March Update

For the last few weeks I've been reading about what goes into risk assessment when the government considers building a nuclear power plant. There are a lot of steps and factors that get taken into consideration before the plant is built. The potential danger of the site is taken into consideration (how large of a population is in the near area, how large the plant will be, how likely it is that a natural disaster will strike in the area near the plant). Accident prevention is also a major factor in building a plant along with the worker's roles in accident prevention at the plant. The safety margin, risk reduction, and human factors are also taken into consideration. Obviously we want the safest nuclear power plants, but safety also comes at a high economic cost, so building a nuclear power plant is somewhat like finding a balance between high safety standards and not spending ridiculous amounts of money.

Anniversary of Fukushima

Today is the one year anniversary of the nuclear disaster at Fukushima Japan. It's been a really interesting day for nuclear power. Several thousand people have held protests around the world in an attempt to put an end to nuclear power in their respective countries. Japan has been shutting down its nuclear power plants until it can come to a consensus about how it will get its energy from now on.

While many of its citizens have been thrilled that Japan has been reducing its nuclear usage, it has had a very negative impact on the country as a whole. Japan's economy is taking a nosedive, as it continues to import nearly all of its energy resources. For the first time in years, Japan's imports have exceeded its exports. Its carbon emissions are also at an all-time high.

http://www.npr.org/2012/03/11/148136383/nuclear-woes-push-japan-into-a-new-energy-future

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5j2A3r4xeVi3tGK1bRQPPiwcqIiCA?docId=CNG.31f8de9a58d069f4c137be66715677b6.641

I've been reading The Environmental Case For Nuclear Power: Economic, Medical, and Political Considerations. I thought it was really interesting that nuclear energy has 2.7 million times as much energy as coal! It is also healthier for us, because it doesn't cause air pollution. Fossil fuels do, and they also cause our the walls of our air sacs to deform and give us respiratory diseases!

February Update

I just had my February meeting with Dr Bozanic and it went really well. I'm going to continue to study nuclear power's benefits this month in addition to studying risk assessment for nuclear power plants. I'm copy/pasting my reflection paper to my blog so everyone knows what I'm doing. I'm really excited for my new books to come and a little sad to finally to finish my project! Here's my reflection paper:

At the end of January, I realized that I had studied many aspects of today’s energy industry, but every book I had read had failed to mention positive aspects of nuclear power. While there undoubtedly many risks that are associated with nuclear power, I thought there had to be some kind of benefits to nuclear power, or the world would have outlawed it by now.

It was definitely a very productive month for me. I think it really assisted me in seeing nuclear power and the energy industry as a whole, in a new light. For me that was really amazing, because it helped to make my Senior Project an even more rewarding experience, by shifting my point of view in an unexpected way.

The two books that I read this month were Power to Save the World: The Truth About Nuclear Energy and Terrestrial Energy: How Nuclear Energy Will Lead the Green Revolution and End America's Energy Odyssey. I read Power to Save the World: The Truth About Nuclear Energy first. This book was about a woman who grew up near Yucca Mountain during a time when it was being discussed as the potential largest nuclear waste storage site in history. Her childhood was filled with constant fear of nuclear fallout. She spent her time with her friends planning for what she saw to be the imminent destruction of our world by nuclear disaster. Needless to say, by the time she became an adult she was more than terrified of nuclear power. However, one of her closest friends was a nuclear engineer that eventually changed her views and convinced her that nuclear power is much better than a “temporary solution” to our energy crisis. Nuclear power was first developed in the 1940s, about 70 years ago. This fact alone shocked me; every other book I have read had led me to believe that it had been developed much more recently. That alone made me think nuclear energy was much safer than I initially believed. The number of nuclear accidents that have occurred in those 70 years is very small. And all of those nuclear accidents were caused by bad decisions and poor planning.

This book also taught me that the hazards of nuclear power are much smaller than we have been led to believe. Obviously there are some unavoidable hazards coupled with the use of nuclear power, most involving the potential accidents that could occur during the period of radioactive decay. However, the volume of those wastes is much smaller than I was led to believe as well.  Americans are the largest energy consumers, per capita, in the world. It takes an Indian citizen 20 years to consume as much energy as the average American consumes in one year. However, the solid waste produced from a lifetime of energy consumption at the level of an American take up the space of a soda can. Nuclear power also produces absolutely no air pollution, and does not add to the problems causing global climate change.

The second book that I read was Terrestrial Energy: How Nuclear Energy Will Lead the Green Revolution and End America's Energy Odyssey. This book also dealt with many common misconceptions associated with nuclear power. Nuclear power has been feared by Americans since the accident at Three Mile Island and we have failed to accept advances in the nuclear power industry, since the 1970s. Americans have remained ignorant of the benefits of nuclear power and everything good associated with it. Nuclear power supplies about 20% of energy in our country, but no one seems to have anything nice to say about it. This book discussed how a major problem with improving the technology and safety of nuclear power is that no one wants it around, even though they fail to realize its benefits and how our everyday lives are improved by it.

This month many exciting events occurred in the world, and in the US, involving nuclear energy. The US approved plans for a new nuclear power plant for the first time in almost 35 years (a plant to be built in Georgia) and discussed the possibility of using the same plans for plants in South Carolina and Florida. However, the US also made the decision to shut down a plant in Michigan that the NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission) has deemed unsafe, proving that our nuclear safety standards remain high. Iran also announced that it has developed the technology to make its own uranium fuel rods and will no longer depend on western nations to supply it with nuclear fuel rods.

I also got the amazing opportunity to talk to Mrs. Jones AP Environmental Science class about my project. They seemed really interested in it, which was really cool and I think that really helped me decide what I want to talk about in my final presentation. I really liked it, because they asked a lot of questions and became very involved in the discussion and it seemed like they learned a lot. It was definitely a very rewarding experience for me!

Nuclear power, still big in the news!

As the anniversary of the Fukushima disaster approaches, nuclear power has become a very popular topic in world news! Kuwait, in a reaction caused by the Fukushima incident, has decided to abandon its nuclear power program; although, a year ago it was planning on creating at least 4 new reactors by 2012! Canadians seem to have mixed feelings about nuclear power, but have chosen to continue with their nuclear power program. The Japanese have decided this incident was a cue for their government to take a more active role in policing of nuclear power and regulation.

Many energy engineers and nuclear engineers have seen the Fukushima as a major opportunity. Many countries (including the US) have largely ignored nuclear power in recent decades, neither expanding nor shrinking the nuclear industry in their respective countries. Nuclear engineers agree that this has caused a lot of negative publicity for the nuclear industry, but it has shoved nuclear power back under world focus, something that hasn't occurred in quite some time.

The benefits of nuclear power has also remained a very interesting topic and I'm really glad I've decided to take my project in this new direction. Something that I read recently that I thought was really interesting was nuclear power can cause danger to humans , but the decay of nuclear atoms causes NO danger to the surrounding ecosystems! I thought that was really interesting, because when I think decay of nuclear elements, I think of the surrounding areas as being somewhat like a wasteland! Uranium is extremely abundant in the earth's crust. Also, the cost of nuclear fuel is a small part of the total reaction, so prices would not be as high or as easily changed as those of natural gas!

More News About Nuclear Power!

I've continued reading about why nuclear power can be a good thing, and it has continued to be a very interesting topic. I know there is a lot of criticism of nuclear power, however I think that a lot of that is blown out of proportion and/or undeserved.

On a slightly more dramatic note, Iran has manufactured its own nuclear power rods after failing to make an agreement with the West for more rods from Argentina. It plans to load these new rods into its reactor in Tehran today. Many people are concerned about Iran having the technology and knowledge to make its own nuclear power rods, but what is done is done and the world has not yet seen how this conflict will resolve itself.

http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFL5E8DF1J120120215

Also, in Michigan, a nuclear power plant is to be shut down. Nuclear safety is a large concern in the US and all power plants are put into a safety category ranging 1 through 5. The plant in question was in category number 1 (the safest category) until last month when it was downgraded to category 2. It has now reached a safety level of category 3 and will be shut down before its safety can become more questionable.There is only one nuclear power plant below the safety of category 3 (Browns Ferry Unit 1 near Athens, Ala.in category 4) and only two other plants are in safety category 3.

http://articles.boston.com/2012-02-14/news/31059879_1_palisades-spokesman-mark-savage-safety-performance-palisades-nuclear-power-plant

New Nuclear Power Plant in the US has been approved!

It's been an extremely exciting day! I talked to Ms. Jones' AP Environmental Science class about my project today which was kind of scary at first, but it was definitely really cool! 

Also, just a few hours ago, a new nuclear power plant was approved in the US for the first time since 1978 (34 years ago)!
I think that it's so cool that this happened while I'm working on my project! This is the link to the article: http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/story/2012-02-09/us-nuclear-reactors-approve/53027204/1

2/6/2012

This week I'm going to be talking to Mrs. Jones' AP Environmental Science class about energy. They've just finished their nuclear power unit and are about to start studying alternative energy. Obviously, I'm really excited about that, and I'll let you know how it goes.

I'm also going to focus my project on the benefits of nuclear power from now on. It seems really interesting. I've also continued reading about nuclear power and watched some videos about how it can help our society. I'm hoping to go to Addlestone tomorrow to try to get some more materials on the benefits of nuclear power! 

January Update

So this week I put together my water/air powered car, unfortunately my camera card isn't letting my pictures off, so I'll upload those once it decides to function again.
I also watched a documentary that I checked out from Addlestone called "The End of Oil." Which was about our current energy path and how it's effecting the planet.
I also continued reading about the benefits of nuclear energy. Something that really surprised me while reading was that we know more about radioactive hazards than biological or chemical ones, which makes me somewhat upset, because we would get much more upset if we had to visit a nuclear power plant on a field trip as opposed to a chemistry lab. The more I read of this particular book, the more I feel that our stereotypes towards nuclear power are unjust and unfounded, but I'll try to keep an open mind and keep you updated!

Nuclear Energy, Friend or Foe

Thus far every book I have read has only had negative things to say about nuclear energy. I decided that this wasn't a fair way to look at it and I realized I wouldn't be able to have a true understanding of all forms of energy if I didn't make an attempt to read books that have authors with positive views towards nuclear power. I've begun reading "Power to Save the World: The Truth About Nuclear Energy." I really like it. I've barely begun but it's really given me some perspective on why nuclear energy is a viable solution to the world's energy problems. Something that I found really startling was that the physical waste from a lifetime of energy use (at the American standard) powered by nuclear energy would take up the same amount of waste as a coke can, while the same energy use powered by fossil fuels would take up the same amount of space as a train that spaced three times the distance between Los Angeles and New York City.

Wow!

January Meeting!

Tomorrow I have my January meeting with Ms. Hughes! I've finished my reflection paper and I've selected some awesome new titles for this month! I also read a bit of As the World Burns this week and I continued reading out of my Addlestone books. My new titles are about nuclear energy, but the authors have a much more positive view on nuclear energy than the authors of the other books I have read. I also ordered an introduction to engineering kit that will allow me to build my own mini-hydroelectric power harvester and my own little windmill. I hope that will help me to understand the concepts of how alternative energy functions. I'll probably take some pictures throughout the process and post them next week!  I also plan for an Addlestone visit tomorrow afternoon and hopefully I'll come across something really interesting.

Christmas Break Progress

I read a lot of my Addlestone books over break and learned a lot of interesting things, including how energy efficient light-bulbs work, which surprised me. I thought it was a bit hard to explain, but I'll probably try to do so in my reflection paper. I also read a lot of As the World Burns. I'm going to write my reflection paper this week, wrap up my work with the Addlestone books on engineering, and hopefully find some great new titles! I'll keep you posted! Hope you had great holidays!