March to Armageddon: The United States and the Nuclear Arms Race, 1939 to thePresent

Abstract

The late 1960s saw an extraordinary growth in the American nuclear industry: dozens of plants of unprecedented size were ordered throughout the country. Yet at the same time, public concern about the natural environment and suspicion of both government and industry increased dramatically. Containing the Atom provides a history of nuclear power regulation during those years. J. Samuel Walker focuses on the activities of the US Atomic Energy Commission, the agency entrusted with the primary responsibility for the safety of nuclear power, and shows that from the beginning the AEC faced a paradox: it was charged with both promoting and controlling the nuclear power industry. Out of this paradox grew severe tensions, which Walker discusses in detail. His evaluation of the issues and the positions taken by the AEC and others makes this study a useful resource for all those interested in the continuing controversies that surround nuclear energy.