Name ___________________                                                                                         Date__________ Per_______

 

                                                                Nuclear Reaction:  Frontline

 

Assignment:  http://pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/reaction/

 

1.                    France obtains the majority of its electricity from nuclear power.  Identify two reasons cited by the French for using nuclear power.

 

 

 

 

2.                    How does France handle its nuclear waste?  What is their long-term solution?

 

 

 

 

3.                    Why did President Carter ban the reprocessing of commercial reactor fuel in 1977?

 

 

 

 

4.                    Chernobyl's nuclear power plant "exploded".  What caused the explosion?

 

 

 

 

5.                    Unlike TMI there was a significant release of radioactive wastes.  How has it been described when compared to a nuclear bomb?

 

 

 

 

6.                    U.S. nuclear power advocates argue that an accident like Chernobyl could not occur in the U.S.  What is their argument?

 

 

 

 

7.                    What is the risk from 1 mrem of radioactive exposure?

 

 

 

 

8.                    What is the exposure in mrems from: living near a coal fired power station? Traveling by aircraft to New York (2800 miles)? Smoking?  Working in the US Capitol building?

 

 

 

 

9.                    After TMI several thousand personal injury lawsuits were filed.  What two questions did the court adjudicate?

 

10.                 What level of exposure did the court determine the plaintiff's were exposed to?  What was the judge's decision regarding the personal injury claims filed against the defendants?

 

 

 

 

 

11.                 What assignment was given to the Atomic Energy Committee?

 

 

 

 

 

12.                 Explain the "exclusion radius" used by the Reactor Safeguards Committee?

 

 

 

 

 

13.                 Why was the "exclusion radius" abandoned in favor of the "containment" building?

 

 

 

 

 

14.                 When the AEC was unable to work out the loss of coolant safety issue what happened?

 

 

 

 

15.                 How does probabilistic risk assessment work?

 

 

 

 

 

16.                 What comparison was made regarding the probability of being fatally injured by a nuclear accident?

 

 

 

 

 

17.                 What was the conclusion of the Kemeny Commission about the cause of the TMI accident?

 

 

 

 

 

18.                 Charles Perrow a sociologist at Yale has attempted to put complex technologies into context.  Summarize his thesis.   What industries/technologies does Perrow's thesis apply to?