Commercial Nuclear Power contains the results of worldwide scientific studies, industrial site visits, and factual perspectives on the application of industrial safety techniques and the maturity of scientific advances. Featuring several case histories and numerous international examples, it offers significant insights into regulatory, design, and operating practices in the industry and will help facilitate better societal perceptions about the need for nuclear facilities and the associated risks for humans and the environment.

This edition builds on earlier traditions in providing broad subject-area coverage, application of theory to practical aspects of commercial nuclear power, and use of instructional objectives. Like the first edition, it focuses on what distinguishes nuclear engineering from the other engineering disciplines. However, this edition includes reorganization and overall update of descriptions of reactor designs and fuel-cycle steps, and more emphasis on reactor safety, especially related to technical and management lessons learned from the TMI-2 and Chernobyl - 4 accidents.

Path-breaking research into the Atomic Energy Commission's internal memorandum files supports this text's explanation of how and why America came to depend so heavily on its experts after World War II and why their authority and political clout declined in the 1970s.