May 9, 2012
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/47364463
Summary
The Department of Energy (DEO) in Richland, Washington has decided to give more than $47 million in scholarships, fellowships, grants and university research reactor advancements. The reason is to train and educate the next people of America’s nuclear industry. The 143 awards (from the Department’s Nuclear Energy University Programs and Integrated University Program) will provide nuclear energy R&D, and student investment at 46 colleges and universities across the United States. Washington State University (WSU) in Pullman has received a little under $2 million in funds and two grants to update their infrastructure including the nuclear reactor. Professor, Ken Nash says he will use the money to find a different way to handle nuclear or radioactive waste, which comes from a power plant. He and his students will be doing the research in Richland at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Unfortunately, it has been hard for Department of Energy national labs to hire people with the right knowledge. The radioactive chemistry professor believes the research will help his pupils find an open field of interest.
Opinion/Reaction
I am glad the Department of Energy was generous enough to spend money on the future leaders of America’s nuclear industry. Education is the key to success and I am glad that many opportunities are now available to students across the country. Hopefully, Ken Nash and his graduate students will be able to find a better way to handle nuclear waste, since it is hazardous to organisms. It is great to hear that we might be making progress. How technically sophisticated will our world get, though? In environmental science class, I remember learning about nuclear energy and watching that cool power point. Nuclear energy is a way of creating heat through the fission process of atoms. I also remember going on a website and filling out a chart that had Nuclear Power on it. Nuclear Power is not renewable and must be kept from natural disasters, people, and animals.
Questions
How is nuclear or radioactive waste handled?
Would you want to work for the Department of Energy? Explain.
What events have recently occurred with Nuclear Energy around the world?
This is probably the most interesting article yet, Sammena! I find this very interesting because I am actually interested in becoming an engineer of some sort in the future. I may be an engineer that deals with problems like environmental waste. I may very well become involved with this program in the future, so I am very happy that such a thing is happening.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very recent article, so there will be much improvement in the program before I enter college. I'm so excited! I'm not entirely sure that this will be discussed in class, since we seem to be mostly dealing with experiments and analyzation of data. We don't really learn about what's going to happen in the future with new and alternative energy. I am eager, however to learn about this program. I may do some research myself!With $47 Million in scholarships being handed out all over the country, I'm interested. This could be a huge opportunity for me.
To answer question 2: I would be very satisfied with working for the Department of Energy. If I am a part of a program that can help the U.S.A. find alternative, efficient resources that help the country run, I will be happy. I want to help the U.S.A. create jobs, boost the economy, and help the environment in the process.
To answer question 3: A fairly recent accident in the Nuclear Energy world was the Fukushima Daiichi reactor plant in Japan. As a result of the tsunami february 2011, the reactor was severely damaged and almost had a nuclear meltdown, which would have spewed an overload of radioactive material all over the globe.
Cool article, Sameena! I agree with you that the DEO was generous enough to spend money on the future leaders of America’s nuclear industry. The nuclear industry is important to us because it provides energy for us to use. However, it needs a lot of security and watching over because they can melt down or explode if it is not being consistently watched. Because nuclear power is nonrenewable, we need to use it wisely and preserve it. We also need to keep the reactors protected in order to save people, animals, and prevent disasters.
ReplyDeleteTo answer question 1:
I found this article to help me out.
http://fukushima.ans.org/
Author: The American Nuclear Society Special Committee on Fukushima
Publication: March 2012
March 11, 2011 is a day that will never be forgotten around the entire world. One of the largest earthquakes recorded in history struck the east coast of northern Japan. This caused a severe disruption within the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, releasing radioactive materials from the reactors.