Radiation in the News:  Readings for Next Week

This week's readings are a smattering of news articles about different sources of radiation around us.  We'll be talking about some of the issues these articles raise, but the homework assignment (handed out in class) also asks you to try to navigate the new vocabulary that shows up in these articles and make sense of the types of radiation being discussed.  This can be tricky!  Feel free to email me if you get stuck trying to understand something from the articles or the homework.

Articles:

1) New York Times article on granite counter tops

2) AP/Yahoo News article on contaminated fish

3) Two articles on cell phone radiation:
Chicago Tribune article on recent calls for review of cell phone radiation rules.
PCWorld article on the state of our understanding of cell phone radiation risks.

4) Two articles on airport x-ray body scanners:
Wired article on lingering questions about the safety of the scanners.
Time Magazine blog piece on whether doctors are willing to go through these scanners themselves.

5) ABC News article on radioactive polonium in cigarettes.


If you have any trouble accessing these articles, please email me.  Technical difficulties are not an excuse for skipping any of them!

Welcome Fall 2012 Students in The Unstable Nucleus at SAIC!

This blog is an essential part of this course.  Usually I'll use it at least once a week to post required readings or to highlight weird or interesting things that I have come across.  But the main role of the blog is for you to contribute to the class with news items, commentary, and random nuclear and radiation web links you find.   See the syllabus for instructions on how to post. Many of the most interesting things we end up discussing in this class come from things students find on the internet.  Don't believe me?  Browse all the weird posts from the last few years!

This fall we'll be following a few ongoing news stories as well as watching for new ones that come up.  A few obvious ones:

1) It's election season!  What are the differences between Obama and Romney in terms of nuclear weapons policy?  Nuclear energy policy?  Are there local (Illinois) election races that will relate in any way to these topics?  We'll dig into this as the semester progresses.

2) Iran!  This is the "nuclear news" story that just never quits.  Is Iran making nuclear weapons?  Should we try to stop them?  Are current efforts to stop them doing anything?  What happens if they succeed? 
CNN article on findings from a U.N. report that Iran is enriching more uranium and may be hiding military nuclear facilities

3) Nuclear Waste!  The U.S. (still) has no plan in place for permanently storing all the nuclear waste that has accumulated from its nuclear reactors.  This is (still) causing all kinds of problems for existing and new nuclear facilities.  For example:
Reuters article (hosted by Huffington Post) on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's decision to halt permits for nuclear power plants until there's a plan for nuclear waste

4) Fukushima!  While it may not be in the top headlines everyday, there are still lots of unresolved issues surrounding the impact and response to the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan.  For example:
New York Times article on the economic issues associated with shutting down nuclear energy in Japan

5) Random Radiation News!  One of the weirder stories I'm wondering about - was Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat murdered through radiation poisoning 8 years ago?
Time Magazine article on the current state of investigation of this question