Nuclear Questions

Hey folks,

Thanks for all the interesting comments and questions in class today. I wanted to post the links to the articles we discussed, and also to highlight some of the questions that you submitted to me about them (paraphrased in a couple of cases - please add your comments if you want to set me straight on something I misunderstood).

1) Priest who, at 75, is still breaking into nuclear missile sites to protest

Quite a few of you were very harsh in your criticisms of this fellow! Interesting. Is it because he's a priest? Because of the clown suit? Because nuclear weapons seem like an old, or out-of-date issue? Someone referred to him as an "extremist". Would you use that word to characterize any persistent activist, or is there something about this particular person?
I'd love to hear further comments on this...

Some of your questions:
* How safe can a missile silo be when it takes security 45 minutes to respond to an intruder?
* Does he really think *he* should be educating the public?
* Is the fact that current generations seem less concerned about nuclear weapons because younger people are less aware, or because they don't see it as a significant threat?
* How much has peace activism impacted nuclear weapons programs?

2) North Korea announces pursuit of a second path to a nuclear bomb

Some of your questions:
* What exactly does North Korea intend to do with all these nuclear weapons?
* Might other nations have hidden nuclear weapons programs in the works as well?
* If the knowledge of uranium enrichment (the 'second path') is somehow coming from a source in Pakistan, shouldn't we be worried about stopping that from spreading?
* What would be an effective way to deter North Korea from developing weapons, and should we?
* What is easier to track - centrifuges for uranium enrichment, or the facilities needed to make bombs from plutonium?
* If North Korea is just posturing by making these claims, what is it hoping to achieve?

3) Islanders moving to Hawaii feel their health care should be covered as compensation for nuclear testing done by the US in their home nations.

Some of your questions:
* How will the radiation from nuclear tests affect future generations of people living there?
* How can you tell if an illness has been caused by radiation?
* Why did we do all of this testing in the first place? Why was it necessary to perform nearly 70 nuclear tests?
* What is the actual effect on cancer rates or health problems from nuclear testing?


4) Utah nuclear waste site wants to accept imports of nuclear waste from Italy
(here is a recent update on this situation)

Some of your questions:
* How does the waste get transported to the waste site in Utah?
* Does Italy have its own nuclear waste disposal sites? Why is it interested in sending waste here?
* Where will this waste go if we don't take it at the Utah site?
* How exactly do you dispose of nuclear waste? What does that mean?
* What is this stuff? Is it dangerous or is that just popular paranoia?

5) Standoff between the UN and Iran

Some of your questions:
* Why is it that we are allowed to have nuclear weapons yet Iran can not?
* How would you go about "catching" Iran if it's actually making nuclear weapons?
* Why exactly doesn't the international community trust Iran?
* What will happen at the end of September, which is the "due date" for Iran to respond to an offer for nuclear talks with the UN?