Nuclear Power, Cooking for the Global Poor Back to PHYS 310 Main Website
Monday’s Class :
Before Class:
- Meet today at Poly Canyon village instead of the classroom.
- Finish PS#5 – If you are not doing the problem sets, at least please do the carbon footprint calculations so we can talk about it in class. I put my carbon footprint calculation (Excel) on the main class website by PS#5.
- Please see the video about Nuclear Power
- See the video: How about the nuclear power we have yet to control: Fusion
- Please see the slides if you like.
- Please see this video / read the article. Subramanian The numbers in this paper are important. Please know them.
- Thanks for feedback – see statements on main class website
During Class
- Hand in PS#5
- Visit Cogen in Poly Canyon Village
After Class
Wednesday’s Class
Before Class
- Please read Kirk Smith’s short paper: What’s Cooking? There’s an amazing amount of attention about how poor people cook. Please come to class to answer the question “WHY do we care so much?”. Also come prepared to ask or answer the questions: What’s the Carbon Market? What’s the Clean Development Mechanism? Why do we care about how poor people cook?
- Bring bills for electricity, natural gas, and anything else energy related.
- Please see video Nuclear Safety
- Please see slides for videos on nuclear.
- MUST READ! this short article from Forbes about deaths per unit of electricity generated. Which technology is the least, the most dangerous? Where do deaths from rooftop solar come from?
- Please see this video about our project developing an improved cookstove for implementation in Uganda. If you are interested to know more, you can read the entire scientific paper here.
- Please see video about Nuclear Waste, Cost
- Read about the latest and perhaps last (?) US nuclear reactor to be built.
- Haas publication of fracking and learn by doing This is a learning curve article (how things get cheaper with increased practice), but also mentions the future of nuclear.
During Class
- Debate – Pro or Anti Nuke? Please come prepared to defend your point of view.
- What’s a Delay Neutron? What are they good? Bad? important?
After Activity
Friday: Midterm #2 Today!
Before Class
- Please see calculation on heat of combustion vs GHG warming… it takes a few months for GHG to warm the earth as much as the heat of combustion. This problem was on PS#5. I posted these calculations on the main class website.
- Solutions for MT#1 posted along with PS#4, and PS#5.
- Hey guys, there’s something about nuclear power that I didn’t express… that is about nuclear proliferation – that is when nuclear electricity generation facility materials gives rise to widespread development of nuclear weapons… in particular in the hands of people who will use them! I think that it is imperative that the US preaches what it practices… that is as world leader, if we are to use nuclear, we should feel compelled to bring it to the world. Even if we are able to use nuclear safely and inexpensively inside of the USA, I’d (personally) be concerned to bring this technology to all people. This may be a point of discussion sometime if you like. … see you in class. If you love technology development, it may be very interesting to be on a project that explores Thorium cycles for new reactors, even if they are not likely to be used…. This would probably be more basic science… but still much more applied than neutrino research!
During Class
After Class
- Update your website to include technical information about what you are doing.
- Start your second self intervention: Empathy Self-Intervention. Recognize when you’ve “otherized” someone – established them as “the other” and see how this gives you the ability to dismiss the validity of their perspective. Then endeavor to “walk a mile in their shoes”, see their behavior as something that you do, see the world through their eyes. Recognize how they are the same as you, or where you have similarities.
What I did not assign: