UNDERACKNOWLEDGED ASPECTS OF RADIOACTIVE GEOLOGY

Visits to publishers' exhibits at professional conferences reveal largely outdated, erroneous, or missing information in science textbooks on 1) the evolution of ionizing background radiation through time, 2) natural nuclear reactors, and 3) geologic isolation of dangerous (including radioactive) materials.

Personal experience in a variety of classrooms confirms that educators rarely compensate for these common textbook deficiencies. Most students taking science classes never realize that 1) background radiation levels were many times higher in the past than they are today and were likely indispensable for our evolution, 2) the first known fission reactors operated billions of years before humans appeared on our planet, and 3) natural geologic repositories (traps) have confined dangerous materials for hundreds of millions of years.

Most teachers (and therefore their students as well) also remain unaware that engineered geologic repositories have operated successfully for radioactive waste since 1959 and chemically toxic waste since 1972. These knowledge gaps breed irrational fear and ignorant opposition. They must be filled or bridged before nuclear power can fulfill its destiny: raise the standard of living of the rest of the world to that enjoyed by the First World, safely and protective of the environment.