Wade Allison, Professor Emeritus of Physics, Oxford University - This book expands on the message of Radiation and Reason (2009) following the Fukushima accident (2011). It is a broader study of the historical, cultural and scientific interactions of radiation with life; it asks why society takes such a cautious view of nuclear technology; it looks at the effects of nuclear accidents and other radiation exposures; it looks at the efficacy of safety, as provided by nature and as imposed by regulation; it explains how biological evolution prepared life to survive exposures to low and moderate levels of radiation; it asks if nuclear energy would be expensive, if normal levels of information, education, safety and design were applied.
