Name:Date:Period:
Nuclear Chemistry Webquest
YOUR ASSIGNMENT
- Complete the Nuclear Power WebQuest alone or with one partner. Answer questions 1-10 and turn in before leaving class.
- Read and summarize a current event article regarding the nuclear power plants in Japan. Possible websites to search are CNN, PBS, and NYTimes. Each person in the class must read and summarize a different article. Perhaps making a list on the side board of articles will be helpful to ensure that there are no duplicates.
Resources
Use the resources below to conduct your search. You are free to use other resources including other websites, library reference books, videos, electronic databases like EBSCO, Encyclopedia Britannica, and Wikipedia to fortify your position.
Search engine key words:
“Nuclear power”, “nuclear power plant”, “nuclear waste”, “thermal pollution”, Canada Deuterium Uranium (CANDU), US Department of Energy (DOE), EPA, thermonuclear device, atomic bomb, hydrogen bomb, “dirty nuclear weapon”, “protest” and “Yucca Mountain”, “California + nuclear power”, etc. You can also type in “nuclear power webquest” and find other teachers’ projects that include many Internet resources.
Internet Resources
Chernobyl Poems.
Chernobyl.info.
CNN news. (use key words search)
Federal Emergency Management Agency. Document explaining the hazards associated with nuclear power plants and emergency resources.
Green Peace. (use key words “nuclear testing in Alaska” in search)
Green Peace. Pathways to Destruction.
How Stuff Works. (search on “nuclear power”)
New England Coalition on Nuclear Pollution.
New York Times Newspaper. (use key words search)
Newsweek. (use key words search)
No More Nukes. Documenting The Campaigns To Close Vermont Yankee.
Nuclear Energy Institute. (great site for information but uses adobe acrobat so may be slow or difficult to retrieve reports)
Nuclear Energy Institute. Nuclear World.
Nuclear Information and Resource Service. Nuclear Power Plant Fuel -- a source of PLUTONIUM FOR WEAPONS?
Nuclear Power Plant Operation. (a web based test)
Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Commission developed with the mission of "Protecting public health and safety through regulation of nuclear power and the civilian use of nuclear materials."
Nuclear Workers. (pro bias for industry workers)
PBS. Meltdown at Three Mile Island
Sierra ClubNuclear Waste Guide
Sierra Club. (use key words search)
Stanford Formal Reasoning Group. FAQ about nuclear power.
The Virtual Nuclear Power Plant Tour. (tour with pictures, 10 review questions)
Time News Media Corporation. (use key words search)
Uranium Information CenterEconomics of nuclear power.
US Department of Energy. Nuclear Age Timeline.
US News. (use key words search)
Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant. (animations and good background information)
World Nuclear Association. (Pro-Nuclear site, educational)
Yucca Mountain. (waste issue)
Nuclear Power WebquestA lot of potential energy stored
in a very little package (the nucleus of an atom) /
Directions: The forces of attraction which holds protons and neutrons together in the nucleus is the strongest force we know of…in fact it is called the “strong force”. This means that when the nuclei of atoms are altered (split apart or smashed together) tremendous amounts of energy can be released. You will be reading an article online at the HowStuffWorks.com website to answer the 8 questions below.
GO TO
Answer the questions while reading through the various sections of this article. You can do this by clicking NEXT after finishing each page or clicking on the hyperlinks at the bottom of each page that looks like this:
1.Introduction to How Nuclear Power Works
2.Nuclear Fission
3.Inside a Nuclear Power Plant
4.Outside a Nuclear Power Plant
5.Subcriticality, Criticality and Supercriticality
6.Problems with Nuclear Power Plants
7.Lots More Information
1. Why is U-235 (the Uranium isotope with a mass of 234 amu) a special element and what is it used for?
2. Describe nuclear fission and how the famous equation E = mc2 relates to this process?
3. Sketch the diagram of a nuclear power plant and speculate as to the function of each of the labels A through H. Each part is not explicitly detailed in the article, so it is up to you to use the diagram to give your best explanation of what each of the parts from A to H do.
4. What is meant by the term supercritical and how does it relate to what is being attempted when making a nuclear bomb (quick, explosive effect) as opposed to a nuclear power plant (controlled steady production of energy)?
5. List 4 significant problems with nuclear power plants.
CLICK on the nuclear bomb hyperlink or GO TO
6. What is the difference between nuclear fission and nuclear fusion?
7. Describe how the gun-triggered fission bomb (aka “Little Boy” bomb) worked. How was it triggered to explode? Click on the “remove shell” and then “detonate” icon to see the animation for help with the explanation.
8. Describe the immediate effects of a nuclear bomb on the hypocenter (or ground zero) as well as long some term health consequences.
The source of radioactive fuel is often uranium, which has its own controversies as well.
Use the websites listed below and any other resources to answer the following questions.
9. Go to the Powertech USA website (second link given above) to learn about Uranium. Write three comments about what you learned.
10. Scan the Centennial Project for Powertech USA to determine where this Uranium mine is located using the third link above. Then go to the fourth link above to read Powertech’s responses to Public Health and Environment questions. Read the questions regarding radiation exposure, tailings, open-pit mining, air quality and reclamation plans and give a response on whether you think Powertech is a credible source or not. Explain why.