Activity |
Students will work in groups to create “news bulletins” about nuclear energy, using the situation in Japan as a way to lead into a greater exploration of the topic of nuclear power itself.

There will be five groups, each group will be assigned one of the following topics.

Use resources available in the Library, netbooks and computer labs to find the answers. When your group understands their topics quite well, you should prepare a segment designed for a television newscast, three to five minutes long, to provide “viewers” with background so that they can understand the situation at Fukushima Daiichi. You might include diagrams, charts, photographs and other images and infographics designed to be displayed on screen to aid understanding.

In your segment, connect the information to the Fukushima Daiishi plant, as well as refer to nuclear plants in the United States, as relevant. The scripts can be designed for a single newscaster to deliver or can include “interviews” with “experts.”

Group 1: Nuclear Energy and Fission
Task: To introduce and explain nuclear energy and fission.
Guiding questions: What is nuclear energy? What is fission, and what is a fission chain reaction? What chemical element undergoes fission in a nuclear plant, and why do power plants use this element? From where is this element obtained?

http://www.eia.doe.gov/energyexplained/?page=nuclear_home
http://science.howstuffworks.com/nuclear-power1.htm
http://library.thinkquest.org/17940/texts/fission/fission.html


Group 2: Nuclear Reactors and Nuclear Power Plants
Task: To investigate the inner workings of a nuclear power plant.
Guiding questions: What happens at a nuclear power plant? How do they work? Where does the energy come from in a nuclear power plant? What do the terms “fuel rod,” “reactor” and “power plant” mean? What role do fuel rods play in generating energy? How safe are nuclear power plants? What happens to the nuclear material when it is used up?

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/basic-ref/students.html#nuclear_energy
http://www.boingboing.net/2011/03/12/nuclear-energy-insid.html
http://www.npr.org/2011/03/15/134569191/spent-fuel-rods-now-a-concern-at-nuclear-plant


Group 3: Risks Associated With Nuclear Energy
Task: To explore some of the actual and hypothetical risks associated with nuclear power.
Guiding questions: What risks are associated with nuclear power? How do the design and construction of power plants try to minimize risks? What does the term “meltdown” mean? What safety measures do plants like Fukushima Daiishi have in place in the event of a potential meltdown?

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/reactor-risk.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/14/science/earth/14meltdown.html
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/03/12/world/asia/the-explosion-at-the-japanese-reactor.html?ref=asia


Group 4: Past Nuclear Accidents
Task: To find out what happened in past nuclear power plant accidents.
Guiding questions: What was the nature of the accidents at Three Mile Island and Chernobyl? What caused them? What other nuclear accidents have occurred around the world? What lessons came from these accidents?

http://www.nytimes.com/1981/01/06/science/three-mile-island-cleanup-comes-virtual-standstill-experts-ponder-middletownpa.html
http://www.nytimes.com/1986/04/29/world/soviet-announces-nuclear-accident-at-electric-plant.html
http://www.thedailybeast.com/galleries/2715/1/


Group 5: Radiation and Health
Task: To explore the health consequences of radiation exposure, starting with the basic biology of what happens to the body’s cells when they are exposed to high levels of radiation.
Guiding questions: How does radiation enter the body? How does it affect the body? What levels of radiation exposure pose a health problem? What is radiation sickness? Why do health authorities distribute potassium iodide tablets to people at risk of radiation exposure? What steps can people take to minimize their risk of exposure to radiation in the event of a leak at a nuclear power plant? How can people tell if they have been exposed to radiation? What is the potential for a public health crisis if the Japanese population becomes exposed to high levels of radiation from the damaged power plant?

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/radiation-sickness/DS00432
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/16/world/asia/16health.html?hp