The end of the East-West confrontation put an end to the arms race. However, the number of countries possessing nuclear capacities hasn't stopped increasing, and alhtough nuclear testing has ceased to be almost everywhere in the world, the risk of nuclear conflict is still present. How can we control nuclear power ? This question has been preoccupying Georges Charpak and Richard Garwin for a long time. Both famous physicists and very well-informed concerning the real risks of nuclear power. They here engage themselves in a thought-process concerning the stakes of nuclear power in civil society and the military. It is high time to see the issue clearly, and steering clear of sterile polemics, to denounce the true risks. No, civil nuclear power is not as dangerous as some try to make it seem.This book retraces the history of nuclear physics, its great discoveries and its famous figures. It describes in detail everything we need to know about the question : what is a chain reaction ? How does a nuclear react function ? What exactly happened at Chernobyl ? What should be done with radioactive waste ? How are nuclear arms made and what would future war confrontations be like ? etc...

Nobel Prize winner in physics, Georges Charpak has not authored a book since his last great succes La Vie à fil tendu (Life on the Tightrope).

Richard Garwin, a nuclear physicist, has participated as researcher in a multitude of projects for the American Army ; he took a very strong stand in opposing the "Starwars" program of President Reagan.