Atomic Dreams by Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow is a stunning deep dive into the complex world of nuclear ambition, environmental legacy, and the human stories interwoven through it all. With sharp insight and lyrical precision, Tuhus-Dubrow delivers a narrative that is both intellectually rich and emotionally resonant. The audiobook is especially compelling—narrated with clarity and nuance that brings the story to life while letting the weight of the subject matter shine through. It's equal parts historical investigation, personal journey, and philosophical reflection. Whether you're familiar with the topic or approaching it fresh, this audiobook will leave you with a lot to ponder. Highly recommended for anyone interested in history, science, ethics, or simply beautifully crafted nonfiction. This is storytelling at its most urgent and eloquent.

**.5

I found the book to be a bit of a letdown, but perhaps that's my fault for having preconceived ideas about what it should say. I was hoping for a clear analysis of the pros and cons of nuclear energy, one that was sober about past missteps as well as the promise of current and future opportunities and challenges. Instead, I got a deep dive into the personalities arguing over whether a particular plant in California should be shut down or run for a few more years.

I appreciate the journalistic effort that went into the research and conducting interviews, but organizing the book around personalities rather than issues made it feel disorganized and made it harder to understand the trade-offs and evaluate the risks. Of course it's impossible to write a book about nuclear power without mentioning the high profile disasters of Fukushima or Chernobyl, but the link between mismanaged shoddy 1950's Soviet technology and modern Gen III reactors is tenuous at best. Let alone the potential of Gen IV reactors, which barely get a mention.

By focusing almost solely on the political and legal battles of the aging Diablo plant, it's hard to assess the overall state of how nuclear power stacks up against traditional fossil fuel burning coal and natural gas power plants, or renewable solar and wind farms. She does provide a few scattered statistics, but I didn't get a clear sense of important factors such as the relative security, safety, cost, environmental impact, capacity, etc. Instead of letting the facts speak for themselves, she instead questions the motives of the pro-nuclear crowd. Are they self-serving employees/investors, quirky rebellious types, right-wing fanatics, or otherwise not to be trusted?

Ultimately, despite all of the evidence she provides in favour of nuclear power, she seems unable to get beyond her initial biased impression that it's inherently scary and hence only to be used sparingly as a last resort. Which is a rather weak conclusion after previously demonstrating the myriad hazards of burning fossil fuels, the inability of renewables to meet demand any time soon, and the relative cost effectiveness of safe and clean nuclear power.

Atomic Dreams: The New Nuclear Evangelists and the Fight for the Future of Energy by Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow, serves as a great introduction to the history of Nuclear Power in the United States, its evolution in adoption and acceptance and an understanding of major players past and present. Making the case that the adoption of Nuclear Power, at least presently, is required in order to support a cleaner environment in the near future, since green technologies does not reduce the consumption of coal energy resources enough to make a significant impact.

I had the opportunity to read the book and listen to the audio side by side. The narration by Maria Marquis and Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow provides the layperson, like me, with an understanding of the current state of nuclear power, without overburdening the reader with the science behind it.

Thank you to Hachette Audio | Algonquin Books for the opportunity to listen to this ALC and read the eARC. All opinions are my own.

Rating: 4 stars
Audio Release Date: Apr 08 2025
Pub Date: Apr 08 2025

Tags:
#HachetteAudio
#AtomicDreams
# RebeccaTuhusDubrow
# MariaMarquis
#YarisBookNook
#netgalley

One of the true miseries in life is trying to convince people something is not THAT bad. In the age of "hot takes" and general hyperbole, everything must either be the worst thing that has ever happened or the best. This hatred of nuance is the bane of my existence as arguing that something isn't THAT bad means I must love it and arguing that something isn't THAT good means that I must hate it.

Such is the tale of nuclear energy on a much grander and higher stakes scale. Unfortunately, while I can empathize with this plight, I wonder if this book isn't massively hurt by its title. For what the author is trying to communicate, I understand why it was helpful for her to focus on a specific case study: the Diablo Canyon Power Plant, but given the title of the book, I was wanting a more comprehensive and wide-ranging overview of the subject. We get that in some limited fashion, but those forays into bigger picture subjects merely made my desire for greater scope all the more insistent. Atomic Dreams: Confronting Our Nuclear Legacy in the Diablo Canyon or some other such title might have primed me as the reader for what was to come and I might have felt more satisfied by the narrative.

Unfortunately, there were several other such stylistic things that just did NOT work for me over the course of the book. The narrative choice of detailing her investigation into the issue is one that we've seen in many other such nonfiction works, and to her credit, the book is not about the author at all, but these insights rarely serve to further my appreciation for the subject matter whereas in Lost City of Z they serve to contrast the difficulties of the original explorers with the banality of visiting the Amazon today or in Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs such a style serves to show the relevancy of work being done today that furthers our knowledge of ancient prehistory.

Despite a general sense that the approaches taken to this subject were to put too fine a point on it and only in my personal opinion - wrong - I have enormous respect for what Tuhus-Dubrow sets out to do. The thesis here isn't necessarily that nuclear is good or bad, but taking that loathsome (but warranted) middle ground in which the anti community will label you a sycophant and the pro community will label you a heretic; that the answer is complicated with pros and cons on either side. Far from hedging in indecision, Tuhus-Dubrow shows plainly that whatever part nuclear energy will play in humanity's future will largely depend on what our shifting priorities are as a society (and perhaps what the most monied individuals decide).

If you take all that into consideration, despite the relatively low star review, I can generally recommend this book to those with an interest in the subject. Having read my review, you will have a better understanding of what to expect than I did, and will therefore likely have a more favorable perspective on it.

Thank you to NetGalley, Hachette Audio and Algonquin Books for the advanced reading copy. This book is set to be published April 8, 2025 at time of writing.