Prepublication record (machine generated from publisher information)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. The dawn of the Nuclear Age -- 2. From basic physics to awesome weapons -- 3. Australia and the British bombs -- 4. The Australian Atomic Energy Commission -- 5. Ranger, the Fox Report and uranium exports -- 6. The politics of uranium in the 1970s and 1980s -- 7. Chernobyl, Climate Change and Fukushima -- 8. Nuclear politics in twenty-first century Australia -- 9. Radioactive waste - a continuing problem -- 10. Waste and the SA Royal Commission -- 11. Nuclear politics in 2021 -- 12. Australia and nuclear weapons.

Australia has been directly involved in the nuclear industry for more than a century, but our involvement has never been comprehensively documented. Long Half-life tells the social and political history of Australia's role, from the first discovery of radioactive ores in 1906 to contemporary contentious questions. Should the next generation of submarines be nuclear powered? Can nuclear energy help to slow global climate change? Do we need nuclear weapons for defence? Should we store radioactive waste from nuclear power stations in our region? Long Half-life is a timely and riveting account of the political, social and scientific complexities of the nuclear industry, revealing the power of vested interests, the subjectivities of scientists and the transformative force of community passion -- Publishers' website.