Atomic Dreams

The inside story of how nuclear energy—long considered scary, controversial, and even apocalyptic—has become the hot topic of the climate debate, and perhaps a vital power source of the future

On June 21, 2016, Pacific Gas & Electric Company announced a plan to shutter California’s last nuclear power plant, Diablo Canyon, in 2025. The plan was hailed by environmental groups and politicians around the country. Then, suddenly, the state’s Democratic establishment reversed the decision, and in 2024 the Biden-Harris administration awarded the plant $1.1 billion in credits to extend its life. What happened in between?

In Atomic Dreams, journalist and lifelong environmentalist Rebecca Tuhus-Dubrow unearths the surprising answers—and the deep-seated conflicts behind them. She follows the fascinating and lively cast of characters who are immersed in the fight over Diablo Canyon and nuclear energy, among them a world-renowned climate scientist, a fashion model turned “nuclear influencer,” and two radically opposed groups of mothers, both fiercely advocating for the kind of planet they want their children to inherit. And she chronicles how nuclear power has morphed from the stuff of cinematic nightmares—associated with world-ending weapons and terrifying meltdowns—to a rare issue with strong bipartisan support.

Tuhus-Dubrow takes readers to nuclear plants and research facilities, to the halls of Congress and into the streets with activists as she explores the big questions wrapped up in the nuclear debate: questions about risk and responsibility, about nature and technology, about whether humans should be humble caretakers of the Earth or audacious innovators. She explores how these issues affect real people’s lives, and personally grapples with the viability of this controversial energy source. Can the power of the atom be freed from its historical baggage and reinvented? Could something that once threatened to doom us now hold the potential to save us?

• “This moment calls out for this book. Atomic Dreams is an investigation of great courage, heart, and nuance into the energy debate that has riven the environmental movement and may define our future. An essential work for anyone who wishes to understand how we got here and where we’re going.”
   
  Nathaniel Rich, author of Losing Earth and Second Nature
• “Atomic Dreams is about so much more than nuclear power. Tuhus-Dubrow has written a fascinating tale filled with activists and polemicists, converts and curmudgeons, who all debate, with each other and themselves, the future of energy. She asks a very relevant question: Can we build our way out of this climate catastrophe? The answers she arrives at are both surprising and revelatory.”
  Russell Gold, author of Superpower and The Boom