The Pro-Nuclear Years
The first volume of the Reactor trilogy, to be published in November, covers this revolutionary energy technology's formative first decade and a half. Imbued with awe at the stupendous power of nuclear fission, and heralded as "the peaceful atom," power reactors are viewed positively by the public. Yet progress is seen by the pioneers as slow and at the end of 1957, the jury is out on whether this fifth energy source will flourish.
The Anti-Nuclear Years
Nuclear energy's second phase of three and a half decades is turbulent and I look forward to unraveling it. From one angle, success arrives, for nuclear electricity booms in the 1960s and early 1970s, reaching some 17% of generation in 1993. Yet dark clouds emerge, and an enduring antinuclear movement arises and blooms. The Three Mile Island and Chernobyl calamities signal a seemingly permanent downturn.
Nuclear Today and Tomorrow
I'm hoping to release the finale of the Reactor trilogy in 2030. My research, thinking, and writing promises to be my most enjoyable of all, for it is in this 35-year era when nuclear energy stands as the most controversial energy source at the very time the climate crisis suggests its low-emissions-profile might be needed by humanity. If I have viewed Volume I through pro-nuclear eyes, and Volume II largely through anti-nuclear eyes, how do I tackle a time when half the world heralds power reactors as salvation while the other half fears it as a devil? Come along for the ride…
A free map!
Take a look in Resources. I’ve added a cool map of power reactors at the end of VISIONS, that is, the end of 1957. More information with the map…
Cover reveal
Meet the Author
Before turning his hand to writing, Andres Kabel spent three decades in global business as an actuary and executive, a background that equips him well for researching and writing REACTOR. His grounding in science demystified nuclear fission, his early-career technical work as an actuary helped with historical fact gathering and analysis, and years of business development enabled him to get to the bottom of the complex nuclear energy industry. Three novels written over ten years taught him narrative craft. In 2006 he toured Finland’s reactors, in particular the first new nuclear build in the western developed world in thirty years. Over the next few years, he visited reactors and interviewed historical participants in the United States, and he dug deep in U.S. and U.K. archives. He toured Chernobyl.