This book is not as tightly focused as Energy Victory or the Case for Mars/Mars Direct. Still trademark Zubrinism. Reality-based, engineering-minded technology optimism. If even one of his books could be uploaded into the minds of decision makers without a stack overflow, we’d all be much better off.
Everything here has lots of data and argument to back it up, but not so exhaustively that you imagine no contrary case is possible.
The book is pretty scattershot, reading at times more like a series of substacks. There is in fact a sustained and well-argued case for nuclear power, but its interspersed with all sorts of things, such as arguments that material progress is good and that population is good (but also fungible). There is also an extremely good popular science mini-book on how nuclear power works, including an overview of the range of options. The book is more intelligent and more willing to outline the physics involved with yield curves and inflection points and so on than the usual popular science material. It was an invigorating read.
It starts off with global warming, or AGI, whatever the latest acronym is. It’s real, he says, but not a crisis yet. The terrestrial benefits have been good so far but little to no oceanic benefits. However, if atmospheric CO2 ncreases by a lot it will be a crisis.
Prosperity comes from energy, we need to be a lot richer. But this would lead to lots more carbon dioxide in the air and therefore the crisis.
Solution: lots more nuclear power.
I am not 100% sure that Zubrin believes what he’s saying about AGI. There is a hint of puckishness about this argument. It seems suspiciously tailored.
There are lots more fossil fuels than assumed, we are in no danger of running out and in fact we could ramp up consumption extensively and should – except that doing so would precipitate the CO2 crisis. Nuclear power solves this, and oh by the way it would be a lot cheaper and even more extensive even assuming no breeder reactors or thorium power or filtering fissibles from the ocean.
Then we get the popular science. He overviews many proven and operating nuke designs, including breeder reactors and most of the supposedly woo stuff like molten salt reactors. He explains how they work and their pros and cons. This part was worth the purchase alone. Incidentally, this would be a good place to mention that Zubrin got his start as a nuclear guy though he now does aerospace.
Next we get costs. Nuclear energy was extremely cheap and should have gotten cheaper. In the late 60s it cost comparable to hydropower but regulation has since increased its costs by an order of magnitude and worse introduced huge delays and uncertainties. This regulation is all deadweight. Nuclear power is super safe, nuclear waste is a nothingburger, so was 3 Mile Island, the only serious accident was Chernobyl and that’s because the Soviets were utter dumb apes. Everything there that could go wrong had to go wrong, including the basic design. This is all well argued and data driven. But not dry, Zubrin writes well. Did you know that the antinuke turn in the enviro movement was accompanied by generous funding from oil and coal companies to the movement? Iiiiiinnteresting.
I would like to see more attention addressed to the rest of the world. France, South Korea, India, a number of places are (presumably) exempt from US-side regulation and litigation. Why hasn’t nuclear power boomed more in more places other than France? Is nuclear power in France as cheap as hydropower? I believe it isn’t.
Zubrin follows his case for the massive utility and cheapness of bog standard nuclear power with an overview of nuclear power startups.
Next, fusion. Fusion would be great--Zubrin has another interesting and informative overview of the variety of different designs--but it was sabotaged by ITER and lack of funding
Nuclear power is important for space expansion and absolutely necessary for Mars colonization.
Three of the issues Zubrin addresses are ones I have looked into. Nuclear waste, energy sources on Mars, and the iron in the ocean thing he mentions below. My conclusions agree with Zubrin in those areas.
Next we get a little further afield.
We should seed the oceans with iron or just use floating nuke plants to pull up nutrient rich water from a few hundred feet down (ok, I guess that sorta gives a nuclear power connection). This occurs naturally at the Grand Banks.
Now a lot further afield.
The Holocaust was because of Malthusianism.
Pretty bats.
Colonel Robert Ingersoll, the original fedora atheist from the 1800s, is a true American hero.
Double pretty bats.
Recommended. Persuasive. There is a better world out there.