Lesson 1 Plan
The Challenge of Nuclear Waste
Purpose:
This lesson provides students with an opportunity to understand our nation’s nuclear waste dilemma, analyze the associated issues, and gain insight into the steps involved in approaching the complex task of solving the problem.
Concepts:
- There is much controversy associated with nuclear weapons, nuclear power, and managing our nation’s nuclear waste.
- A national challenge exists because there is an accumulation of highly radioactive nuclear waste.
- There are both technical and societal aspects to the challenge of nuclear waste.
- Complex technical and societal challenges must be addressed in making decisions about the management of nuclear waste.
- Many potential solutions to the nuclear waste dilemma have been explored. Today, the consensus of the international scientific community is that disposal in deep geologic repositories is the preferred method of permanent disposal.
- Many steps must be identified and addressed in planning and completing the complex task of solving the nuclear waste issue.
Duration of Lesson:
Two 50-minute class periods
Objectives:
After participating in this lesson, students will be able to
- Identify challenges and solutions associated with nuclear waste;
- Differentiate between technical and societal issues related to disposing of nuclear waste;
- Identify major steps involved in completing a complex project;
- Design a flow chart illustrating the steps necessary for completing a complex project;
- Compare and contrast their perceptions of the complexity of a large-scale project before and after participating in the design of the activity flow chart; and
- Draw conclusions about the complexity of the task the government faces in managing nuclear waste.
Skills:
Analyzing, discussing, explaining, evaluating, group dynamics, reading, synthesizing, comparing and contrasting, drawing conclusions, decision making, designing, graphing
Vocabulary:
democracy, dry storage, high-level radioactive waste, nuclear waste, Nuclear Waste Policy Act , repository, societal, spent nuclear fuel, technical
Materials:
Day 1
Reading Lesson: “The Challenge
of Nuclear Waste”
Activity Sheet: “Nuclear
Waste Challenges and Solutions”
Transparency: “Nuclear
Waste Challenges and Solutions”
Day 2
Activity Sheet: “Swimming
Pool Construction Flow Chart”
Day 1:
Nuclear Waste Challenges and Solutions:
This activity lends itself well to group discussion, but can be equally as effective when assigned as an individual lesson. The suggested procedure that follows is designed for presenting this lesson as a group activity or as a class discussion.
Suggested Procedure:
- Ask students to read “The
Challenge of Nuclear Waste.”
- Describe the differences between challenges and solutions and the terms societal and technical as they relate to the nuclear waste issue (see discussion point a below).
- Divide students into groups of 3-5. Go over the instructions for the work sheet and have them work as a group to complete the “Nuclear
Waste Challenges and Solutions” activity sheet.
Note: There are no “right” or “wrong” answers to the activity sheet, but students should be able to defend their answers by explaining their reasons for placing the check marks as they did.
- When all groups have completed their assignment, discuss this activity using the transparency “Nuclear
Waste Challenges and Solutions.”
- Engage students in a discussion about the nation’s nuclear waste dilemma (see discussion points below).
- To culminate your discussion, ask students if they can identify additional challenges and solutions and categorize them as technical or societal.
Have students write a brief summary of what they have learned in this lesson.
For Class Discussion:
- The activity entitled “Nuclear Waste Challenges and Solutions” asks you to identify challenges and solutions as either technical or societal. What do these two terms mean?
(Technical challenges and solutions are those that depend on mechanical or scientific practicability or whether the solution will work. For example, a technical challenge is designing containers or packages that will keep radioactive materials from escaping into the environment. Societal challenges and solutions are related to human society and interactions among people. Political and economic impacts and the effects on people associated with disposing of nuclear waste are examples of the societal aspects.)
- Although the technical and the societal aspects have been distinguished for the purposes of this activity, you may want to discuss whether students can think of ways in which these aspects interact, e.g., technical decisions will have societal implications if they affect the number of construction workers required to build a facility. The societal aspects of a community will have technical implications, e.g., the availability of workers with the required skills to construct and operate the facility.
- One challenge encountered in planning for the disposal of nuclear waste is that there is not a substantial accumulation of experience against which the calculations of analysts can be verified. Additionally, the time frame for predicting and preventing risk extends many thousands of years into the future. How do you feel about this?
(Answers will vary.)
- Experts acknowledge that there are and will be risks associated with the disposal of nuclear waste. In your opinion, are there risks associated with doing nothing about disposing of the existing accumulation of nuclear waste? Explain.
(Answers will vary.)
- How does the fact that the United States is a democracy influence the way we solve national challenges?
(In a democratic society, national challenges are solved through striving for open and balanced dialogue in arriving at legitimate and acceptable decisions. When national decisions are made, however, they do not satisfy everyone that has taken part in these discussions. This is true even for a decision based on a majority vote, by definition based on a majority vote, by definition there will be an opposed minority.)
- Ask students to identify controversial situations in their community or state and to relate their own thinking about resolution of the controversies, including the process and how their personal values influence their thinking.
(Answers will vary.)
Teacher Evaluation of Student Performance:
Student participation in group discussions, class debate, and completion of activities will indicate understanding.
Day 2:
Approaching a Complex Task
Suggested Procedure:
- Explain to students that a decision has been made to build an inground swimming pool. Students are responsible for building this pool. They should consider everything that must be done to complete this project from the time the decision is made until the first swim. Point out to students that there are a number of steps to be considered prior to breaking ground for a project of this size. Be sure students understand that they own the land upon which the pool is to be built and that they have the necessary money for this project.
- Because students will be asked to create a flow chart documenting their swimming pool design, you may wish to draw on the chalk/ marker board an example of a flow chart, such as the one appearing on the activity sheet entitled “Swimming Pool Construction Flow Chart.” As a class, discuss the flow chart they will use to help them organize their planning. Be sure students understand that the flow chart is to serve as a planning aid for this complex project; it is to be used to illustrate the steps they have decided are necessary for completion of this project.
Examples of suggested steps are:
| a) decision to build |
j) State or local government guidelines |
s) suntan lotion |
| b) someone in charge |
k) safety regulations |
t) lifeguard |
| c) budget |
l) buy supplies |
u) fencing |
| d) design |
m) buy equipment |
v) restrooms |
| e) cost estimate |
n) make schedule |
w) lawn furniture |
| f) builder |
o) connect to water source |
x) pool chemicals |
| g) quality inspector |
p) test design |
y) State or local government inspection |
| h) license to build |
q) fill pool |
z) first swim |
| i) license to operate |
r) new bathing suit |
aa) assign and schedule water testing and routine maintenance tasks |
- Break students into small groups and allow them 15 minutes to discuss their approach and gather ideas. Have each group use the activity sheet entitled “Swimming Pool Construction Flow Chart” to create a chart illustrating the steps they have decided are necessary for completion of this project.
Ask each group to share their flowchart with their classmates, explaining the steps they have decided are necessary for completion of the project.
If you have time, ask students to identify which of these steps are purely technical considerations, which are purely societal considerations, and which are combinations of both technical and societal considerations. Students should be prepared to discuss why it is necessary to consider both technical and societal challenges in the development of a swimming pool or other complex structure.
- Ask students if they think this particular project was more complicated than they would have previously thought.
- Ask students to compare their perceptions of the magnitude of the technical and societal challenges involved in the completion of their swimming pool construction activity with those involved in the construction of a geologic repository for the disposal of nuclear waste.
What follows is a list of guidelines that the U. S. Department of Energy (DOE) must adhere to in constructing a geologic repository. Briefly discuss these guidelines, stressing that all the criteria must be understood and met prior to the construction of a nuclear waste repository. Be sure to compare the complexity of the geologic repository construction project with that of the swimming pool project the students just completed.
- Responsibility — The organizational structure, functional responsibilities, levels of authority, and lines of communication for activities affecting quality must be documented.
- Quality Assurance Program — A documented quality assurance program must be planned, implemented, and maintained.
- Design Control — The design must be defined, controlled, and verified.
- Instructions, Procedures, and Drawings — Activities affecting quality must be prescribed in accordance with instructions, procedures, or drawings of a type appropriate with the circumstances.
- Document Control — The preparation, issue, and change of documents that specify quality requirements or prescribe activities affecting quality must be controlled to assure that correct documents are being used.
- Control of Purchased Items and Services — The procurement of items and services must be controlled to assure conformance with specified requirements.
- Identification and Control of Items — A system must be established for the identification and control of all materials, parts, and components. (This system must be designed to prevent the use of incorrect or defective material, parts, and components.)
- Control of Special Processes — A system must be developed to guarantee that only fully qualified personnel will perform specialized jobs such as welding, heat treating, etc.
- Inspection — A program for inspection of activities affecting quality must be established and carried out to verify adherence to instructions. Persons other than those who are doing the work must perform these inspections.
- Test Control — A test program must be established to ensure that all structures, systems, and components work satisfactorily and in compliance with the design specifications.
- Control of Measuring and Test Equipment — A system must be established to assure that all equipment used in testing is in proper working order.
- Handling, Storage, and Shipping — A system must be instituted to control the handling, storage, cleaning, and preservation of material and equipment to prevent damage or deterioration.
Inspection, Test, and Operating Status — A system must be established that clearly indicates the status of inspections and tests performed on individual items used in construction.
- Inspection, Test, and Operating Status — A system must
be established that clearly indicates the status of inspections
and tests performed on individual items used in construction.
- Control of Nonconforming Items — A system must be established to control materials, parts, or components that do not conform to requirements in order to prevent their inadvertent use or installation.
- Corrective Action — A system must be established to ensure that conditions adverse to quality are promptly identified and corrected.
- Quality Assurance Records — Records must be maintained to provide evidence of any activities affecting quality.
- Audits — A system of planned and periodic audits must be carried out to verify compliance with all aspects of the quality assurance program and to determine the effectiveness of the program.
- Students should be asked to draw a conclusion and share it with classmates regarding the difficulty of the task the Department of Energy faces in the nuclear waste management program.
(If time is short you may wish to assign step 6 as homework.)
- Students should be asked why they think all of these guidelines required before starting the work?
(The answer is that the safety of workers and the public is assured by doing things safely, methodically, and correctly. By showing these criteria are understood and met before (as well as during) construction, assurance is given that what is built is what was designed, that all changes are evaluated and controlled, and that the worker- and long-term-safety promised prior to construction will be achieved during and after construction.
Teacher Evaluation of Student Performance:
Discussion and group activity participation will indicate comprehension.
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