Global warming and nuclear power

Nuclear fission power reactors represent a potential solution to many aspects of global change possibly induced by inputting of either particulate or carbon or sulfur oxides into the Earth`s atmosphere. Of proven technological feasibility, they presently produce high-grade heat for large-scale electricity generation, space heating and industrial process-energizing around the world, without emitting greenhouse gases or atmospheric particulates; importantly, electricity production costs from the best nuclear plants presently are closely comparable with those of the best fossil-fired plants. However, a substantial number of issues currently stand between nuclear power and widespread substitution for large stationary fossil fuel-fired systems. These include perceptual ones regarding both long-term and acute operational safety, plant decommissioning, fuel reprocessing, radwaste disposal, fissile materials diversion to military purposes and - perhaps most seriously- readily quantifiable concerns regarding long-term fuel supply and total unit electrical energy cost. We sketch a road-map for proceeding from the present situation toward a nuclear power-intensive world, addressing along the way each of the concerns which presently impede widespread nuclear substitution for fossil fuels, particularly for coal in the most populous and rapidly developing portions of the world, e.g., China and India. This `design to societal specifications` approach to large-scale nuclear fission power systems may lead to energy sources meeting essentially all stationary demands for high-temperature heat. Such advanced options offer a human population of ten billion the electricity supply levels currently enjoyed by Americans for 10,000 years. Nuclear power systems tailored to local needs-and-interests and having a common advanced technology base could reduce present-day world-wide C0{sub 2} emissions by two-fold, if universally employed. By application to small mobile demands, a second two-fold reduction might be attained. Even the first such halving of carbon intensivity of stationary-source energy production world-wide might permit continued slow power-demand growth in the highly developed countries and rapid development of the other 80% of the world, both without active governmental suppression of fossil fuel usage - while also stabilizing carbon input-rates into the Earth`s atmosphere. The second two-fold reduction might obviate most global warming concerns

Going nuclear : the future looks brighter for a once-maligned industry

Economists think out loud onlineNuclear energy

The socio-political bases of willingness to join environmental NGOs in China: a study in social cohesion

This article examines willingness to join China’s emerging green movement through an analysis of data from the China General Social Survey of 2006. A question asked about environmental NGO membership shows that whilst only one per cent of respondents claim to be members of an environmental NGO, more than three fifths say they would like to join one in future if there is an opportunity, slightly less than one fifth reject the idea, and the remainder are don’t knows. The paper tests explanations of willingness to join based on instrumentality, ideology, social identity and social capital networks. It finds that instrumental considerations dominate, although ideology, identity and networks contribute incrementally. The conclusion considers the usefulness of willingness to join as an indicator of social cohesion within the framework of a wider effort to evaluate social quality

Beyond the Gun Fight: The Aftermath of the Virginia Tech Massacre

Which side of the gun debate loses ground after the Virginia Tech Massacre? Neither. Here\u27s why

The Apocalyptic Imagination and the Fundamentalist Mindset

This article explores the psychological meanings of the apocalyptic imagination in what I call a fundamentalist mindset. That mindset has its own long history but is newly relevant in the nuclear age. We no longer need God to bring about ultimate destruction. There are many facets of the fundamentalist mindset (for example, its intense literalism), but the focus in the article is on two: its kairotic sense of time and its rampant paranoia. These two facets interact synergistically around violence that is experienced by those who revel in it as moral in a totalistic sense. Killing becomes healing. The evil other, indeed evil itself, must be totally eradicated. If that can happen as a kind of final solution, the result is ultimate salvation in an apocalyptic remaking of the world. We must understand these dynamics that are all too human but newly significant with the means of such destruction in human hands

Cultural Cognition and Synthetic Biology Risk Perceptions: A Preliminary Analysis

We describe the results of a study to determine the synthetic-biology risk perceptions of a large and diverse sample of Americans (N = 1,500). The survey found that hierarchical, conservative, and highly religious individuals - one who normally are skeptical of claims of environmental risks (including those relating to global warming) - are the most concerned about synthetic biology risks. We offer an interpretation that identifies how selective risk-skepticism and risk-sensitivity can convey a cultural commitment to traditional forms of authority

Cultural Cognition and Synthetic Biology Risk Perceptions: A Preliminary Analysis

We describe the results of a study to determine the synthetic-biology risk perceptions of a large and diverse sample of Americans (N = 1,500). The survey found that hierarchical, conservative, and highly religious individuals - one who normally are skeptical of claims of environmental risks (including those relating to global warming) - are the most concerned about synthetic biology risks. We offer an interpretation that identifies how selective risk-skepticism and risk-sensitivity can convey a cultural commitment to traditional forms of authority

Future United States Energy Security Concerns

Abstract in HTML and technical report in PDF available on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change website (http://mit.edu/globalchange/www/).Without energy, the economy can neither function nor grow. However, for at least the next half-century, the U.S. will not have an inexhaustible supply of inexpensive, clean energy. Dependence on energy imports, vulnerability to energy supply disruption, and issues of proliferation of nuclear material are cause for special concern. This paper addresses the geopolitical realities of and connections between energy and security, especially how the energy security issues that we face in the future differ from those we faced in the past

The Effects of Socioscientific Issues Based Instruction on Middle School Students' Argumentation Quality

The aim of this research is to examine how socioscientific issues (SSI) based instruction affects middle school students’ argumentation quality. In this research, we worked with 25 seventh grade students. A simple experimental design was used in this research. An SSI based unit was designed and these unit activities were applied for 8 weeks. The data of the research is obtained through written argumentation forms. Descriptive analysis, Wilcoxon signed rank test, and effect size values were used to analyze the argumentation components. As a result of the research, it was shown that students improved their argumentation quality significantly. The results obtained from this research demonstrate that SSI based instruction is an effective approach to improve the students’ argumentation quality. Therefore, SSI based instruction can be used to improve the argumentation quality of the students in science lessons. Keywords: argumentation quality, middle school students, socioscientific issues based instructio