Notes

xii, 284 p. : ill., maps Contents: Preface : nuclear-free New Zealand: myth or reality? -- Public are mad on radium! : Rutherford, New Zealand and the new physics -- Some fool in a laboratory : the atom bomb and the dawn of the atomic age -- Cold War and red-hot science : the nuclear age comes to the Pacific -- Uranium fever! : uranium prospecting on the West Coast -- There's strontium-90 in my milk : safety and public exposure to radiation -- Atoms for peace : nuclear science in New Zealand in the atomic age -- Nuclear decision : plans for nuclear power -- New national identity : becoming 'nuclear-free' -- Conclusion : nuclear-free New Zealand : can we take it for granted? Summary: The alternative history of 'nuclear New Zealand' - a country where there was much enthusiasm for nuclear science and technology, from the first users of x-rays and radium in medicine; the young New Zealand physicists seconded to work on the Manhattan Project; support for the British bomb tests in the Pacific; plans for a heavy water plant at Wairakei; prospecting for uranium on the West Coast of the South Island; plans for a nuclear power station on the Kaipara Harbour; and thousands of scientists and medical professionals working with nuclear technology. The change was dramatic: in the late 1970s, less than a decade before becoming so proudly nuclear-free, New Zealand was considering nuclear power to meet growing electricity demand in the North Island and the government was supporting a uranium prospecting programme on the West Coast of the South Island. By uncovering the long and rich history of New Zealanders' engagement with the nuclear world and the roots of our nuclear-free identity, Priestley reveals much about our culture's evolving attitudes to science and technology and the world beyond New Zealand's shores. (Publisher)