The first opinion essay for The Unstable Nucleus should concern an active debate over nuclear energy or nuclear waste. Not sure where to start? Pick a news source that you respect and search their opinion pages for items on nuclear power or nuclear waste. Look at local news stories related to nuclear power plants near Chicago or near your home town - odds are, there will be ongoing discussions about licensing issues, safety concerns, plans for upgrades, or new power plants.
A handful of potentially useful resources are below.
Nuclear Waste Issues in the US
* What's the government doing about nuclear waste? Well, Yucca Mountain was canceled and now there's a committee talking about the alternatives. The presidential Blue Ribbon Commission on nuclear waste issues has a website. Also, check out responses from some House Republicans to the decision to give up on Yucca Mountain here.
* A guy named Matthew Wald has written extensively on nuclear waste for the New York Times, and many of the articles are interesting. Check them out, along with some other news stories on nuclear waste, here.
* How do the people of Nevada feel about Yucca Mountain? Here's an archive of articles from the Las Vagas Sun.
* While you'll need to log in through the library proxy server to get access to these, Scientific American has several great articles on nuclear waste - Try these links:
An overview of the nuclear waste conundrum
Opinion piece against waste reprocessing
Nuclear Power Issues in the US
If you pick a topic on nuclear energy, I hope you'll aim for something specific (like whether the Indian Point reactor near New York City should be shut down, or whether Indonesia should go forward with the plans to start nuclear power). But if you need some extra resources for general "pro" and "con" arguments, a few are below.
* Pro-nuclear: check out an interesting (though old) essay by Greenpeace founder Patrick Moore on why he changed his mind and became pro-nuclear, here. The industry group The World Nuclear Association has loads of fact sheets and materials to support nuclear energy - start with this essay by Director General John Ritch. The US-based Nuclear Energy Institute is another place where you can get the perspective of the industry, for example at their "myths and facts about nuclear energy" page.
* Anti-nuclear: Greenpeace is one of the major anti-nuclear activist organizations - their nuclear energy page is here. The Union of Concerned Scientists is an activist organization that calls for tighter security and safety regulations for nuclear power. They maintain an enormous amount of information about accidents, mishaps, and safety issues at U.S. reactors. An overview of their concerns is here.
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