Nuclear Implosions: The Rise and Fall of the Washington Public Power Supply System

Nuclear Implosions: The Rise and Fall of the Washington Public Power Supply System follows a small public agency in Washington State that undertook one of the most ambitious construction projects in the nation in the 1970s: the building of five large nuclear power plants. By 1983, delays and cost overruns, along with slowed growth of electricity demand, led to cancellation of two plants and a construction halt on two others. Moreover, the agency defaulted on $2.25 billion of municipal bonds, leading to a monumental court case that took nearly a decade to resolve fully. Daniel Pope sets this in the context of the postwar boom’s ending, the energy shocks of the 1970s, a new restraint in forecasting demand, and shifting patterns of municipal finance. Nuclear Implosions also traces the entangling alliance between civilian nuclear energy and nuclear weapons and recounts a telling example of how the law has become a primary method of resolving disputes in a litigious society.

• Tells the story of the largest municipal bond default in US history • Emphasizes the complex interrelationships between nuclear weaponry and the peaceful atom in the Cold War era • Balances attention to regional distinctiveness of Pacific Northwest with analysis of national and international ramifications