Interview
With Mr. Christopher Mauger
We meet with a nuclear physicist, Christopher Mauger, to learn more about what we were doing. We had stepped out of class for a few hours to talk with him about nuclear physics. He started out with the more simple things, such as atoms, and how most of the mass come from the nucleus. He then started explaining the different types of radiation; Alpha – Not hazardous if kept outside of your body, Beta – Not hazardous if kept outside of your body, Gamma – Can kill you if you get near it. He also talked about carbon dating and half lifes, which led to the how long it takes radiation to go away.
Once Mr. Mauger had finished talking about radiation, he told us about the dirty bomb, and how they use conventional explosives to spread radiation and create panic. Still on radiation he explained how radiation stops cancer by destroying the cancer tissue. He explained how our atmosphere blocks radiation so when one is in space they need protection. Mr. Mauger continued to say that if we went to Mars right now, who ever went would probably die, because they would have not protection from radiation.
Mr. Mauger gave us a list with reasons for and against nuclear power:
Reasons for nuclear energy:
- No large CO2 emissions
- No hazardous coal mines
- No oil spills
- No oil refineries
- No gas pipeline explosions
- Much cleaner air – reduce asthma
- Much smaller amounts of fuel, much less hazardous to transport
Reasons against:
- Long lived radioactive waste
- We need to find a way to store it safely for a long time
- Can make nuclear weapons
He had a power point with him as a visual aid, and if you would like to see it the link is at the end of the page. He went through the power point, explaining things, and he would stop and answer any questions we had. My team and I would like to give a special thank you to Christopher Mauger for going out of his way to help us with ThinkQuest. He had defiantly made me a great deal more excited about science than I have ever been.
Brad League
