From Henry- Undetonated Atomic Bomb?

http://news.yahoo.com/japanese-airport-closed-wwii-bomb-found-141653204--finance.html

With hurricane SANDY news surrounding us and causing mayhem, can't help but think about if it hit a nuclear plant.  Did a quick google search... I guess we will find out more about the aftermath from Sandy in the says to come.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/energy/2012/10/121029-nuclear-plants-brace-for-hurricane-sandy/

(by Rosa)

Voting information

If you are registered in Cook County (Chicago), you can get a sample ballot for your district by going to this website: 
http://www.chicagoelections.com/voterinfo.php
And filling in your address and last name.  It can take a few clicks to get the address in the form the web page requests, but it is nice because you can see exactly what your ballot will look like.

Interested in learning more about the electricity referendum that is on the ballot? 
Here's an article from the Sun Times about it.
Here's an article from the Tribune about it.
Here's a link to the Citizen's Utility Board, which is trying to educate people about it.

Also, I mentioned a useful resource for researching judges:  www.voteforjudges.org

Carbon footprint graphic!

Ever want to know what the "carbon cost" is of a hamburger?  Wedding?  Roll of toilet paper?  This GE visualization tool has a bunch of thought-provoking stats on the contribution of different activities to our carbon footprints.

previous blog posts on Chernobyl...

Here are a few interesting things about Chernobyl:

Previous blog post on the 25th anniversary of Chernobyl - links to photo essays and an article on Chernobyl tourism.

A Vice Magazine tourism video on visiting Chernobyl (involving supposedly hunting radioactive bears) that a student brought in for a previous semester of this class.  Keep your skeptical hat on while watching this - a lot of the information is twisted for shock value.  However, it's an interesting video to critique.

Another photo essay of Pripyat

oh...

the last three posts are from me (Anthony)...sorry bout that!

The debates

They are certainly talking about Iran and nuclear tech tonight

Romney even talks about the amount of centrifuges Iran has "spinning" right now.

Also says Ahmedinejad should be tried for genecide, since calling for the complete destruction of Israel amounts to "verbal genecide"

as a bonus, my father in law has this image on a coffee mug...more relevant than ever?

Iran agrees to bilateral talks with US...sort of

Iran will negotiate nuclear issues with US, after election

Http://nyti.ms/UkBp85

Putin and Russians testing nuke weapons tech

Putin and the Russians are testing long range missiles capable of delivering nuclear warheads....how come?

http://Mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSBRE89JOEJ20121020?irpc=932

General Resources for First Paper

Here's a set of resources that might be useful for your first paper, which should be an opinion piece on some specific current topic related to nuclear energy or nuclear waste. These resources are good for background information, highlighting current debates, and getting source material for your arguments.


1) Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI): U.S. nuclear industry group. Website has lots of "fact sheets" and analysis of current issues from the pro-nuclear-energy standpoint.

 2) World Nuclear Association: global nuclear industry group. Website has tons of statistics on nuclear energy around the world, safety information, etc., all from the pro-nuclear-energy standpoint.

3) Greenpeace: Runs one of the largest worldwide campaigns against nuclear energy.  Has lots of fact sheets and news stories from an anti-nuclear standpoint.

4) Nuclear Energy Information Service:  an Illinois public watchdog group with an anti-nuclear stance.  Good place to find out what local nuclear issues are being discussed.

5) Union of Concerned Scientists:  a non-profit and non-partisan group that does not formally take a "pro" or "anti" stance towards nuclear energy, but highlights safety failures and problems with the current nuclear energy and nuclear waste practices in the U.S.

6) Nuclear Regulatory Commission:  main site of the government agency responsible for licensing and regulating nuclear energy facilities (basically, their job is to ensure safety). 

7) Presidential Blue Ribbon Commission on Nuclear Waste:  go here to find out what Obama's commission to review the nuclear waste problem recommended, and what the current status is of nuclear waste policy.

Watch for more upcoming posts highlighting some of the debates that are currently underway in the U.S. (but, you are welcome to research and write about policies in another country too!)

Penn and Teller pro-nuclear energy video

This was found by Edy, and it's an edited version of a very one-sided argument about nuclear energy that deals with a lot of the issues we have discussed in class:

Posted by Compton Quashie.
I saw this movie the other day and this scene made me wonder if the shape of a nuclear bomb really does matter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmLh1sSFs8Y

Germany's switch to from nuclear power is proving to be much more costly than anticipated due to "rapid expansion" of renewable energy production.

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2012-10-16/german-employers-slam-cost-of-energy-switchover

- Emily

North Korea claims its missiles (potentially nuclear?) are capable of reaching the continental United States.

(New York Times article)

 

-Kimmie

Apparently clean limitless fusion power could arrive sooner than expected, by instead of lasers, using... magnets?

-Anne

Readings for Next Week

Here we go - head first into the debate over nuclear energy!  The main reading for this week is an article from a few years ago that gives an overview of both sides of the debate.  This is a pre-Fukushima survey, but the core issues have not really changed (and, I have posted this to this blog several times by now!)

1)  Pros and Cons of Nuclear Energy from a Wall Street Journal article by Michael Totty.  Notice as you are reading this that many of the "pro" arguments for nuclear energy are not actually phrased as inherent advantages of nuclear energy, but as answers to criticisms.  That still counts!

2) First few sections of the World Nuclear Society's overview on U.S. Nuclear Energy.  You don't need to read beyond where it starts talking about "consolidation."  The World Nuclear Society is a nuclear industry group, so you will see their bias in how they write about the history of U.S. nuclear power.  However, the first few sections of this summarize a few handy factual things to know about nuclear energy in the U.S.

Next week, I will start posting links to many more resources on this subject so we have a lot to discuss to evaluate what's good and bad about nuclear energy.  If you find things, post them!

those articles on the supposed spraying of cities with radioactive stuff..

... Alfredo sent this article, and I have absolutely no idea what to make of it. Do some further research and post!

http://rt.com/usa/news/us-radioactive-louis-martino-taylor-443/

I also found this long blog post with pictures and more info (not that I am sure whether to believe any of it yet...)

http://www.thetorontopost.net/2012/09/us-army-scientists-secretly-sprayed-st.html

Arafat exhumation!

The disagreements over whether and how to exhume Arafat's body to do further testing for Polonium-210 seem to have been resolved.  Two independent groups will be allowed to take samples from the grave site, one working on behalf of Arafat's widow and the other working on behalf of the Palestinian Authority.  The dates of the exhumation and the subsequent lab examinations are being kept secret, but it sure will be interesting to find out the results!

Here's a Time Magazine article on this. 

Fusion suffers another blow...

National Ignition Facility Image

Remember how I said in class that "nuclear fusion technology always seems to be 10 years off"?  A government-funded project promising new progress into fusion research, called the National Ignition Facility, has struggled to deliver.  The New York Times ran a piece this week about their struggle to explain to Congress why it's worth continuing to fund the project.  Very interesting!

You can also read more about the facility itself at:
https://lasers.llnl.gov/about/missions/energy_for_the_future/

Art authentification through radioactive fallout

Wine dating through radioactivity

Because the detonation of nuclear bombs produced isotopes that either hadn't existed on earth before, or hadn't been as abundant, the presence of, or lack of these isotopes in some materials can be used to determine their age.  For example, wine and art.

-Anne