Nuclear sci. class offered
Published Dec. 8, 2006
Someone outside of the scientific community, when speaking about nuclear energy, will likely cite its destructive qualities before listing its benefits.
Most will point out the use of nuclear weapons by the United States in World War II before they talk about nuclear power as a source of electricity. Some might mention the 1986 disaster at a nuclear power plant in Chernobyl, Ukraine, or, more recently, the death of a former Russian spy due to radiation poisoning before they discuss chemotherapy for cancer patients.
Next semester, the Nuclear Engineering Department at MU will offer a course that will focus not only the dangers of nuclear energy to mankind, but also its positive attributes. Charles Riggs, the professor for the course, said no prior experience in nuclear studies is needed to enroll in the course, titled "Nuclear Methods in Bioenvironmental Studies."
"The course objectives are to present the principles and applications of using nuclear techniques in addressing bioenvironmental changes," Riggs said.
Riggs said the course is intended as an elective for graduate students majoring in engineering, physics, chemistry and nuclear medicine, but also encouraged students in other disciplines to take the class. He said students should take the class if they wish to expand their knowledge of the technical aspects of nuclear energy as it pertains to current events issues including alternative energy and the poisoning of former Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko by the radioactive substance polonium-210.
Litvinenko's death last month in Britain raised concerns about others succumbing to radiation poisoning, as authorities have found traces of polonium-210 at several locations in Britain and Russia where Litvinenko had been within the last month of his life.
The U.S. Homeland Security and Energy departments announced Thursday that, beginning next year, cargo containers on ships departing from Britain and other countries will now be scanned for radiation before they can leave port.
Riggs said the course covers the detection of radiation and the applications of nuclear energy in counterterrorism and medicine. He said the course also devotes time to the effects of nuclear energy on the environment and its use as an alternative energy source to the predominately fossil-fuel based global energy infrastructure.
Sustain Mizzou President Benjamin Datema said courses related to environmental sustainability are growing in importance as human civilization increasingly places "strain on the natural world."
"Most people today are familiar with the effects of radiation and the threat it can pose to living beings," Datema said. "These effects must be very well controlled, as well as very thoughtfully and thoroughly dealt with. But when nuclear power is done right, it can be a fairly low-polluting energy option."
Joselyn Ocasio Escobales took Riggs' course at Polytechnic University in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and expects to get her nuclear engineering degree from MU.
Ocasio found the course interesting because of its relation to the environmental effects of nuclear energy and that it is a "complete course" that provides "a different perspective of nuclear studies."