Poisoned Power: Table of Contents (Expanded)

Foreward to the 1979 Printing
Violating the Inalienable Right to Life
Revolt of the Guinea Pigs
"But we need the power . . ."
How to Make Sense of "Millirems" and "Picocuries"
Curies, Microcuries, and Picocuries
From Curies and Picocuries to Rems and Millirems
Summary: The Important Questions

Foreword, by Mike Gravel, U.S. Senator from Alaska

Introduction : The Nuclear Juggernaut

The Poison
The Power
The Alternatives
The Massive Hoax
Some Valuable Clues
What You Must Do
We Are Optimistic

Chapter 1 : Nuclear Reactors to Generate Electricity

Water-Moderated Reactors
Breeder Reactors
Suggested Reading

Chapter 2 : How Radiation from Atomic Energy Programs Gets to You
                --What it Does to You

(a) External versus internal radiation
(b) Concentration in organs
(c) The role of chemical similarity between elements
(d) The role of half-life of the radioactive nuclide
(e) Whole body radiation versus partial body radiation
(f) Age an important factor
(g) Other radiations: Alpha particles, "Hot" particles, Plutonium

Chapter 3 : How Radiation Produces Disease and Hereditary Alterations

Hereditary Alterations
What Kinds of Genetic Diseases?

Chapter 4 : Is Any Radiation "Safe"?

A Multi-Billion Dollar Industry on a Dangerous Premise
Faith Is Not Justified
"No Effect Observed"
The Careful Studies Required to Observe Effects

Chapter 5 : Promises, Promises

Chapter 6 : How Safe Are Nuclear Reactors?

Routine Operations
Accidents In Present-Day Reactors
Accidents In Fast-Breeder Reactors

Chapter 7 : Nuclear Electricity and The Citizen's Rights

The Constitutionally Questionable Price-Anderson Act

Chapter 8 : The Nuclear Legacy--Radioactive Wastes and Plutonium

Waste disposal practices
"Everything But the Squeal"
Plutonium: The Ultimate Hazard
The Safeguards Problem

Chapter 9 : Alternatives Available to Us

The Fundamental Question: How Much Power?
Clean Fossil-Fuel Plants
Power Sources for the Future
Energy Efficiency: Our Largest Energy Supply

Chapter 10 : What Can Citizens Do About Nuclear Electricity?

Recommendation for a Moratorium On New Nuclear Electricity Plants
The Fastest Way to a Moratorium

Chapter 11 : Must We Hold Out for The "Cold Corpses"?

Radiation Standards: How They Should Have Been Handled

Chapter 12 : Toward An Adversary System of Scientific Inquiry

Chapter 13 : The Ultimate Issue -- Conversion or Ecocide

The Promotional-Profit Incentive
Limited Victories
Conversion

Appendix I : Nuclear Power Questions and Answers

Setting Permissible Doses of Radiation
Natural Radiation
The Linear Theory--Damage Is Directly Proportional To The Dose
Disparity of Estimates on Radiation Risks
Safety Factor in Reactors
Price-Anderson Act--Insurance Against Personal and Property Damage from Nuclear Accident
"Clean" Nuclear Plants vs. "Dirty" Fossil Fueled Plants
Scientific Objectivity and Radiation Damage
Why So Much Fuss Over Such a Little Radiation from Nuclear Plants?
Is Nuclear Power the Only Answer to Future Needs?
Environmental Considerations with Nuclear Power Plants
Informing the Public on Nuclear Power
Who Are the Critics of Nuclear Power?


Appendix II : Moratorium Activists

Moratorium Proposals

Appendix III : Atomic Safety and Licensing Board

Appendix IV : Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards

Appendix V : When Experts Disagree, Which Ones Shall We Believe?

Proposed: A Public Radiation Debate
The Proposal
The Need

Appendix VI : Nuclear Power and Alternatives

Appendix VII : Commercial Nuclear Power Reactors in the United States

Index