Review by Choice Review
McCutcheon, a professional journalist specializing in energy and national security issues, traces comprehensively and impartially the evolution of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) project through two decades of extensive scientific study, numerous political actions, environmental projects, and court challenges. WIPP is located beneath the desolate and remote flatlands of southeastern New Mexico and is designed to entomb radioactive waste materials in underground rock salt. McCutcheon traces the political, scientific, economic, and cultural processes involved from inception of the concept by local residents to the final opening of the complex in 1999. He neither advocates nor opposes WIPP but sheds light on the protracted processes involved and the lessons to be learned. The volume takes a balanced approach: it includes interviews with politicians, environmentalists, and scientists representing both sides of WIPP's development. The documentation and reference material are a rich source for those interested in current efforts to handle nuclear wastes. The volume is well organized, provides important information related to nuclear waste management, and raises issues of vital concerns for proper disposal of nuclear waste materials. ^BSumming Up: Highly recommended. General readers; lower- and upper-division undergraduates; faculty; professionals. D. A. Johnson Spring Arbor University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
