Radiation levels are quantified relative to background - a technique that should enjoy much wider usage. Carbon presents the critical issues and controversies which pervade the field. Correctly Carbon notes that at near background levels, radiation effects, if observable at all, are small and as yet undetected. The final section of this chapter deals with radiation phobia, especially that associated with the Chernobyl reactor disaster. Again, Carbon notes that the reactions of the media and some scientists are not consistent with observed and anticipated effects.
Later chapters discuss power plant safety, high-level waste, and diversion of fissile material.
As such they serve to describe the principle issues and contrast them with other commonly encountered and well-accepted risks. Perhaps the most striking point is the truly outstanding safety record accomplished by nuclear power generation in the United States. No other technology of such complexity, potential danger, and benefit to society can make this claim. Carbon contrasts this success with disasters resulting from other forms of power generation. Disposal and diversion are coupled logically and physically.