Research Plan

In my research, I plan on comparing nuclear energy to other energy sources. In my first specific area of exploration, I will investigate the chemical reactions that occur in nuclear and other types of power plants. In my second specific area, I will examine the costs, the practicality, and side effects of each type of power plant from my first area.

I have been able to find a lot of information about the reactions that occur in nuclear, solar, and coal plants. I have not found too much information about tidal and wind plants, but I will keep looking! I have also found a fairly large amount of information about the practicality of different types of energy.

I recently added five more links to the top of my link list concerning nuclear (and other types of energy). None of the new links connect to the UD database, but some of my older links link to articles that were mentioned on the Gale database.

Also, I posted on Julia, Gealina, and Alison’s blogs.

~Rick

The Usefulness of Wikipedia

As far as internet sources go, we have been taught to always respect subscription encyclopedias (such as Britannica), government websites, and university databases. We have been taught to question the sites of “random” individuals and sites without a listed author unless we can confirm these facts with those from a database that we can trust.

Sadly, Wikipedia.org technically falls into the second category, and it does not garner as much respect as it deserves. Yes, Wikipedia can be edited by anyone and can be grossly inaccurate. HOWEVER, Wikipedia employs experts to ensure the accuracy of its facts and therefore, a very small proportion of Wikipedia’s articles are inaccurate.

Another plus to Wikipedia is the fact that it is free, and therefore, it can be accessed from any computer with an internet connection. No lousy database subscription with a 17 character password required to log-on. Additionally, no annoying advertisements. Instead, Wikipedia provides its users with a user-friendly search interface that allows one to quickly find his/her desired article.

Wikipedia is useful for those of us who want to quickly look up a literary or IM reference. The opening paragraphs of each article provide users with a quick overview of the topic. Additionally, for those of us doing a research project on a topic, a preliminary search on Wikipedia informs us whether our topic is too narrow or too broad. The Wikipedia article can provide us with several suggestions of how to narrow or broaden this field. Furthermore, Wikipedia provides one with outside links to further one’s understanding of any subject.
Also, Wikipedia’s use of fairly simplistic vocabulary assists students from becoming lost in the complicated jargon of a specialized field.

Some critics argue that not all of the information on Wikipedia can necessarily be trusted. I concur; it is important to double check facts with ANOTHER respected database.

While researching, it is likely that you may come across a source with a subjective viewpoint. To filter out this bias, one must ask oneself, “Why is this author writing this? Is he/she out to prove a point? Or does he/she simply want to share his/her knowledge with the world?” If you do come across a source which you feel may be biased, it is best to again check these facts with different sources. But remember, Britannica and .gov sites can be culturally biased (“the most powerful societies write the history books”).

In my research, I intend to skim the majority of the Wikipedia article on nuclear energy. I will select a few portions that interest me to focus on. I will then thoroughly read these sections ALONG WITH outside sources, such as from The Nuclear Energy Institute and the US government’s Energy Information Administration.

~Rick

Initial Research

I have decided to focus my blog on nuclear energy. I visited several sites related to nuclear energy and learned some important facts. First, I found out that nuclear energy is NOT classified as a “renewable” source of energy. Nuclear energy reactors convert uranium and plutonium into new, smaller particles, and not all of this waste can be reprocessed into usable material.
Furthermore, unlike “renewable” sources such as solar, wind, and tidal power, nuclear energy produces waste and tends to be very expensive in the long-term. Although solar, wind, and tidal power plants tend to be very expensive to construct (much more so than nuclear energy plants), once these plants begins operation, they are very economically efficient to maintain. On the other hand, nuclear plants require raw materials (uranium/plutonium) and produce waste that must be treated.
During my next step of research, I plan to research the chemical reactions that convert uranium/plutonium into energy. Additionally, I will compare these reactions to those of oil, natural gas, coal, solar, and wind engines/plants. In my analysis, I intend to include how much energy each type of reaction produces and compare the relative costs between these different energy sources.