Neutron Short Story

Once upon a time a teeny, tiny thing was discovered in 1932 by the English physicist James Chadwick, called a neutron.  The neutron is a particle found in almost every atomic nucleus (the tiny spec of matter at the heart of an atom). It has no electric charge and its mass is nearly 1,840 times that of the electron. Neutrons and protons constitute almost all of an atom's mass. They stick together because of the strong nuclear force to form all the different kinds of atoms. Like the proton and other baryons, the neutron consists of three quarks. A free neutron will decay with a half life of about 10.3 minutes but it is stable if combined into a nucleus. The neutron is about 0.2% more massive than a proton. A free neutron is radioactive. It undergoes beta decay to form a proton, an electron, and an electron-antineutrino. This is what happened to most of the neutrons created by the big bang.

Free neutrons easily pass through atoms, because they have no electrical charge.

Renewable Energy Source Paper: Solar Power

One particular renewable energy source that interested me was solar energy, especially since my Dad owns a company that develops solar power plants. Last year oil prices spiked to more than $140 a barrel before plunging along with the economy—a reminder of the dangers of tying the future to something as unpredictable as oil. Washington is underwriting massive projects to overhaul the country's infrastructure, including its energy supply. In his inaugural address President Barack Obama promised to "harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories." His 2010 budget called for doubling the country's renewable energy capacity in three years. Wind turbines and bio-fuels will be important contributors. But no form of energy is more abundant than the sun.

There are two main ways to harness it. The first is to produce steam, either with troughs or with a field of flat, computer-guided mirrors, called heliostats, that focus sunlight on a receiver on top of an enormous "power tower." The second way is to convert sunlight directly into electricity with (PV) panels made of semiconductors such as silicon. Each approach has its advantages. Right now steam generation is more efficient than photovoltaic—a greater percentage of incoming sunlight is converted into electricity. But it requires acres of land and long transmission lines to bring the power to market. Photovoltaic panels can be placed on rooftops at the point where the power is needed. Both energy sources share an obvious drawback: They fade when it's cloudy and disappear at night. But engineers are already developing systems for storing the energy for use in the darker hours. The optimists say that with steady, incremental improvements and with substantial government support, solar power could become as economical and efficient as fossil fuels.

I highly support solar energy as a renewable energy source.  Even with its disadvantages I think that within the years to come scientists can continue to research how to overcome them. Aiming to bring down costs and reduce the need for incentives, NREL's engineers are studying mirrors made from lightweight polymers instead of glass and receiving tubes that will absorb more sunlight and lose less heat. They're also working on solar power's biggest problem: how to store some of the heat produced during daylight hours for release later on. "In the Southwest particularly, peak loads are in the daytime, but they don't end when the sun goes down," said Mark Mehos, an NREL program manager. People come home from work, turn on lights and air conditioners. Before long they may be plugging in electric cars.

Solar Power Article

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/09/solar/johnson-text


This articles main point is to describe the benefits and uses that can come out of using solar energy.  It explains that wind turbines and bio fuels can also be helpful contributors but nothing is more abundant than the sun.  "If we talk about geothermal or wind, all these other sources of renewable energy are limited in their quantity," Eicke Weber, director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems, in Freiburg, Germany, told me last fall. "The total power needs of the humans on Earth is approximately 16 terawatts," he said. (A terawatt is a trillion watts.) "In the year 2020 it is expected to grow to 20 terawatts. The sunshine on the solid part of the Earth is 120,000 terawatts. From this perspective, energy from the sun is virtually unlimited." The article also explains how the sun is harnessed for humans to use.  There are two main ways to harness it. The first is to produce steam, either with troughs or with a field of flat, computer-guided mirrors, called heliostats, that focus sunlight on a receiver on top of an enormous power tower. The second way is to convert sunlight directly into electricity with PV panels made of semiconductors such as silicon. The optimists say that with steady improvements and with substantial government support, solar power could become as economical and efficient as fossil fuels.

Nuclear Reactor Risk Assessment

Nuclear Reactor Risk Assessment

1.      According to the map, which other countries/regions have placed nuclear reactors in potentially dangerous areas? Name at least three.

Some countries that have potentially dangerously placed nuclear reactors are Mexico, Argentina, and India.

2.      What does this map tell you about the plant designers' assessments of earthquake risk? Do you think this assessment will change with this most recent crisis in Japan?

This plant’s designer was not as conscious as he should have been when it came to assessments of earthquake risks.  I think the assessment will change with this most recent crisis in Japan because they put a lot of nuclear plants in Japan which ended up becoming a catastrophe. 

3.      Which of these issues do you think is most dangerous and why? Find a reactor which is reporting that issues and say where it is located.

I think that the most dangerous issue out of all of these is Earthquake risk.  One place that a reactor is located with this issue is in South Carolina. 

4.      Compare the two maps; which US reactors are dangerously close to a recent Earthquake epicenter? Do you think that these reactors should be moved or shut down in light of what happened in Japan? Which reactor do you think is in the most imminent danger of being hit by a damaging earthquake? How do you know?

There are a lot of nuclear reactors located in California in the US, which is where a lot of earthquakes occur.  I think that they should use more caution when deciding where to put these reactors because what happened in Japan could just as easily happen in California.  The reactors in California and in other earthquake risk places should be moved. The reactors in California are in the most imminent danger because there are a lot of earthquakes there.