On government regulated land next to the Savannah River in South Carolina, workers are building what is said to be one of the biggest nuclear power plants in years. The plant is hoping to create a minimum of 43 tons of plutonium based weapons by mixing fuel with every day power reactors. The project started as a result of hearing about Russia’s plan to reduce nuclear weapons after the cold war. This site would make the highly dangerous amount of American weapons to an end. In the past 11 years since the project was granted by the government it has sky rocketed up to 5 billion dollars. One of the stricken Japanese reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi plant uses the mox fuel. And while there has been no evidence of dangerous radiation from plutonium in Japan, the situation there is volatile, and nuclear experts worry that a widespread release of radioactive material could increase cancer deaths. Now people who were potential buyers are not nearly as interested. People are very worried that the plutonium can easily be put into the hands of terrorists. As a result of everything that has happened in Japan people are just too afraid to become involved in the South Carolina plant. Obama administration officials say that mox is safe, and they remain confident that the project will attract customers once it is further along and can guarantee a steady fuel supply. Anne Harrington who oversees nuclear nonproliferation programs for the Energy Department, noted that six countries besides Japan had licensed the routine use of mox fuel.
I liked this article because it gave a thorough explanation and detailed response to how the tragic event that happened in Japan is effecting our society. While our president and many others belive that the power plant will still be a success it has been undoubtedly slowed down in its building process and funding because of the events in Japan.
I thought this was a good article and had a lot of strong aspects to it such as good details and length. The only thing that I would think to make better is possible give a little bit more background information. In the beginning of the article it is a little confusing to keep track of what is going on but as you get into it is unfolds itself.
Becker , Jo. "New Doubts About Turning Plutonium Into a Fuel." NY Times.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2011.
5 comments:
Austin did a good job on his current event article. He chose a really interesting topic, turning plutonium into a fuel. I liked how he explained how the project started and how expensive it is. The summary was good because it told just enough information and he seemed to know this topic pretty well. From this article, I learned that Obama administration officials say that mox is safe, and they remain confident that the project will attract customers once it is further along and can guarantee a steady fuel supply. The one thing I think Austin could have done better would be to talk a little bit about how this article affects America.
I thought Austin did an excellent job on his review. I thought he was very eloquent in describing what the article was about and I thought he did a great job of making it easy and simple to understand, especially concerning a topic as alien to us as the use of Plutonium. I also thought the article was very pertinent concerning what happened in Japan and as recently in the Philadelphia area that is believed to have slight radioactivity in their water supply. Despite having some details I thought it would have been a better review if he had used a little bit more especially in describing the dangers in the process of creating a plant. The other error I found was that effecting in the second paragraph should be affecting. These are my only conundrums. I thought it was very interesting that despite being so soon after the tragedy in Japan, people are truly considering building another Nuclear power plant.
This review was well written, interesting, and direct. It was easy to understand, and the concepts being presented were easy to apply in a personal context. The subject matter itself was interesting because nuclear power once deemed an alternative energy option, has reasonably come under more scrutiny due to the devastation in Japan. The review was direct, listing facts and details appropriately, without excess.
To improve this article Austin could have included more on the history of the plant, or the science behind producing nuclear energy. He also could have included more information on how the United States compares to other countries in the field of nuclear energy.
Over all this was a very well written review. It was not a surprise to learn that the events in Japan have affected the status of nuclear power in the U.S.. However, I was surprised to see the extent of which it has damaged nuclear power's reputation. Perhaps for the better.
Jack Deasy
I felt like this was a well written article and made it very simple for the reader to understand what the author was trying to convey to us. Also, I find that nuclear power is very interesting and applies to us directly in many ways. Finally, I also like how he told us how it relates directly to us.
I think that he could have given us more detail in what could go wrong or the dangers if we where to build a plant near us. Also, I wish he gave us more information on the US situation with nuclear power plants.
I was impressed with the fact that people are still considering building new power plants with all the things that have happened and could go wrong.
Near the Savannah River, workers are building one of the largest nuclear power plants in several years, and it will be used for plutonium based weapons. The explanation as to how and why the project started was insightful and gave me a better understanding of the article. The explanation of plutonium, a difficult topic, was helpful as well. I also thought it was interesting to note that Obama stated that mox fuel is safe and will attract customers if they build the plant.
Some parts of this article could have been improved. There was not enough description and explanation of precisely why the power plant was so dangerous. I also would have liked to know more about how the US uses nuclear energy.
This article is very relevant because of the situation in Japan. The recent earthquake and nuclear power leak could affect all of us, and it would be worth knowing if the productivity of the plant outweighs the risk.
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