Really useful background on the situation with Iran

(From Oscar)
About the nuclear crisis, in 4 minutes (with some opinion added): Background on the history of the US and Iran:

Russia and India - nuclear power deal?

From Jamie: 
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia/2014/12/india-build-nuclear-reactors-with-russia-2014121110318518210.html
I feel like it's a little suspicious for these two countries to collaborate so enthusiastically and at the same time I feel that maybe the United States should not warn or give advice so confidently.

Nuclear safety... and nuclear subs

From Caleb, here's an article that outlines part of the model we use for mandating safety measures, namely establishing a cost per human life risked in order to create a cost-benefit comparison. The international community is putting pressure on the U.S. to agree to new international policies regarding nuclear safety. Even Russia is on the sane side. U.S. business interests, however, are campaigning very hard to keep the U.S. from agreeing and thereby raising costs by imposing new safety standards.


http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-10/american-lives-valued-at-6-million-less-in-nuclear-meltdown.html


Also, from the related articles on Bloomberg, China is launching nuclear subs that will change the dynamic of nuclear politics between Asia and the west http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-08/china-takes-nuclear-weapons-undersea-where-prying-eyes-can-t-see.html

We shouldn't worry though, they probably wouldn't be able to bomb anywhere in the U.S. besides Hawaii and Alaska. So fewer Palins and volcanoes. I'd miss the bears though.

Government fined for violations on nuclear waste

From Megan, here's an article about a fine (of $54m) New Mexico placed on the Federal Government for violations of nuclear waste.
http://rt.com/usa/212215-new-mexico-nuclear-fine/

White Light/Black Rain
HBO Documentary

This documentary by Steven Okazaki examines the aftereffects of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  The movie interviews 14 survivors of the bombing, and investigates the trauma of living through that event.  In addition, the movie looks more broadly at the effects on the national psyche of postwar Japan. Several Americans who were involved in the bombings are also profiled to gauge their perspectives looking back.  You can watch the whole thing via this youtube link, or on HBOgo if you have a subscription.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpMZkXXHf6o


-Taylor Larson

New Defense Secretary and Nuclear Implications?

http://www.latimes.com/nation/nationnow/la-na-nuclear-weapons-military-hagel-20141114-story.html#page=1
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/defense-secretary-chuck-hagel-resigning/
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2014/12/04/obama-ashton-carter-chuck-hagel-defense-secretary/19895589/

Former Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel announced an overhaul of management in nuclear force along with improvements and modernization of weapons and facilities on November 14. Ten days later, he resigned and this morning Obama announced his nomination of Ashton Carter as new Secretary of Defense. Carter was involved in nuclear management, disarmament both domestically and internationally as well as removal of nuclear materials from certain countries. It seems likely, in my opinion, for him to continue with this policy of reduction, especially with the Obama administration, and it is unclear whether Hagel's policy will be continued.

Rachel

History of the Iconic Peace Sign

The "Peace Sign"was originally designed as the symbol of the CND- Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament. CND was launched in February of 1958 and soon after the Aldermaston Marches attracted attention, this was the first time the CND symbol appeared. The Aldermaston marches were anti-nuclear weapons demonstrations in the 1950's and 1960's demonstrated on easter weekend. The distance between Aldermaston and London is 52 miles.
http://cnduk.org/about/item/437

-Kristi

Ukraine Nuclear Plant Accident

Ukraine nuclear accident 'no threat': Minister

It is interesting to see the level of calm surrounding a mishap at a nuclear plant.
Though it was a small incident, the accident has the potential to cause hysteria as it deals with such a sensitive topic of nuclear plants and the danger involved with them. The article shows how media can set a distinct mood when announcing events and thus affects the way we all approach these incidents.

In addition to that, the writer ends the article noting the amount ("60 million tonnes") of coal the Ukraine produced--inviting an even larger discussion (of coal vs. nuclear energy) and a possible explanation for the moderate tone of the article and surrounding the incident.

-Jamie G.

ISAO HASHIMOTO

An interesting video of the 2053 nuclear explosions conducted in various parts of the globe. Quite similar to the video of the number of earthquakes in Japan each year, Hashimoto intended to evoke "the fear and the folly of nuclear weapons."

"This piece of work is a bird's eye view of the history by scaling down a month length of time into one second. No letter is used for equal messaging to all viewers without language barrier. The blinking light, sound and the numbers on the world map show when, where and how many experiments each country have conducted. I created this work for the means of an interface to the people who are yet to know of the extremely grave, but present problem of the world."

Overkillded by Isao puts the number of explosions into a creepy time lapse perspective

I think it's interesting how Isao expresses explosions in different forms in his work. The elegance and simplicity of this video reminds me of the pedestal that we put these tests on. 

-Kristi

So many things are wrong here...

I recommend this recent opinion piece talking about the situation today in Eniwetok Atoll, a small island in the pacific where the U.S. did many nuclear tests in the past.  The article only has one side of the story, but it is pretty mind-blowing that we (the U.S.) have left things in such a state:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/04/opinion/a-pacific-isle-radioactive-and-forgotten.html

Uranium mine found in Sahara Desert

http://imgur.com/gallery/6gE7D

- Jacob C

Nuclear Weapons Modernization

There have been a number of news stories popping up lately about investing more money into modernizing, remaking, and even testing nuclear weapons again.  Here's one from the LA Times - an interesting read, perhaps relevant for your final papers?

Sonic Deep Map

http://theradius.us/episode48

Sonic Deep Map, released in 2014, by Radio Aktiv, is an hour and a half long sound piece comprised of interviews, spoken, and sonic poetry. It uses direct quotes from residents of Pyhäjoki, Finland, along with abstractions of the negative emotional reaction to the potential threat of a nuclear power plant being placed in their town, to give a voice to further articulate and organize the rejection. An industrial pulse weaves in and out of the human voices as they describe the natural beauty of their seaside town, creating a cyborg landscape to listen in.

“To produce the audio content for Sonic Deep Map, Radio Aktiv conducted interviews with local activists of the organization Pro Hanhikivi, which is led by two mothers — local community members Hanna Halmeenpää and Helena Maijala — who fight every day to stop the proposed power plant; made field recordings in the stunning seaside landscape of the Hanhikivi Cape; did group vocalization exercises — humming and screaming to conjure the rage and sadness that the threat of the power plant proffers; traveled by boat; and documented the sounds made in a Geiger counter building workshop led by Erich Berger and Martin Howes.” 

This reminds me of the rejection the residents of Nevada had (and still have) for the plans for Yucca Mountain. This piece is an example of a way artists can speak out against nuclear power, or for it. The piece is completely biased against nuclear power, but it could also be biased completely for it. I think the reason people choose to have extreme biases, particularly in this issue, is because it’s so complicated to explain the positive and negative aspects that are inherent to it.

This piece is an episode from Radius, which is “an experimental radio broadcast platform based in Chicago, IL, USA.” One of the directors of Radius, Jeff Kolar, came in to speak to one of my classes about his work. He talked about Radius, and mentioned some of the more recent works produced under it, including this. Radius is local, and active. 

http://theradius.us

-Ava Threlkel

Something Funny When Considering Nuclear Weapons

Blame my roommate.
-Connie C.

Nuclear Slide Rule

slide rules that compute everything from dosage to the size of craters left by nuclear bombs. https://www.orau.org/ptp/collection/sliderules/sliderules.htm

More paper 2 resources

More articles on a few topics:

Iran

Talks about Iran's nuclear program, underway this week.  One of the interesting threads here is how these negotiations are seen as a 'proxy' for much bigger ideological and policy issues related to the Middle East.  One of the core terms being negotiated is how many centrifuges Iran is 'allowed' to operate, and this is arguably tied to how quickly they would be able to enrich uranium to bomb-grade levels if they wanted to (so-called 'breakout capacity').  But some have argued that if Iran really went for a bomb, they would do so in secret, so maybe this decision doesn't end up making any difference?  That would be an interesting place to weigh in, if you want to write about this topic.  A few starting articles:
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/17/world/middleeast/nuclear-deal-with-iran-runs-into-obstacles-.html
http://www.theguardian.com/world/julian-borger-global-security-blog/2014/nov/19/the-iran-nuclear-talks-too-big-to-fail
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-30078132

CTBT

If you're thinking about this issue, check out this very recent speech by Rose Gottemoeller, our Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security:  http://www.state.gov/t/us/2014/233254.htm

Here's a recent opinion piece from a Washington political blog:  http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/politics/221692-new-senate-must-finish-what-ike-jfk-started

Here's a somewhat older anti-CTBT article that makes some good points:  http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/276530/reconsidering-comprehensive-test-ban-treaty-r-james-woolsey


Feel free to contact me if you could use some help finding reliable sources on other topics!

Hopefull video for fusion from BBC

http://youtu.be/DyB7Ho_W9RE?list=LLsU3Oi0jji1MUZGLyF6LcuQ
Sorry, I don't know why it didn't publish with the link the first time.
-Sappho Finnegan

Starting points for your papers

For the final paper for this class, you'll need to take a stand on a current nuclear weapons issue and back up your position drawing on what you have learned in class.

There are a lot of things going on in the world right now that relate directly to nuclear weapons, and I would like to call your attention to a few of them as starting points.  A number of these articles are from the New York Times, and if you run into the paywall issues, remember that you can get access to these through the library digital resources.

1.  Addressing flaws in the management and maintenance of U.S. Nuclear Weapons.  Here's a New York Times article about this but you can find other, tied to a recent Pentagon study and a press conference today by defense secretary Hagel.

2.  Disintegrating relations with Russia and their impact on nuclear disarmament and security issues.  Lately, we've been at odds with the world's other big nuclear superpower.  This has an impact on our overall nuclear stance (and theirs).  It might modify negotiations over treaties, alter what happens in Iran, or upset ongoing projects to prevent nuclear terrorism.  On this last point, this is a really interesting New York Times article.  

3.  Of course, taking a stand on what should happen with the current talks in Iran would be great.  However, this is unfolding right at the same time you will be writing your papers, so between your first and second drafts, things might substantially change!  Just be prepared!  Here's a CNN article to get started thinking about what's going on politically in the U.S. surrounding this issue.

4.  How is Obama doing on his goals for disarmament?  Do you support the planned expenditures on modernizing our nuclear weapons infrastructure?  Here's an analysis by the New York Times to start thinking about this. 

5.  Hey, Pakistan just tested a nuclear-capable long-range missile... should we be worried about this?

6. Treaties!  Of course, great places to weigh in are on the CTBT, the proposals for the FMCT, or what should follow New START.  I will post more resources on those soon.

The Colbert Report
Get More: Colbert Report Full Episodes,The Colbert Report on Facebook,Video Archive

Not related to nuclear energy but a good video of earthquakes around Japan in 2011. The date is in the upper left corner and remember the big earthquake hit on March 11th.

Yucca Mountain - coming back to life again?

The latest twist in a 25-year story:  maybe Yucca Mountain might go forward after all?  It was canceled in 2009 by President Obama, after a 2004 court case ruled that it needed to be proven safe for a million years (a virtually impossible task scientifically).  But, the situation also depends a lot on politics - and in particular, who controls the senate, and how powerful Nevada is at blocking the project. 

Apparently the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has just completed a study stating that Yucca Mountain is in fact safe as planned, and could be a viable storage option. 

And some commentary is suggesting that if Republicans regain the Senate in November, things could really shift and maybe Yucca would be opened after all?

Read more about this here. 

Image of Yucca Mountain entrance in 2006:  Isaac Brekken/Associated Press

Nuclear Power Simulator

http://www.nuclearpowersimulator.com

Hazardous Waste-Eating Bacteria

The "extremophile" bacterium was found in soil samples in the Peak District.
Image Credit: Image courtesy of University of Manchester

Last September, a research article posted on ISME (Multidisciplinary Journal of Microbial Ecology) Journal. Scientists discovered “extremophile” bacteria that survive in extreme conditions such as alkaline conditions expected in cement-based radioactive waste. 
Manchester group was studying for microorganism, it may solve the nuclear waste issue and its possibility of chemical reactions in the nuclear waste chamber. They were researching on soil samples from the Peak District where has highly alkaline industrial site. They discovered bacteria that thrive under the alkaline conditions. The bacteria not only live in the extreme condition also they use the chemical reaction (Isosaccharinic acid) as a source of food and energy. Scientists are expecting that microorganisms could help with the problem of nuclear waste disposal.


- Eun Sun Cho

Reprocessing!

One other great topic suggestion for the first paper:  weigh in on nuclear fuel reprocessing.  Should we do it?  Or not? 

Lots of people are debating this right now.  As an example, here, here, and here are three short "letter to the editor" opinion pieces from smaller newspapers supporting the idea of nuclear reprocessing. 

Here is a Union of Concerned Scientists page that is solidly against reprocessing. 

Here's a commentary on the topic that takes a pro-reprocessing view.


You can find tons more material on this with a little research - I look forward to finding out your views on the subject!

Shut down Illinois Nuclear Reactors?

I'm posting a couple of starting points for research on current debate over Illinois nuclear reactors.  This would be a great topic to work with for your first paper - it is current, and relates to local news.  Diving into local energy policy is also fascinating, although it can be complicated too.

Here's a Forbes article about how Exelon (the company that operates the reactors) has sort of stalled energy policy in Illinois right now


Here's an article that talks about how Exelon has been pitching their nuclear plants as a way to help achieve carbon emission targets in Illinois

Here's a link to a pro-nuclear group study about the economic benefits of nuclear energy to Illinois 

Here are some critiques of that study by an anti-nuclear citizen's watchdog group

I would love to see what you think about this!

Resources for Nuclear Energy and Nuclear Waste Issues

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 a few current debates that might be good topics for your paper, but you should definitely do your own research to find something that you feel strongly about!

Rice from Fukushima Goes on Sale in Singapore

"Each bag has this label saying it's a product of Fukushima, but the important thing here is this sticker here which says it's been cleared for radiation testing and is safe to eat."

This is a very short video on rice grown in Fukushima, being sold in a supermarket in Singapore. It features a woman passing out samples of the rice for customers to try-- some accept and some decline. The previous post to the blog, about the performance of offering soup made from ingredients grown in Fukushima, reminded me of this video. Listening to the reporter, I believe the initial mistake she made, by saying the rice was tested for radiation, perpetuates the media's inaccurate choice of words for defining radiation v.s. radioactivity, which makes it harder to understand why the rice is safe to eat. I assume she meant to say the rice as been cleared for radioactive material.

Watch the video here-
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-28913467

-Ava

Would You Risk This Soup?

Painting displayed behind the Awakawa's mother while she cooked.

This year's Frieze London, one of the world's leading contemporary art fairs, exhibited 162 galleries from 25 countries. One of the pieces included a experimental performance/installation entitled "Does this soup taste ambivalent" where The United Brothers, Ei and Tomoo Awakawa, served soup with the help of their mother. However the soup of their installation is no ordinary soup - all the ingredients used in the soup originated from Fukushima.

"We wanted to present this choice, where event though it is safe, the media coverage and psychological factors mean that people have a dilemma to eat soup from there or not."

-Ei Awakawa

Both artists are based in Fukushima.

-Connie Chu

Fake sunrise, and clear skies in Beijing, China's Tiananmen Square through "Airpocalypse" a spike in air pollution this past January.

Local news: shutting down reactors in illinois?

Illinois has the most nuclear reactors of any state in the U.S.  Until recently, that meant at least half of the electricity that we use here was nuclear.  But in the last couple of years, cheap electricity produced by natural gas as well as the rise of wind power in the midwest has made it less cost-effective to run the nuclear power plants.  So, the company that runs them (Exelon) is considering shutting a couple of them down. 

Here is an article that discussed the economic impact this might have on Illinois.

Right now, Illinois is trying to figure out how to meet EPA greenhouse-gas reduction targets, and nuclear energy has the advantage of being (nearly) 'carbon-free'.  If the economic situation shifted, for example through the implementation of a carbon tax, the picture would look different for the future of nuclear energy here.  Exelon is in fact arguing for a carbon tax, as discussed here.  

This is an example of a relevant local issue that would make a great topic for your first paper!

John Oliver on Our Nuclear Incompetence

John Oliver has a meltdown about how incredibly flawed our nuclear system is, has been, and apparently always will be.

There is way too much craziness here. I would definitely say that America is failing to prove it's worthy of having such power.

-Connie W.

Demon Core

It's mostly the name, but still...

-Dylan

Building New Bombs

This is an interesting New York Times article from a week ago about the fact that the U.S. is currently ramping up nuclear weapons "modernization" efforts.  While Obama took a strong anti-nuclear-weapons stance early in his presidency, somehow we are now spending huge amounts of money on upgrading our nuclear arsenal.

Here's the article if you want to learn more: 
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/22/us/us-ramping-up-major-renewal-in-nuclear-arms.html

STRANGE CHARM: A Song About Quarks

From Hank Green: A charming song about charms... and other quarks...

Also, it 's super catchy.

-Connie

Colm

Paintings Made by Hiroshima Survivors

Masahiko Nakata - Bloated Bodies in the River Over Yokogawa Bridge. 1973-4.

Satoshi Yoshimoto - Black Rain: Something Slimy Covered My Body. 1973-4.

The BBC wrote a very short article on an upcoming show in Manchester that will be featuring several pieces made by Hiroshima survivors. These were created about thirty years after the day the bomb was dropped (August 6th, 1945), in the mid 1970's. I think it's really interesting that the artists made them at a much later date- I wonder how having more time to process what happened may have influenced their depiction.

Full article:
http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-29235538

-Ava Threlkel

Colm

Colm

Japan Restarting Nuclear Reactors

A man shouts in protest September 10, 2014 as Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) unanimously approves the restart of two nuclear reactors in the Sendai plant in southern Japan. Although this is a huge step towards boosting Japan's nuclear industry after the Fukushima disaster of 2011, nuclear power advocate Prime Minister Shinzo Abe faces an uphill battle as the operator, Kyushu Electric Power, still needs the approval of local authorities and the surrounding communities.

Check out this article for details on how the two reactors are the first to restart under the tighter safety regulations. For in depth details on community concerns check out this article.


-Connie C.

NATO summit starts today

This is a good time to remind ourselves about what NATO is, because there's a summit underway in Wales starting today.  One of the big topics under discussion is the crisis in Ukraine.  There's a lot of history and complexity to these issues, but the conflict with Russia that's taking place right now definitely relates to the history and current dynamic between nuclear powers.  I'm still absorbing it, but I found this analysis and opinion piece from Salon interesting. 

Nuking the moon?

In class last week, someone asked a question about whether there are enough nuclear weapons to destroy the moon.  For comparison of size, here is a NASA image (distances not to scale obviously):
 

In class we talked about how there are not enough nuclear weapons to destroy the earth, and similarly there are not enough to "destroy" the moon (certainly not enough to blow it up, and probably also not enough to make a mess of the whole surface either).  Are there enough to knock the moon out of orbit?  No, not that either (here's an article on that idea).  

In the 1950s there was apparently a project within the U.S. military to consider the idea of detonating one nuclear weapon on the moon.  This would have been an experiment to test out the idea of space-based warfare, as well as a demonstration project to show our military capabilities to the Soviet enemy.  But thankfully the project was dropped.  Here's a CNN blog posting on the top-secret plan.

Readings for homework 1!

The first homework assignment is posted to the Canvas page for our class and involves answering some factual and opinion-based questions on a set of articles.  The articles all deal with radiation around us, and they are typical of how the media discusses radiation - which is to say, it can be hard to understand the science from what is written.  The homework questions are intended to help sort through some of the information as well as highlight a few important issues related to how news articles convince us (or fail to convince us) about risks. 

Articles:

1) New York Times article on granite counter tops

2) Huffington Post 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.
Scientific American article on Europe banning x-ray body scanners

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 2014 Unstable Nucleus Class!

This is our class blog, and I hope you use it as a place to post interesting, weird, disturbing, controversial, and confusing things related to nuclear energy, nuclear waste, nuclear weapons, and radiation.
We'll devote time at the start of every class to talking about what has been posted to the blog and what's been going on in the "nuclear news."  To get us started, here are a few of the news stories I'm personally interested in following this semester:

1.  "It's best not to mess with us" - so says Russian President Vladimir Putin, pointing out that "Russia is one of the leading nuclear powers" during a recent conversation with a student group.  Russia is involved in a messy and tense conflict with Ukraine right now.  What does it mean for a major nuclear power to be involved in a conflict of this kind these days?

2.  Iran... are we making progress?  Talks and agreements are ongoing between Iran and the major powers of the world about its nuclear activities.  Last year, for the first time, it looked like this might be getting somewhere, and that Iran would make some compromises in exchange for relief from some of the sanctions that have been applied in response to its nuclear activities.  Will this continue?  Meanwhile, last week Iran reportedly shot down an Israeli drone that neared an Iranian nuclear site.  Will Israel take independent action against Iran's nuclear activities?

3.  Fukushima - it's not over!  The 2011 nuclear catastrophe is far from old news.  The Fukushima reactors are still in a dangerous state and it's quite difficult to resolve the situation.  Meanwhile, we're starting to learn more about the environmental effects of the radiation releases, and there's ongoing debate about the role that nuclear energy should play in Japan's future.

4.  Nuclear waste issues in the U.S.  A few months ago, there were some alarming incidents at a nuclear waste facility in New Mexico, so we'll follow up on what happened with that.  Overall, this is a time when the U.S. is starting over in rethinking how to handle nuclear waste.  What do you think we should do with it?

That's just a few things to get us started - keep your eyes and ears out for interesting news and post it here!

Kathryn