OCEANS IN THE NUCLEAR AGE REV/: Legacies and Risks

Oceans in the Nuclear Age probes the legal and policy challenges of managing past, present, and possible future nuclear uses of the oceans. It brings together in one place multidisciplinary perspectives on critical questions: How should we respond to terrorist threats against nuclear cargoes and vessels, safely transport nuclear fuel, and address the legacy of nuclear tests and dumping radioactive waste at sea? How have activities on land - the operation of nuclear waste disposal sites and the meltdown of Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant - affected our oceans and its resources? The book's careful analyses provide essential reading for anyone concerned about these questions, so vital to the world's health, environment, development, and security.

- John E. Noyes, California Western School of Law

The advent of the nuclear age in 1945 fundamentally altered the course of human events. The oceans are not the focus of the nuclear age, but the affairs of the oceans are deeply woven into the history of that age. Knowledge of what the nuclear age has meant for the oceans, however, is highly fragmented and there exists a surprising gap in research on the impact of the nuclear age on the oceans and on ocean law and policy. Ranging from dumped wastes to transportation to security, this study frames the complex multidimensional set of relationships between the oceans and the nuclear age and illuminates patterns of impact and response in ocean law. This timely expanded edition includes a new chapter by Lt. Todd Hutchins, USN, on "Nuclear Risks in Coastal Areas: Legal and Regulatory Responses." It provides a full discussion of the 2011 coastal Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant disaster, together with analysis more generally of the challenges to the environment and to the legal order globally that are posed by coastal siting of nuclear power plants.