Nuclear Power is a six-volume set that explores the science, mechanisms, divergent developments, dangers, successes, disasters, and lessons learned by a complex industry that will influence society for generations. Nuclear technology today is focused on issues related to dwindling energy resources and minimizing negative environmental effects, yet it was first developed under military secrecy because of its destructive capability. The books in this set, designed to complement science curricula, detail this conflicted history, the expansion of nuclear power in the near future, and the potential need for it as humankind penetrates the greater universe. When atomic bombs were dropped on Japan in 1945, the United States not only brought an end to World War II but also introduced to the world at large a technology that had been the focus of an intensive, top-secret effort over the preceding four years. Discovered through this research was nuclear fission reaction, a controlled chain reaction during which energy is extracted from atomic nuclei. Nuclear Fission Reactors describes this process and the science behind it and explains how nuclear power to this day is harnessed to supply electricity to many parts of the world. The book also includes a discussion of the concerns of using large-scale nuclear energy in the wake of the nuclear disaster in Japan, as well as whether nuclear waste products can be stored and managed safely. The volume also includes information on components of a nuclear power plant dynamics of nuclear fission environmental risks how nuclear fission makes energy nuclear power plant security reactor cooling systems safety mechanisms and procedures types of nuclear reactors The book contains 40 color photographs and four-color line illustrations, sidebars, a chronology, a glossary, a detailed list of print and internet resources, and an index. Nuclear Power is essential for high school students, teachers, and general readers who wish to learn about the present and future impact of this branch of technology on thp global environment Book jacket.