Team Boomer-aang is hosting a Citizen Science Project dealing with the pros, cons, and future of nuclear power in the United States (and possibly abroad).

For the first week, I researched general information on nuclear power and the pros and cons of it.  Interestingly, the United States has 65 nuclear power plants with a total of 104 functioning generators.   These plants generate 19% of the United States’ energy, and the most nuclear energy generation in the world, even though the percentage we use for supply is lower (for example, France uses 80% of nuclear power for energy supply).  These plants are commercially owned.  The amount of plants surprised me, because nuclear energy is not discussed very much, especially in comparison to natural gases and coal.

The list of advantages and disadvantages seemed relatively constant across the web.  Advantages include no CO2 emissions; it is cleaner than oil; while non-renewable, radioactive materials are relatively available.  Disadvantages include radiation and contamination (including possible accidents)and  non-disposable resources.  Of course, money is a factor that can contribute to whether or not nuclear power becomes a bigger contender in the energy market.

After reading through background information, I discovered there are plants in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania.  For this upcoming week, I plan to research these plants and see if any of their workers would be willing to come to the citizen science cafe (or have a digital presence, via video chat or a prerecorded video message).  Also, I would like to research nuclear power in France, which produces the second most in the world as well as relying on it more heavily for energy use than the United States, and Germany, which also relies heavily on nuclear power but after the meltdown in some of Japan’s nuclear power plants in 2010, was considering phasing out nuclear power.  By looking at these two countries,  we can see how nuclear power plays a part in similar societies, as well as the debates in Germany as to pros and cons in a country already utilizing nuclear energy.  In addition, I will begin compiling a list of possible guests and hosts for the event.