Links to Nuclear Energy Resources

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The Quick Read Nuclear Energy Guide, 21 Easy-to-Understand Q & A’s**: A 50-minute read, produced by The Atomic Garage Movement as a non-fiction companion guide to the fictional story, Chain Reaction. Start here if you’re somewhat aware of nuclear energy -- for example, that it provides about 20 percent of US electrical energy representing more than 50 percent of our CO2 free energy -- but may have a fear of it.

What is nuclear energy: This is a great plain language guide. Anyone can understand nuclear energy. If you feel you’re clueless about the subject, you’ll be up to date after a little time on this site. Do not be intimidated. Jump right in.

Scientist for Accurate Radiation Information: to monitor for and counter nuclear/radiological misinformation that could adversely impact the world’s ability to effectively respond to nuclear and radiological challenges, to the end point of saving lives.

Top 10 Myths About Nuclear Energy: Radiation, explosions, environmental destruction, nuclear waste build-up, widely disliked, the coming American Chernobyl, transporting waste, deadly radiation for 10,000 years, and we’ll still need to depend on foreign oil. All these common beliefs are myths. Marie Curie said, "Nothing in life is to be feared; it is only to be understood."

Nuclear Energy Frequently Asked Questions: Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS) is a national non-profit organization devoted to a nuclear-free, carbon-free world.

Nuclear Energy Explained: The basics from the Energy Information Administration.

40 Curious Nuclear Energy Facts: Quick, Essential and Interesting facts.

5 Common Myths About Transporting Spent Nuclear Fuel: Despite being safely transported in the United States for more than half a century, many still believe spent nuclear fuel (SNF) is too dangerous to transport. But it’s a well-coordinated process with a great track record— here are the facts to prove it.

Outline History of Nuclear Energy: by the World Nuclear Association.

The Periodic Table: Main purpose of this project is to help the public learn some interesting and important information about chemical elements, ionizing radiation, thermal engineering, reactor physics and nuclear energy.

The Third Way’s Advanced Nuclear Map**: Locations and status of reactors under development across the world.

Nuclear Plant Owners and Operators: Current operating nuclear plants in the United States. There are half a million people employed and contributes $60 billion to the US gross domestic product.

Nuclear Power by Country Visual Capitalist: Pie chart of global nuclear power production.

Argonne National Laboratory Fast Reactor Program: To help develop and reduce capital costs of advanced reactor development.

Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program ARDP: US Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy.

Fastest Path to Zero Initiative**: An interdisciplinary team of experts, including University of Michigan faculty, staff, and students, working to support communities as they plan and pursue ambitious climate goals. This group along with U of M’s College of Engineering, Nuclear Engineering & Radiological Sciences program influenced the role University of Michigan played in the fictional story, Chain Reaction.

Office of Nuclear Energy: Part of the Department of Energy (DOE)

Idaho National Laboratories virtual tours**: As one of 17 national labs in the U.S. Department of Energy complex, Idaho National Laboratory is home to more than 5,700 researchers and support staff focused on innovations in nuclear research, renewable energy systems and security solutions that are changing the world.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory**: Oak Ridge National Laboratory delivers scientific discoveries and technical breakthroughs needed to realize solutions in energy and national security and provide economic benefit to the nation.

Versatile Test Reactor: The US Department of Energy’s plans to build a test reactor needed by industry and the country for the US to be competitive in supplying the world with nuclear power.

 Pacific Northwest National Laboratory: This lab is engaged in fundamental research. Some of their work includes unlocking the mysteries of the Earth’s climate, how to modernize the US power grid, and safeguarding ports around the world from nuclear smuggling. Their purpose is to create a world that is safer, cleaner, more prosperous, and more secure. 

Advanced Small Modular Reactors (SMRs): A quick explanation from the Office of Nuclear Energy.

Copenhagen Atomics, Powered by Stardust**: We started Copenhagen Atomics with the belief that humanity’s main limitation is how much energy we can access. Their research equipment, the Molten Salt Loop played a key role in the story, Chain Reaction.

Oklo**: is developing next-generation fission reactors to produce abundant, affordable, clean energy at a global scale - starting with the Aurora.

Dual Fluid**: We believe that development and prosperity are possible everywhere – when we provide reliable energy that leaves a planet worth living on. Advised on the fictional storyline for Chain Reaction.

Terrestrial Energy: A game-changing fission technology: powerful, affordable, carbon-free energy.

Thor Energy: Develops nuclear energy technology based on thorium. Compatible with 90 percent of all existing reactors.

Filbe Energy: . . . generated the way it should be. . . reliable. . .affordable, and scalable. . .

X Energy: We develop Generation IV high-temp gas cooled nuclear reactors & the TRISO-X fuel to power them.

ThorCon Power: Powering up our world with cheap, reliable, CO2-free electric power, now.

NuScale**: Power for a healthier world. . .small modular reactor technology. . .bringing clean, affordable nuclear power to all humankind.

Radiant: Kaleidos, a portable nuclear microreactor that replaces diesel generators.

Moltex Clean Energy: transforming the energy supply with inherently safe nuclear reactors that deliver clean energy at a lower cost than coal or gas.

TerraPower, A Nuclear Innovation Company: Natrium Reactor and Integrated Storage. Providing flexible clean energy at a competitive cost.

Holtec SMR: Safe, secure, reliable, flexible, and economical clean energy to support the world’s energy needs.

Nuclear Industry Council: Global leader in advancing nuclear development.

Build Nuclear Now: a collaboration between The Breakthrough Institute & Third Way. The latest news on advanced nuclear reactors.

Nuclear Energy Institute: promote the benefits of nuclear power, advocate for smart policies and educate lawmakers on industry issues.

Gen IV International Forum (GIF): was created as a co-operative international endeavor seeking to develop the research necessary to test the feasibility and performance of fourth generation nuclear systems, and to make them available for industrial deployment by 2030.

UCAN Power: focused solely on the advancement of small and micro nuclear reactors and their applications across the spectrum of needs.

The Thorium Network**: Working on using Blockchain, Distributed Ledger technology to track nuclear fuel shipments and locations. This group is helping to advance the technologies that are working to use abundant thorium as nuclear fuel. They refer to “fission” not nuclear, and “burners” instead of reactors. They were helpful in advising on the fictional story, Chain Reaction.

Lightbridge**: An advanced nuclear fuel technology company that enhances economics, proliferation resistance, and safety. Lightbridge fuel is now under development. Fuel is the Secret to Nuclear Energy™.

Nucleation Capital: Investors participate at an early stage in ventures enabling our transition to a carbon managed future. You need not be an accredited investor to participate. Read all risks disclosures carefully and get the opinion of a financial advisor before making a commitment. There is a high level of financial risks when investing in advanced technology.

Nuclear Alternative Project: Studying the feasibility of advanced nuclear reactors as an alternative in Puerto Rico’s energy portfolio.

Best 25 Nuclear Engineering Schools (USA): If you want to be at the forefront of this fascinating and complex industry, you’re going to need a lot of training in some highly specialized areas of engineering science, and not just any old school will do. . .That’s where we come in. We’ve compiled a list of the top 25 nuclear engineering schools with your needs in mind.

World Nuclear Association: promotes a wider understanding of nuclear energy among key international influencers by producing authoritative information. Their newsletter, World Nuclear News is a great way to stay up with what’s going on in the industry.

Got Nuclear: We're a passionate, quirky group of environmentalists. While our interests range from climate solutions to human rights, we're united by our recognition that nuclear power is vital to achieving a better future for ourselves and our children.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)**: The IAEA was created in 1957 in response to the deep fears and expectations generated by the discoveries and diverse uses of nuclear technology. The Agency’s genesis was U.S. President Eisenhower’s “Atoms for Peace” address to the General Assembly of the United Nations on 8 December 1953. The IAEA is the international watch dog and standard for worldwide nuclear safety.

International Energy Association (IEA)/ Nuclear Energy: Nuclear power has historically been one of the largest global contributors of carbon-free electricity and while it faces significant challenges in some countries, it has significant potential to contribute to power sector decarbonisation.

The New Nuclear Watch Institute: is an industry supported think-tank, focused on the international development of nuclear energy as a means for governments to safeguard their country’s long-term sustainable energy needs.

Nuclear Energy: Clean Energy Future: Research the Impacts on Social Equity and Economic Empowerment (RISE3) initiative provides expert resources and creates a blueprint for countries transitioning to a clean and just energy economy with nuclear innovation as a key pillar.

American Nuclear Society (ANS): premier organization for those that embrace the nuclear sciences and technologies for their vital contributions to improving people’s lives and preserving the planet.

Nuclear Innovation Alliance (NIA): The NIA’s mission is to bring economically competitive zero-carbon energy to the world by supporting entrepreneurialism and accelerated innovation and commercialization of advanced nuclear energy systems. Through policy analysis, research, and education, we are catalyzing the next era of nuclear power.

Nuclear energy is the bipartisan issue of our times. -- Alan Medsker

Pronuclear Advocacy - Group A (climate change is the highest priority)

Some groups prioritize decarbonization as their primary motivation because they believe climate change is an immediate threat to the planet. Some may see nuclear as more desirable than wind and solar because the density of nuclear fuel means less of the Earth’s surface area is required to produce power through the entire fuel cycle. That is why some of these groups are critical of wind and solar as a primary solution to climate change. Others may see wind and solar as part of the solution to climate change and take more of an “all of the above,” approach to solving climate change. Here is a sampling of some of these groups:

Generation Atomic**: This group is the “heart” of the nuclear movement. Their mission is to energize and empower today’s generations to advocate for a nuclear future. This group’s letter to the Sierra Club was the spark of an idea that led to the fictional story, Chain Reaction.

Mothers For Nuclear**: Share stories and engages in a dialogue with others who want to protect nature for future generations. The Co-Founders, Kristin Zaitz is a civilian engineer, and a nuclear professional. Heather Hoff is a nuclear reactor operator. Both Co-Founders work at the Daiblo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant. Kristin and Heather had a strong influence on the development of the fictional protagonist, Amy Austin in the story, Chain Reaction.

Rethinking Nuclear: “We need nuclear power to avoid catastrophic climate change.”

Doctors for Nuclear Energy: We are an international, volunteer group of doctors that see nuclear energy as an irreplaceable part of the just transition to a low-carbon future.

About Nuclear: a passionate, quirky group of environmentalists. While our interests range from climate solutions to human rights, we're united by our recognition that nuclear power is vital to achieving a better future for ourselves and our children.

Nuclear Matters: a national coalition of grassroots advocates, working to inform the public and policymakers about the clear benefits of nuclear energy.

Americans for Nuclear Energy: Nuclear energy is safe, cheap, plentiful, clean, and efficient. It has the capability to stop and reverse climate change, while addressing the ever-growing demand for electricity globally. We strive to educate American citizens about this technology, and to dispel misconceptions with facts. We firmly believe that both human civilization and industrialism can easily coexist with a healthy environment.

Canadians for Nuclear Energy: We are a grassroots non-profit organization composed of Canadian scientists, doctors, engineers, energy workers, policy experts, and citizens who believe that nuclear energy must be part of Canada's path forward on climate change.

Third Way (climate & energy section): Our team designs and advocates for policies that will drive innovation and deployment of clean energy technologies, and deliver the emissions cuts we need to win the fight against climate change.

Climate Coalition**: be part of a movement that will show decision makers that people everywhere are ready to see urgent action to tackle the climate, nature and cost of living crises. This group’s efforts via their 

Protect Nuclear Now campaigns to save older nuclear plants had a significant influence on how the fictional, Rocky Point Nuclear Power Station, aka, The Rock, was portrayed in the story, Chain Reaction.

Nuclear Friends Foundation (NFF): separates the facts from all the noise you hear about nuclear energy. NFF is focused on answering queries that you may have about this eco-friendly mode of power generation, busting myth surrounding it. Nuclear Friends Foundation takes up the role of playing the catalyst between you and everything about nuclear energy.

Emergency Reactor: a group of ordinary citizens from different backgrounds including environmentalists, scientists, parents, artists and teachers, who care about the future of our planet and are concerned about climate change.

Californians for Green Nuclear Power: promotes the peaceful use of safe, carbon-free nuclear power, and to keeping Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant open, so it can continue in its important role of generating clean energy for the benefit of California’s economy. . . Low cost, carbon-free energy for American business and citizens.

Good Energy Collective: Rethinking nuclear policy from the ground up. A politically powerful, progressive group that sees nuclear energy as the primary way to address climate change.

Nuclear for Climate: Nuclear is the fastest path to a Net Zero future for all.

Pronuclear Advocacy - Group B (climate change is not the highest priority)

Other pronuclear groups prioritize energy equity (plentiful energy for all people). Or they emphasize the economic benefits of a nuclear-powered world. This group believes the eradication of poverty and achieving human potential are more important than concerns about climate change. They will often advocate for a market driven transition from fossil fuels to nuclear energy. N2N means natural gas to nuclear, which is their preferred policy position. Most are adamantly opposed to wind and solar as a solution to energy poverty and do not believe climate change is an immediate threat. Some groups focus criticism on wind and solar because they believe government subsidies for those technologies penalize nuclear energy development. Here is an example of some of these groups:

Environmental Progress: achieving nature, peace and prosperity for all. We believe everyone has a right to affordable energy, a healthy planet, and urban environments that enable citizens to thrive.

Breakthrough Institute**: Make clean energy cheap. Access to affordable and reliable energy is essential for human development, but energy production takes a heavy toll on the environment. With demand for energy expected to grow for decades to come as developing nations emerge from poverty, substantial innovation into clean energy technologies will be necessary to achieve our ambitious goals for greenhouse gas emissions reductions.

Green Nuclear Deal: articulates a new vision for nuclear growth as a way to regain American industrial capabilities and create dignified jobs in clean energy and manufacturing.

Cfact (Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow): to enhance the fruitfulness of the earth and all its inhabitants by prospering lives, promoting progress, protecting the Earth, and providing education. They believe nuclear energy can play a primary role in that vision. They believe in a balanced perspective on environmental stewardship rather than an overreaction to apocalyptic global warming alarmism. Their resource, Climate Depot is headed by Marc Morano who is considered the world’s top climate change skeptic. Climate Depot’s documentaries, 

Climate Hustle I, and Climate Hustle II were widely viewed.

The Heartland Institute; Environment & Energy. A big supporter of nuclear energy. One of the world’s leading free market “action tank” as well as a “think tank.” They believe climate change is being overhyped and challenge the notion it should be prioritized in formulating US energy policy. They’re adamantly against the notion that wind and solar are reliable sources of energy. This is a position that challenges the mainstream media’s top narratives on climate change. As a result, The Heartland has come under significant criticism by well-known organizations and publications that are alarmed about climate change. Read their Reply to Critics as part of a critical thinking approach to sorting out facts.

American Conservative Coalition: economic and environmental success go hand-in-hand, and that everyone should feel empowered to take a seat at the table in discussions concerning conservation, clean energy, sportsmen’s rights, agriculture, climate, and much more.  

Thorium Energy Alliance: Educating the world on the uses and advantages of Thorium as a Fuel for nuclear power and as a critical material derived from the rare earth metals refining process for free.

Stop These Things: Independent grassroots organization, originating in Australia, and formed because “of the harm being done by the wind industry, in partnership with governments.” They see wind and solar energy as being environmentally damaging and the cause of rising electricity prices. They advocate for N2N, and for nuclear energy over wind and solar.

Renewable Rejection Database: A record of the number of wind and solar farms that are facing rejection by mostly rural communities in the US. Comes with detailed notes, usually reported by county. This information rarely appears in mainstream media. The data is kept by Robert Bryce, of the Power Hungry podcast. Bryce is an influencer for nuclear energy.

About Today’s Anti-Nuclear Advocacy Groups

See why some of the major antinuclear non-profit organizations accept money from the fossil fuel industry. See why some of these groups accept money from the fossil fuel industry. 

The China Syndrome (1979): Just 12 days after The China Syndrome hit the theaters, on March 28, 1979, the Number 2 Reactor at the Three Mile Island Power Plant in Pennsylvania partially melted down. The situation was eerily like the movie scene. After the Three Mile Island accident, the public’s perception of nuclear energy turned deeply negative. From 1979 to 1988, 67 nuclear power plants in the planning stages in the United States were canceled. 

The Simpsons: The show revolves around Homer Simpson, an employee at the local Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, with a clear antinuclear message.

Chernobyl HBO Miniseries (2019): The worst accident in nuclear energy history is dramatized in this production. Many inaccuracies in the documentary continued to contribute to the public’s perception that nuclear energy is high risk. See questions about the series’ accuracy here. 

Note: The Terrestrial Ecology Society, TES, a fictional organization in the story, Chain Reaction was modeled after environmental, anti-nuclear advocates being funded by fossil-fuel companies. The fictional company Chelsea Resources is a fossil fuel company that funded these kinds of groups until. . .

This is just a sampling of people who have influenced us during this project. Thank you to ALL the men and women everywhere, past and present, who have advocated for the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

Michael Shellenberger Environmental Progress, Why I changed my mind about nuclear power.

Mark Nelson (considered one of the most influential voices in the pronuclear movement), Radiant Energy Group, Is Nuclear the Answer?

Thomas Jam Pedersen, Co-founder Copenhagen Atomics, TedX Talk, Making Safe Nuclear Power from Thorium.

Kathryn Duff: Assistant Secretary of the US Department of Energy, Office of Nuclear Energy. One of our best nonpartisan advocates for nuclear energy. Dr. Huff has been instrumental in making nuclear a high strategic priority for the United States.

Gordon McDowell**, Gordon McDowell.com, a video and documentary expert with an interest in advocating for Thorium as the worlds next nuclear fuel. Advised on how to make a nuclear reactor for the fictional story, Chain Reaction.

Kirk Sorensen, Founder Flibe Energy, Thorium, an alternative nuclear fuel. One of the key people that discovered the lost documents (in the children’s museum) from the work conducted at Oak Ridge Labs in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s, by Alvin Weinberg and his team, on small, safe nuclear reactors. One of the best spokespersons for Advanced Nuclear Reactors in the world.

Eric Myer, Founder, Generation Atomic. Energy, Opera Singing, & Our Nuclear Future.

Ben Herd (Australia), author, Small Modular Reactors in Australian Context for the Minerals Council of Australia. FANTASTIC VIDEO, Australian Nuclear Responsibilities.

Marc Morano, the World’s #1 Climate Contrarian on PBD Podcast.

Meredith Angwin, author, Shorting the Grid. Interview on the Energy News Beat.

Robert Hargraves, author Thorium Cheaper Than Coal, Co-Founder, ThorCon International, Presentation, Aim High.

Richard Rhodes: Author of the classic, Making of the Atomic Bomb (1987). And more recently, Energy: A Human History (2018). A commonsense voice in favor of nuclear energy. Listen in on Tommy’s Podcast TPC#679 on Spotify.

Stewart Brand: Founder of the Whole Earth Catalog, CO-Chair at the Long Now Foundation, an environmentalist that came to embrace nuclear energy. One of the most interesting and inspirational characters in the environmental community.

James Hansen: World renowned climatologist and has been called the “father of climate change.” Testified to the dangers of climate change before the US Congress in 1988. Largely responsible for getting many prominent environmentalists to take a second look at nuclear energy. Sit in on his 2021 presentation, Global Climate Change: Implications of National and Global Energy Policy.

Mark Mills, The Last Optimist Podcast

Isabella Boemeke**, Nuclear Power Is Our Best Hope to Ditch Fossil Fuels. A Brazilian model creates a persona, Isodope, to advocate for nuclear energy as a solution to climate change and energy inequality. Meet her in episode 312 of the podcast Titans of Nuclear. A Brazilian model takes up the nuclear energy cause. “Nuclear Energy is Cool.” Isabella inspired the development of the fictional Character, Shanta in the story, Chain Reaction.

Mathijs Beckers: A nuclear humanist. Author, Climate Zero Hour. Meet him on Episode 53 of Titans of Nuclear podcast.

Rod Adams Atomic Insights a long running blog, Managing Partner Nucleation Capital.

Robert Bryce, Power Hungry Podcast

Bret Kugelmass, Titans of Nuclear Podcast

Emmet Penney, Nuclear Barbarians Podcast

Ryan Pickering, Protect Nuclear Now, Apple Podcast & The Real History of Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant

Chris Keefer, Decouple Podcast about energy and climate.

Valerie Gardner, Climate Coalition - Protect Nuclear Now, Managing Partner, Nucleation Capital.

Gary Kahanak, Climate Coalition - Protect Nuclear Now.

Pandora’s Promise, A Sundance Film Festival Favorite, can one technology we fear most save our planet from climate change?

Juice How Electricity Explains The World**: Poverty, women’s rights, climate change — indeed, many of the world’s most pressing challenges — can be explained by answering one question: Can you turn your lights on in the morning? This issue became central to the motivation of the protagonist in Chain Reaction.

Grid Down Power up, The actor, Denis Quaid is the host in this review of how fragile our national electrical grid is.

Thorium, a (6.5 hours). Divide it into six episodes. Easy-to-understand and engrossing. Produced by Gordon McDowell

Nuclear Now Official Trailor by Director, Roger Stone. Now at theaters. “We’ve run out of time to be afraid.”

Atom Exit: The Energiewende in Germany has so far led to few real reductions in emissions. In fact, they messed up in Germany. The construction of windmills and solar parks, for many billions of Euros, has been used as an excuse to get rid of nuclear energy.

Spark, Nuclear 2.0, Even as the need for it becomes more urgent, can nuclear power outrun the legacy of the deadly Chernobyl and Fukushima disasters?

Planet of the Human’s, by Director Michael Moore, a documentary that dares to say what no one else will — that we are losing the battle to stop climate change on planet earth because we are following leaders who have taken us down the wrong road — selling out the green movement to wealthy interests and corporate America. Note, Michael Moore still advocates against nuclear energy.

Oppenheimer, a film by Christopher Nolan and an All-Star Cast (summer 2023), about the Manhattan Project and the making of the first Atomic Bomb. See the Oppenheimer Project: Founded by Charles Oppenheimer, grandson of J. Robert Oppenheimer. The official family organization designed to promote the legacy of his grandfather.

India

Sulabh International Social Services Organisation: In its 50 years of public service, Sulabh International has worked to achieve equitable sanitation and hygiene for all. It has been in the forefront of Government of India’s flagship Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Campaign) with a focus on ending open defecation. It has built over 1.5 million household toilets and has been awarded the Gandhi Peace Prize for 2016. In the fictional story, this group plays a critical role in nurturing, then adopting advanced, mini nuclear reactor technology.

The Madras Atomic Power Station: It is also India's first fully indigenously constructed nuclear power station, with two units each generating 220 MW of electricity. The first and second units of the station went critical in 1983 and 1985, respectively. One of our amazing fictional protagonists works here.

Shiv Nadar University: At the Shiv Nadar University Chennai, we believe in the simple virtues of hard work and an open, curious mind. In the fictional story this campus setting serves as the backdrop for the final scene.

Department of Atomic Energy (India): Has been engaged in the development of nuclear power technology, applications of radiation technologies in the fields of agriculture, medicine, industry and basic research. Let’s just say they get a bit entangled in the fictional plot.

Research and Analysis Wing (RAW): India’s intelligence agency in charge of foreign intelligence and counterterrorism. They were one of the good guys.

Israel

Mossad: Israel’s intelligence agency. “Over the years and until the present, the Mossad has also developed and sustained intelligence relations with intelligence services of other countries, as is accepted in the intelligence world. The Mossad is also involved in establishing covert relations with countries that avoid overt contact with Israel.” Well, how might that work in a fictional story. . .? Our fictional protagonists, Ariel Raquel, Professor Levi Katz, and the renowned physicist, Dr. Adele Weiss, now in her mid-80s, are part of the Mossad family.

Sayeret 13: “Shayetet 13 specializes in sea-to-land incursions, counterterrorism, sabotage, maritime intelligence gathering, maritime hostage rescue, and boarding.” These guys came in useful. 

New Zealand

Emrod**: Although not a nuclear reactor producer, their technology works by converting electricity into electromagnetic energy, typically in microwave frequency, and directing it from a transmitter in a highly collimated (focused) beam to a receiver where it is rectified back into usable electricity. . . A useful way to think about this would be a “virtual line” where energy moves from point to point through a narrow tightly controlled path. Emrod is incorporated into the fictional story, Chain Reaction, where their technology is used. 

China

China’s Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics (SINAP)**. The main research fields of SINAP include advanced energy science and technology, represented by thorium molten salt reactor system, efficient energy storage and conversion, as well as the application of nuclear technology in the environmental, health and materials fields. 

United States of America

Mini Water Tower: A project of The Groundwater Consortium. “Many designs were discussed before opting for a four-legged, double ellipsoidal tank… or as close to that as we could manage.” And guess what else? It’s the perfect shape and size for our fictional highly advanced mini nuclear reactor encasement vessel.

Stevens Institute of Technology: Located in Hoboken, New Jersey, our fictional antagonist, the Academy Award Winning Actor, Josh Manning changes his thinking on a visit to this campus when giving a speech on the environment.

University of Michigan’s school of Engineering & Radiological Sciences: Our young, fictional protagonist, Amy Austin is a student of this organization. Her father, Frank Austin is an Alumni of the school, and gives a speech there which is in the story, Chain Reaction. NERS research impacts space exploration, radiation for medical treatment, and more. A tight-knit community of researchers, students, and support staff aiming to advance the benefits of nuclear, radiological, and plasma technology to improve society in the twenty-first century.

FBI: Although not in high esteem at the time of publication, we’re reminded that there are good people at the FBI, as fictional agent Dexter Tinley unravels a mystery as he pursues a band of lethal eco-terrorist.

The Metcalf Transmission Substation: A fictional adaptation of the April 13, 2013, real terrorist attack on this substation, in Southern California, as it becomes part of the plot in the fictional story, Chain Reaction.

 The following books were selected because they were part of the research conducted for our novel, Chain Reaction, A Story About Power in the Age of Climate Change. We’ll tell you what the book is about and how it influenced our story. There are many books about the history of energy, fuels that power civilization, environmental concerns, science in general, and climate change. This list is not exhaustive, but it’s out list. See why we think these books are important.

Gwyneth Cravens, Power to Save the World, The Truth About Nuclear Energy (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2007 / Vintage Reprint 2010)

What it’s about: A timeless book about nuclear energy. It follows the author’s first-person account of her journey from one that is skeptical of nuclear energy to being an advocate. She’s joined by D. Richard Anderson, PhD, who goes by the name Rip, a nuclear physicist. The author and her knowledgeable guide follow the uranium nuclear fuel cycle of mining. . .enrichment. . .power generation. . . and waste management. All along the way her skeptical, and investigative perspective is through the eyes of the reader. The author would ask Rip a question and the reader will be thinking, “Yea, what about that?” And Rip is an eminently qualified scientist who patiently addresses all her questions in one of the best non fiction show-and-tell stories in existence. 

How it influenced the story: This story, although non-fiction has a clear arc as the protagonist, the author, Gweneth Cravens, goes from uninformed about nuclear energy to highly informed. She is on a journey that is both physical and intellectual. Her mentor, Rip, guides her along the way. It’s classic solid storytelling and inspired the structure for Chain Reaction.

Michael Shellenberger, Apocalypse Never: Why Environmental Alarmism Hurts Us All (New York: Harper Collins, 2020)

What it’s about: This book may prove to be the most influential and popular book on climate change and nuclear energy for a generation. Shellenberger, a highly respected environmentalist, with a  once antinuclear bias, did a reevaluation about what the greatest threats are to the environment. He came out of that exercise in critical thinking with a new set of priorities. One of the big take-aways is the importance of saving more of the Earth's surface area for the natural environment. We accomplish that by moving emerging economies through a progression of using ever denser fuels, and populations moving to dense city living, and moving from fishing in the oceans to developing fish farms. His observations are often surprising and counter intuitive. His data is convincing. And his prescriptions appeal to common sense. See more information on Shellenberger’s Environmental Progress website. 

How it influenced the story: Shellenberger is brave in pushing back against dogma and group think. When you read about the confrontational public forums in Chain Reaction, and witness the characters engaging in intellectual warfare, Michael Shellenberger’s influence is clearly present. 

Robert Bryce, A Question of Power, Electricity and the Wealth of Nations (PublicAffairs, March 2020)

What it’s about: A clear eyed view of electricity’s role in our life, past, present and future. Bryce is also  the author of several other highly recommended books on the same or related subjects. This version is up-to-date and does a good job of summarizing his breath of work. Bryce immediately educates readers on the importance of fuels that supply baseline power binge dense. From this kernel everything else seems to come together in a logical and somewhat predictable pattern. Thus, A Question of Power is pronuclear, and makes a most compelling case for nuclear energy. Many of the statistics about how much electricity people in different parts of the world use come from Bryce’s work. And you’ll understand why dispersed energy sources like wind and solar are not going to be the solution to providing the world with abundant, clean energy. You’ll never take the conveniences of modern living for granted again after reading this engaging and highly interesting book.

How it influenced the story: When Bob James makes a public statement in front of the NRC Panel speaking in favor of extending The Rock’s operating license, he uses a lot of points Bryce would probably make in the same situation. Also there is a section of Chain Reaction that gives you the feel of what your world might feel like without electricity. We wanted to make that a strong part of the atory after reading several of Bryce’s books.

Meredith Angwin, Shorting The Grid, The Hidden Fragility of our Electric Grid  (Carnot Communications, October 2020)

What’s it about: This is a shocking review of how fragile and complex our national grid has become. Incentives devised by regulators and government officials have turned common sense on its head. Angwin takes the reader into the inner world of grid operation. Think of her as your tour guide in a house of mirrors. This should be a must read for anyone in government, energy, or technology. The mess that is our national grid is beyond imagination. But one gets the feeling if Angwin was in charge or the many people in the industry that support her conclusions, the solutions are there.

How it influenced the story: Not only did we exploit the fragility of the United States grid in Chain Reaction by nearly seeing it destroyed. We came up with the idea of using a next generation solution to start to replace our grid with something better.

Vaclav Smil, Energy and Civilization, A History (The MIT Press, May 2017)

What it’s about: Smil says, “Humans are the only species that can systematically harness energies outside their bodies, using the power of their intellect and an enormous variety of artifacts.” It is an excellent history of humanity's evolving skills at harnessing energy to make advancements, that on reflection seem incredible. A fantastic read.

How it influenced the story: The 50- to 100-year cycle of moving to evermore denser fuels puts nuclear energy (fission) now in its seventh decade, on what must be a path to replacing fossil fuels. We use that timetable and this point in history to build the story arc in Chain Reaction.

Linda Lear, Rachel Carson, Witness for Nature, Mariner Books; Reprinted edition (April 1, 2009)

To understand your instinctive love of nature and wildlife, and how environmentalism became a mainstay of the American experience even though it went through various permutations - one must start with Rachel Carson. This excerpt from an Amazon review does a good job of summarizing this book, “Lear portrays Carson (1907-1964) with affection and discernment as a remarkable woman who overcame prejudice against female scientists and aroused post-World War II America to the beauties of nature and the technological threats against it in a series of deservedly popular books.” It is a wonderful biography and a story that needs to be told. Carson died of cancer shortly after publishing Silent Spring in 1962. She is often mischaracterized, misquoted, and completely misrepresented in current debates about the environment. Years before the publication of Silent Spring, where Carson legitimately called out the premature and “overuse” of DDT (the first modern synthetic insecticide), she had written and illustrated a collection of breathtakingly beautiful books about our natural world. They are each timeless, and highly recommended. For example, Under the Sea Wind (1941), The Sea Around Us (1950), The Edge of the Sea (1955), and The Sense of Wonder (1950). Carson can also be credited with planting the seeds for the antinuclear movement that started in the 1960s and grew from that point. Set aside any preconceived notions, immerse yourself in her time and place, and you’ll discover many of her arguments had merit and should have been addressed years ago. Had the nuclear energy community embraced her warnings, and addressed and discussed the issues she was concerned about, we may have gone down a much more productive path. 

How it influenced the story: Rachel Carson is the model for Josh Manning’s grandmother, Lizzy, an environmentalist who Founded the Terrestrial Ecology Society (TES) in 1958. Manning’s life is driven by his grandmother’s respect and advocacy for the natural world. His perspective is used in the debate against Amy Austin, and his changing perspectives through the arc of the story always come back to the lessons he learned from his grandmother. If you want to gain a deeper understanding of Josh Manning, you have to read Rachel Carson’s books. Rachel Carson’s writings remain a natural treasure and had a significant influence on the future ecological vision for the Earth via the perspectives of Josh Manning and Amy Austin.

Colin Tucker, How to Drive A Nuclear Reactor (Switzerland, Springer Praxis Books, 2019)

What it’s about: This is a great, well-illustrated instructional on the workings of pressurized water reactors, the big nuclear reactors in service today. At times it gets a little too technical for a non-scientist, but most of the book is easy-to-understand and offers an inside look of the day-to-day operation of a large nuclear power station.

How it influenced the story: The North Rocky Point Nuclear Power Station, The Rock for short, used in Chain Reaction was inspired by this book.

Robert Hargraves, THORIUM, Energy Cheaper Than Coal (Hanover, NH: Robert Hargraves, 2021)

What it’s about: One of the best sources of information on the workings of a Molten Salt Reactor, MSR, its physics, mechanical system, and the history of its development. The book is extremely well illustrated which helps any non-scientist be able to grasp the concepts. There is also fascinating information about the element Thorium, and how it will eventually be the fuel source for MSRs, and should be the primary fuel to power the World. Graves, a mathematician with a PhD in physics is a good teacher. The footnotes are extensive and useful to anyone wanting to learn more about the lost history of Molten Salt Thorium Reactors and where that technology is being produced again today. It should be mandatory reading in all basic science courses.

How it influenced the story: This book helped make the leap from real physics to the fiction reactor in Chain Reaction more of a hop. A Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactor (LFTR) is the correct technical name for the fictional Walking Leaf reactor. The basic design of Walking Leaf, the fictional reactor in the story, came from explanations and drawings found in Graves’ book. 

Richard Martin, Super Fuel: Thorium, The Green Energy Source For The Future (New York, Palgrave McMillam, 2012)

What it’s about: Martin, a journalist and a science writer, who wrote for Wired magazine and the MIT Technology Review makes a great case for the title of his book. It’s enjoyable, informative, and extremely well written. It may be the best review of nuclear history for the non-scientist that I have ever read. A section of the book is a short professional biography about Kirk Sorenson, widely considered the current thought leader for the development of molten salt reactors, specifically Liquid Fluoride Thorium Reactors (LFTRs). Sorenson is the founder of FILBE Energy, one of our influencers. Martin is of the school of thought that the planet is quickly approaching a point-of-no-return in terms of warming.

How it influenced the story: The characters in the Atomic Garage agree with Martin, Thorium is going to be the green energy source of the future.

Richard Hewlett, Atoms for Peace and War, 1953 -1961: Eisenhower and the Atomic Energy Commission (Berkeley, University of California Press, 1989)

What it’s about: This book is a tome. It’s an in-depth report using a vast amount of formerly classified documents. It immerses the reader in the details of US nuclear policy, espionage, high intrigue, and technical challenges at the dawn of the nuclear age. It documents the numerous attempts to develop nuclear power into a sustainable source of electricity for peaceful purposes. Those efforts were mostly stifled. Eisenhower was well aware of the dynamic tension going on between the militaristic and peaceful applications for emerging nuclear power. He tried to move the political and public consensus to realizing nuclear power’s potential as a peaceful source of energy. His Atoms For Peace Program announced in 1953 was only partially successful in that attempt. The cold war was escalating, and history missed its chance to realize the full potential of nuclear energy right from its inception. There is enough raw material in this book for a hundred spy novels and movies.

How it influenced the story: In Chain Reaction, the characters and their accomplices grapple with the paradoxes of our nuclear history. They acknowledge the struggle that took place between nuclear energy as a technology to produce energy or to produce weapons of war. They see themselves as a continuation of that struggle and clearly take action to see that nuclear energy is only used for peaceful purposes in the future.

Alvin M. Weinberg, The First Nuclear Era, The Life and TImes of a Technological Fixer (American Institute of Physics, 1994)

What it’s about: An autobiography from a veteran of the Manhattan Project and the first Director of Oak Ridge Labs in Tennessee. It is a first hand account of the genius people, pressure, and consequences of decisions made from WWII to the publication of the book in 1994. The account explains the realities of the cold war, while a struggle to make nuclear energy a peaceful and productive technology raged in US labs, the US Capital, and the corporate boardrooms of our nation. Weinberg seems to be haunted by the political shortcomings that sent nuclear energy down a different path than he would have preferred. But with a broader perspective of time, Weinberg felt a day would come where nuclear energy would be a huge benefit to humanity in the future, and we would ultimately realize its potential.

How it influenced the story: Totally would be the best answer. We start off our fictional story including Oak Ridge Labs, the Kennedy family, the struggle to use nuclear for peaceful purposes, and to win a second Presidential term right during the prime of Weinberg’s career. We wanted to create that feeling of hope Wiengberg must have felt for this technology in the early 1960s and how his spirit must have been crushed when it became apparent history was going to take longer to realize the obvious. When we join our protagonist, Amy Austin in Chapter One the year is 2027, and the world is once again at an intersection. Amy embodies the work ethic, spirit, and determination of the people from the early days of Oak Ridge Labs. This emotional investment and commitment to those ancient shared goals motivated Amy and drove our story. And the ending of Chain Reaction is one we believe those scientists at Oak Ridge Labs could have achieved if more people knew about their work.

Megan Stine, Who Was Marie Curie? (New York, Penguin Workshop, 2014)

What it’s about: This is an excellent children's book. If you don’t dive into an in-depth history of nuclear energy, where you will learn about Curie, at least read this little booklet. Curie was born in Warsaw, Poland (1867) and was a pioneer researcher in radioactivity. She was the winner of two Pulitzer Prizes in physics and chemistry respectively. As a young woman she was not allowed to be educated so she attended secret classes called the Floating University. The name comes from the nature of having to move around and learn in different places. She was the first to detect radiation and discovered Polonium (Po-84) on the Periodic Table.

How it influenced the story: She is the inspiration behind the female characters in Chain Reaction who are brilliant scientists, determined and often without equal. The more in-depth biography of Marie Curie’s life written by her daughter, Eve Curie, Marie Curie: A Biography is a detailed narration of her entire life. The launch of Chain Reaction is scheduled for November 7, 2023, Marie Curie’s birthday.

James Mahaffty, Atomic Awakening, A New Look At The History And Future of Nuclear Power

(New York, Pegasus Books Ltd, 2009)

What it’s about: This book is an excellent, comprehensive history of nuclear energy. As you read this particular book, keep in mind it was published in 2009. The year 2011 changed everything in nuclear energy because that’s when the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident occurred as a result of a massive earthquake and tsunami. The accident also occurred due to the failure to follow safety protocol by moving back-up generators to higher ground as was repeatedly advised, years in advance of the accident. 

How it influenced the story: Atomic Awakening is one of my favorite books on the history of nuclear energy. Even if we had to wait a decade longer for the “Awakening.” Mahaffey challenges scientists to go out and produce inexpensive, safe, and powerful reactors for the future. Although delayed, that effort is now underway both in the real world, and in our fictional story.

Siddharth Kara, Cobalt Red, How The Blood Of The Congo Powers Our Lives (St. Martin’s Publishing Group, 2023)

What’s it about: A hard read. Because of the subject matter. The reporting and writing are exemplary. While reading this book, I wondered how the world would feel if designer cotton clothes sold everywhere were made with African-American slave labor on 21 century US based plantations. No matter how hard I tried, I didn’t see a difference when looking at my modern day electrical appliances and thinking about the invisible people in the Congo having their health and the environment destroyed to power our modern world. The author, Kara risks his life in getting this story, and documents the many atrocities, international corruption, and hopelessness of a system that values human life as disposable.

How it influenced our story: Our Indian physicist, Kasvi Aakanksha knows that providing Africa with dependable, inexpensive, and clean energy is critical for checking the bad players on the continent. She recruits Sajan Ganguly, an Indian native and US tech billionaire to help. When Ganguly goes to the Congo and adopts the mission of bringing justice to the area, the chain reaction continues to reverberate.

Rush Doshi, The Long Game, China’s Grand Strategy to Displace American Order (Oxford University Press, July 2021)

What it’s about: The author, Rush Doshi got on our radar via a Ted Talk. He’s listed as an influencer in another part of this resource section. His presentation was so mesmerizing and interesting, reading his book instantly became a must. This excerpt from an Amazon review is a good summary, “Taking readers behind the Party's closed doors, he uncovers Beijing's long, methodical game to displace America from its hegemonic position in both the East Asia regional and global orders through three sequential strategies of displacement.” Also, Red Handed: How American Elites Get Rich Helping China Win, by Peter Schweizer, Bully of Asia; Why China’s Dream is the New Threat to World Order, by Steven W. Mosher; and COST, Trump, China, and American Revival by Maria Bartiromo and James Freeman. 

How they influenced our story: All these books informed on the dynamic tension between the United States and China, the geo-political confrontations going on between China and India, and China’s designs on Africa. Our fictional character, Frank Austin’s speech at the University of Michigan is partially borrowed and inspired by Doshi’s Ted Talk. The topic of energy is foundational to the future of Asia and Africa, where China is very active. Americans are mostly unaware that the populations of India, China, and soon Africa will dictate the type of world our children will live in. The United States will not be able to achieve Net Zero carbon, or transition to any source of green power that has any impact, without Asia and Africa buying in. Nuclear energy is that buy in. The characters in Chain Reaction are drawn into this realm by trying to get a nuclear energy footprint in India. They know without China, India and Africa using clean nuclear energy, the future will be one of coal power generation, that will be inefficient, dirty, and result in conflicts over fuel sources that should be a sad part of our distant past.

Bjorn Lomborg, False Alarm, How Climate Change Panic Costs Us Trillions, Hurts The Poor, And Fails To Fix The Planet (New York, Hachette Book Group, Inc., 2020)

What it’s about: A more in-depth look at the unintended consequences of scaring the hell out of everyone about predictions of impending climate warming. Many climate change predictions are based on highly complex computer models. Politics has now commingled itself in the climate change scientific community. The problem is that scientists are not always in charge of how their findings are communicated or edited. And the alarmism that dominates the media when reporting on climate change is often inaccurate and counterproductive.

How it influenced the story: In Chain Reaction, the motivation for developing advanced reactors is to provide everyone with abundant, dependable, and clean energy. Climate change is a motivation in Chain Reaction. But the main character's sense of urgency is that we are the biggest risk to the planet and achieving human potential because of making decisions based on fear instead of a positive vision of the future.

Steve Sheinkin, BOMB, The Race to Build and Steal The World’s Most Dangerous Weapon

(New York, Roaring Brook Press, 2012)

What it’s about: Written for teenage level and above. A fast, factual account on the race to build a nuclear weapon. The physicists around the world were well aware of the capability of fission energy to produce a weapon. It was a real possibility to US scientists, and newly minted US scientist immigrants that Germany had the capability to produce one first. Many of the scientists that worked on building the bomb later regretted their decision and spent the rest of their careers advocating for the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

How it influenced the story: In Chain Reaction, as in the real world, Phase IV+ reactors including Molten Salt Reactors have the ability to take proliferation risks off the table. You’ll notice the characters in Chain Reaction build non-proliferation features into the design of the Walking Leaf reactor just as is going on now in Phase IV, MSR reactor development. 

Chris Wallace, Countdown 1945, The Extraordinary Story Of The Atomic Bomb And The 116 Days That Changed The World (New York, Avid Reader Press, 2020)

What it’s about: Reads like a suspense novel. It’s a great read. Wallace does a good job of exercising both historical perspective and empathy when analyzing Truman’s decision to use or not use the Atomic Bomb to force Japan to surrender. It’s also interesting that President Roosevelt never informed his Vice President of the existence of the Manhattan Project. Truman learned of the bomb after he was sworn in as President when Roosevelt died on April 12, 1945.

How it influenced the story: It’s clear that the birth of nuclear energy came into existence in the form of an atomic bomb. Then the military complex ingrained itself into nuclear research and its potential has never been realized for its peaceful use. The push to produce reactors that can’t contribute to nuclear proliferation, and can be used to for peaceful purposes provides the Chain Reaction story with underlying tension which must be consciously addressed and overcome.

Rauli Partanen & Janne M. Korhonen, Climate Gamble, Is Anti-Nuclear Activism Endangering Our Future? (Finland, Partanen & Korhonen, 2015, Third Edition, 2017)

What it’s about: This is not a book about climate change denial. It acknowledges the problem. The authors believe so many advocates of renewable energy are leading us down the wrong path. Demanding a carbon free energy production infrastructure and at the same time being against nuclear power presents a mathematical impossibility. In addition the proposed solutions of many environmental activists is to use wind turbine and solar panel farms to produce baseline energy, which require immense amounts of carbon to build. Once they’re producing energy they are intermittent producers not baseline power producers. The result not only does meet the challenge of producing carbon free energy, it makes the problem worse.

How it influenced the story: The characters in Chain Reaction, especially Bob James, engage in public debates and interviews where they point out the inefficiencies and downsides to wind turbines and solar panel farms when compared to nuclear energy.

S. Fred Singer, David R. Legates, Anthony R. Lupe, Hot Talk Cold Science, Global Warming's Unfinished Debate (Independent Institute, 2021)  &

Steven E. Koonin, Unsettled, What Climate Science Tells Us, What It Doesn’t, And Why It Matters

(Dallas, TX, BenBella Books, Inc., 2021)

Patrick Moore, Fake Invisible Catastrophes And Threats of Doom (Ecosense Environmental, January 2021, Print version by Amazon)

What they’re about: The above three books are similar. The authors are highly respected and credentialed climate scientists. Patrick Moore is the past President of Greenpeace but broke off with that organization over a dispute about the organization's role in climate change and nuclear energy. The authors are supporters of nuclear energy because it’s proven, clean, safe, and dense. In fact nuclear energy is the safest of all our energy sources over the last six decades. That means ever. All three authors uncover mis-reporting, subjugation, cover ups, and science reports that have been falsified within the climate science community. 

In Koonin’s book he demonstrates how the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published high level, bogus summary statements which are often the only thing politicians and the press read. It turns out IPCC published some of these key summaries without submitting them for comment, let alone getting an endorsement from IPCC’s 120,000 scientific membership. Koonin reprints those summaries, and then introduces the summary statement he believes the science actually demonstrates and what his colleagues would have endorsed. It’s incredible and instructive that this information did not become headline news in light of the fact that Governments are about to throw trillions of dollars at the wrong problems. 

How they influenced the story: We didn’t make climate change the primary driver of the narrative in Chain Reaction. The character's goal in the story is not decarbonizing power production. But rather provide the world with dependable, clean and abundant energy. 

Decarbonization would be a symptom of achieving that vision. It is a positive vision of the future, motivated by the desire to reach human potential. That is a much more inspirational message than conservation Vs apocalypse. We also revisited the mindset of environmental advocates from the 1960 to 1980 and showed how their original concepts of environmentalism are different from today’s. That perspective makes the motivation of the antagonists very believable.

Dan Green and Basher, Extreme Physics, Take a Quantum Leap. . .To The Edge of Science (New York, Kingfisher, distributed by McMillan, 2013)

What it’s about: This is a kids book. Quantum physics is a little over my pay grade. But this book really helped me understand the basics of what all those little guys are doing inside the atom.

How influenced the story: When explaining how nuclear reactors work, we kept the explanations as simple as possible and tried not to get too far into the weeds. If the reader has a correct general concept of how the technology works, we can keep the technology a part of an interesting, fast paced story.

The Smithsonian, Senior Editor, Georgina Palffy, SCIENCE, As You’ve Never Seen It Before

(New York, DK Publishing, 2018)

What it’s about: A wonderful fully illustrated book. If you liked Chain Reaction, and never considered yourself that astute about science in general, don’t be intimidated. I'm right there with you. Pick up this book and read a couple pages a day. The main sections are Matter. . .  Energy & Forces. . .Life. You can learn the basics about nuclear energy, electricity, heat, star life cycle, transition metals and much more. Make it your own Science 101 Course.

How it influenced the story: We used a metaphor from this book when Shanta (the lyricists) asked Amy (our protagonist) a question about what happens when an atom splits. It still wows us, but it is true. You’ll have to read the book to find out. 

The Smithsonian, The Elements Book: A Visual Encyclopedia of the Periodic Table

(New York, DK Publishing, 2017)

The Mystery of the Periodic Table (Living History Library)

by Jeanne Bendick, Benjamin Wiker, and Ben Schluenederfritz (Bathgate, North Dakota, Bethlehem Books, Ignatius Press, 2003)

What they’re about: The Periodic Table is key to understanding science. First published by the Russian chemist, Dmitri Mendeleev in 1869. The 101 th element is named after him, Mendelevium. The above two books, written primarily for children, offer a solid explanation of what the elements are, how the periodic table can be understood, and interesting information on its history.

How they influenced the story: Any deep understanding of nuclear energy requires a fundamental understanding of the table of elements. The table of elements show up in the story a number of times. The bottom of the Table of Elements are the Actinides, the heavy metals related to nuclear fuel and nuclear waste. The Table of Elements is a work in progress, and is a common and undisputable source of communication between scientists all over the world. Don’t be intimidated if you’re not into science. Read these kids books on the Elements for a fascinating look into the gift that is The Table of Elements.

Note: We’ll update this list from time to time as we continue to tell the story of the Atomic Garage Movement. Let us know what you’re reading.