For many observers, "Living with the Bomb" has become the evocative phrase to describe life in twentieth-century America. The cultural fallout from this technological innovation has influenced economics, politics, and social policy and life long after its first testing in the New Mexican desert in 1945. Americans have taken fear of attack so seriously that school policies include provisions for nuclear attack. Global politics became "polarized" by the two nations in possession of nuclear technology. In the 1990s, global relations remained extremely influenced by proliferation and the threat of hostile nations acquiring nuclear capabilities. Clearly, "the bomb" and all of atomic technology has carved a deep crater of influence.

The technology to manage atomic reactions did not long remain the sole domain of the military. The influence of nuclear weapons and power generation has defined a great deal of domestic politics since the 1960s. In recent years...