Nuclear waste Educator's workshop: What and how do we teach about nuclear waste?

Wainwright, Haruko Murakami; Powell, Brian A.; Hoover, Megan Elisabeth; Ayoub, Ali; Atz, Milos; Benson, Craig; Borrelli, R. A.; Djokic, Denia; Eddy-Dilek, Carol Ann; Ermakova, Dinara; Hayes, Robert; Higley, Kathryn; Krahn, Steven; Lagos, Leonel; Landsberger, Sheldon; Leggett, Christina; Regalbuto, Monica; Roy, William; Shuller-Nickles, Lindsay; Ewing, Rodney C.

doi:10.1016/j.jenvrad.2023.107288

Nuclear waste Educator's workshop: What and how do we teach about nuclear waste?

Journal Article · Sat Sep 16 00:00:00 EDT 2023 · Journal of Environmental Radioactivity

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvrad.2023.107288· OSTI ID:2396301

Wainwright, Haruko Murakami ^[1]; Powell, Brian A. ^[2]; Hoover, Megan Elisabeth ^[3]; Ayoub, Ali ^[1]; Atz, Milos ^[4]; Benson, Craig ^[5]; Borrelli, R. A. ^[6]; Djokic, Denia ^[7]; Eddy-Dilek, Carol Ann ^[3]; Ermakova, Dinara ^[8]; Hayes, Robert ^[9]; Higley, Kathryn ^[10]; Krahn, Steven ^[11]; Lagos, Leonel ^[12]; Landsberger, Sheldon ^[13]; Leggett, Christina ^[14]; Regalbuto, Monica ^[15]; Roy, William ^[16]; Shuller-Nickles, Lindsay ^[2]; Ewing, Rodney C. ^[17]

Massachusetts Inst. of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA (United States)
Clemson Univ., SC (United States)
Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL), Aiken, SC (United States)
Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, WI (United States)
Univ. of Idaho, Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
Univ. of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI (United States)
Univ. of California, Berkeley, CA (United States)
North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC (United States)
Oregon State Univ., Corvallis, OR (United States)
Vanderbilt Univ., Nashville, TN (United States)
Florida International Univ. (FIU), Miami, FL (United States)
Univ. of Texas, Austin, TX (United States)
Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc., McLean, VA (United States)
Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, IL (United States)
Stanford Univ., CA (United States)

A workshop was held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) on July 25th and 26th, 2022. The objective was to develop a blueprint for educating next-generation engineers and scientists about nuclear waste management and disposal, which requires knowledge from diverse disciplines, including nuclear, chemical, civil, environmental, and geological science and engineering. The 49 participants included university professors, researchers, industry experts, and government officials from different areas. First, we have developed a list of key fundamental knowledge on waste management and disposal across the nuclear fuel cycle. In addition, we discussed strategies on how to teach students with diverse backgrounds through innovative teaching strategies as well as how to attract students into this area. Through the workshop, we identified the critical needs to (1) develop community resources for nuclear waste education; (2) synthesize historical perspectives, including past contamination and the management of general hazardous waste; (3) emphasize a complete life-cycle perspective, including proper waste management as the key component for energy sustainability; (4) teach students how to communicate about the key facts and risks to technical and non-technical audiences; and (5) accelerate the use of the state-of-art-technologies to attract and retain a young workforce. Furthermore, we aim to build a diverse, inclusive community that supports students in developing their own narratives about nuclear waste, particularly in recognizing that antagonistic views have been important to improving safety and protecting public health and the environment.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Idaho National Laboratory (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Nuclear Energy (NE)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC07-05ID14517

OSTI ID:: 2396301

Journal Information:: Journal of Environmental Radioactivity, Journal Name: Journal of Environmental Radioactivity Vol. 270; ISSN 0265-931X

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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