POWERHOUSE

A guided tour of a nuclear power plant, packed with color photos of futuristic machinery. A wide range of subjects is covered in short sections: nuclear energy and radiation; the processing of uranium ore; the design of a reactor and the ways in which fission is controlled; the layout of the control room and the plant's safety features; the complicated process by which nuclear energy is converted into electricity; the problem of nuclear waste; and the Three Mile Island and Chernobyl accidents. The book never stops moving forward in the flow of information: lively formatting, large full-color pictures and diagrams, and brief chapters make it a quick and easy read. The information it contains is occasionally superficial, e.g., Wilcox spends half a page discussing how cool water cools hot water— ``This works in the same way that cold hands absorb the heat from a cup of cocoa''—but doesn't explain why water ``does not boil because it is kept under pressure.'' On the whole, however, the book casts light on what goes on inside a building most readers will never have the chance to visit. (glossary, index) (Nonfiction. 5-10)