NUCLEAR WASTE MANAGEMENT: EDUCATIONAL MODELS

Nuclear weapons were a huge advancement in military technology during World War II. They ensured that America would be protected from harm. Today the sites located in Missouri where radioactive chemicals were processed contain dangerous radioactive materials. Now 59 years after the end of World War II, we are faced with the dangerous and expensive task of protecting America from nuclear waste by-products.

Missouri has several sites where nuclear waste was stored or processed but many people are unaware of their existence. Remediation of a few nuclear waste sites in Missouri has begun. There are still several sites where remediation has not yet started. The potential health risks associated with nuclear waste and the impacts on the environment should not be ignored.

It takes billions of years for certain types of nuclear waste to reach a stage where it can no longer be considered hazardous. The problem is that there is very little information available about nuclear waste. In the past there has been a migration of radioactive toxins into the Mississippi River. Traces of Uranium-238 and Radium-226 were discovered near Missouri sites in drainage ditches. People living near these nuclear sites face an even greater risk without being aware of the problem. How can we raise public awareness regarding this issue to ensure proper maintenance of nuclear waste sites until they are no longer hazardous?

Here we present an educational model explaining how toxins from nuclear waste can travel through the environment, leach into surface water and ground water, accumulate in biological agents such as fish due to biomagnification and ultimately reach people. This model can be implemented in classrooms to raise awareness of toxic waste issues.

By raising public awareness of this issue we can begin to formulate long-term containment plans and help ensure our well being and safety of our future environment. Only through education we can understand problems related to nuclear waste. Understanding nuclear waste is the first step to improving remediation practices and creating efficient containment plans. This model is one such teaching method that can provide a foundation on which we can begin to understand the problems of nuclear waste and find appropriate solutions.