismatic technology changed the nuclear landscape. Did the adoption of fast reactors tip the nuclear balance toward a plutonium economy? And what were the interconnections between the production of plutonium for nuclear reactors and plutonium for atomic bombs? The conclusions reached differentiate between the decentralized and liberal U.S. plutonium economy from the British and the French state-controlled economies largely serving military interests. This furthermore conveys how the usage of plutonium made criticism of nuclear power both systematic and inclusive by tying together technological, political, and social risks and establishing a common bond between anti-breeder policies and environmental concerns.

...More
Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB837463109/

Similar Citations

Article Rachel Maines; (2013)
'Stings and Bangs': Amateur Science and Gender in Twentieth-Century Living Spaces (/isis/citation/CBB704933445/)

Article Emory L. Kemp; (1993)
National Styles in Engineering: The Case of the 19th-century Suspension Bridge (/isis/citation/CBB058520422/)

Article Mara Drogan; (2015)
The Nuclear Nation and the German Question: An American Reactor in West Berlin (/isis/citation/CBB191927034/)

Article Johnston, Sean F.; (2009)
Implanting a Discipline: The Academic Trajectory of Nuclear Engineering in the USA and UK (/isis/citation/CBB000932243/)

Book Ndiaye, Pap A.; (2007)
Nylon and Bombs: DuPont and the March of Modern America (/isis/citation/CBB000741816/)

Book Bernstein, Jeremy; (2007)
Plutonium: A History of the World's Most Dangerous Element (/isis/citation/CBB001230726/)

Article William Beaver; (2017)
Can Nuclear Power Come Back? (/isis/citation/CBB815521622/)

Book Taylor Simon; (2016)
The Fall and Rise of Nuclear Power in Britain: A History (/isis/citation/CBB171510819/)

Book Gillen D’Arcy Wood; (2020)
Land of Wondrous Cold: The Race to Discover Antarctica and Unlock the Secrets of Its Ice (/isis/citation/CBB476131424/)

Thesis Theodora Vardouli; (2017)
Graphing Theory: New Mathematics, Design, and the Participatory Turn (/isis/citation/CBB982144600/)

Book Dommann, Monika; (2014)
Autoren und Apparate: die Geschichte des Copyrights im Medienwandel (/isis/citation/CBB001551280/)

Authors & Contributors
O'Reagan, Douglas Michael
Camp, Michael
Stiny, George
Henning, Lori A.
Taylor Simon
Markku Lehtonen
Concepts
Cross-national comparison
Nuclear reactors
Plutonium
Nuclear and radioactive waste
Technology and politics
Development of technology; change in technology
Time Periods
20th century
21st century
19th century
20th century, late
Places
United States
Great Britain
France
Germany
United Kingdom
Antarctica
Institutions
Great Britain. Army
Hanford Nuclear Site (Washington)
United States. Army
U.S. Atomic Energy Commission
Du Pont Company
Comments

Be the first to comment!

{{ comment.created_by.username }} on {{ comment.created_on | date:'medium' }}

Log in or register to comment