Social Context

After the USSR fell, there were a number of nuclear weapons and nuclear materials that went missing. "The third threat, which has evolved because of the growth of the crime rate and possible disasters at industrial and energy facilities, includes the smuggling of drugs, guns and radioactive materials, and the illegal transportation of certain other goods. There are also many people from the former Soviet Union, with a number of criminals among them, who are trying to emigrate illegally to Western countries. Finally, there is the threat posed by the transit of dangerous and radioactive materials through our territory."(http://www.nato.int/docu/review/1993/9301-2.htm, 05/01/08) Because uranium and plutonium are both radioactive materials that can be used to make nuclear weapons, they could have been talking about one of those substances. However, any radioactive material is dangerous to humans and even if they were not able to create an actual nuclear weapon, they would still be able to make a "dirty bomb", which in essence might be a bomb that may or may not detonate, but is used to spread radiation over a large area.
The danger of radioactive materials doesn't just lie with criminals getting their hands on plutonium. "The attorneys general are specifically concerned that the NRC's relicensing procedures do not require the effective evaluation of plants for vulnerability to terrorist attacks or natural disasters, such as earthquakes. The letter calls on the NRC to take action to update its relicensing procedures as the nation's oldest plants – first licensed in the 1960s and 1970s – are approaching the expiration of their initial 40-year license." (Ziegler, http://www.ag.state.il.us/pressroom/2007_11/20071115.html, 05/01/08) The people who are supposed to give licenses out to nuclear power plants don't have the proper evaluation techniques for the safety of the plant and the residents who live near it. This is surprising because after the September 11th attacks, it seemed like they would up the security at these places, or at least make the licensing consider the security of the plant.
There are a few changes that need to be made to ensure our nuclear power plants are kept safe. "Under current regulations, the NRC license renewal procedures address the age-related structural degradation of fixed, non-moving components, like the reactor core, containment systems, pipes and electrical cables, but do not specifically call for the evaluation of factors relevant to the avoidance of a catastrophe, such as:

• Location of the plant and population density,

• Security and susceptibility to a terrorist attack,

• Adequacy of emergency warning and evacuation plans, and

• Geographic and seismic issues."(Ziegler, http://www.ag.state.il.us/pressroom/2007_11/20071115.html, 05/01/08) They need to add the bulleted points in order for them to actually be safe in the case of a terrorist attack or a natural disaster. They need to be able to analyze the effectiveness of the location of the plant and how in danger the populous is in if there is a meltdown. Also they need to be able to evacuate everyone properly if there is an accident to happen. They need to see how likely it is of a terrorist attack hitting the plant. And also they need to see how likely it is, if there is some sort of natural disaster, that there will be an overload. Unless if they update the regulations and the power plants, they are in serious danger of some sort of natural or unnatural disaster harming the environment and humans. Looking at where the plant is located and the population density gives the people a better idea of what type of environment the reactor is operating under or near, and who is in danger in the event of an accident. If they know how secure and weak the power plant is to terrorist attacks, they can get a better idea of what would happen if there was a terrorist attack and if it were to end catastrophically or not. How well the emergency warning system and evacuation plans are lets the people know how ready the population of the plant and the surrounding inhabitants are in case something does go wrong. And also geographic and seismic activity can measure how likely the plant would be to receive damage in the event of an earthquake if there is one.
Without the discovery of fissioning uranium, none of this would be possible however. "For all practical purposes, the only natural element whose atoms can be split easily is uranium, a heavy metal with the largest atom of all natural elements and an unusually high neutron-to-proton ratio. This higher ratio does not enhance its "splitability," but it does have an important bearing on its ability to facilitate an explosion, making uranium-235 an exceptional candidate for nuclear fission." (Bellis, http://inventors.about.com/od/nstartinventions/a/Nuclear_Fission.htm, 05/01/08) The discovery of the nuclear reaction made the hydrogen and the atom bomb possible. Even though the atom bomb was created first (because fission was created before fusion), it led to the hydrogen bomb. Without this discovery, nuclear energy would not be possible. What happens when there is a reaction is quite amazing."Fission, simply put, is a nuclear reaction in which an atomic nucleus splits into fragments, usually two fragments of comparable mass, emitting 100 million to several hundred million volts of energy."(http://inventors.about.com/od/nstartinventions/a/Nuclear_Fission.htm, 05/01/08) Because nuclear fission creates such large amounts of electric energy, it was potentially a good energy source.
But even though nuclear energy is becoming increasingly popular, the first idea was origionally to use the process for a bomb. "Einstein and several other scientists told Roosevelt of efforts in Nazi Germany to purify uranium-235, which could be used to build an atomic bomb. It was shortly thereafter that the United States Government began the serious undertaking known then only as "The Manhattan Project." Simply put, the Manhattan Project was committed to expediting research that would produce a viable atomic bomb." ( http://inventors.about.com/od/astartinventions/a/atomic_bomb.htm, 05/01/08) Basically, this whole nuclear revolution started with the letter that Einstein collaborated with Szilard to produce a short letter to President Roosevelt based on Szilard's longer letter that he wrote to Roosevelt which Einstein signed. Roosevelt saw the importance of this technolegy and so this was the birth of the Atomic Bomb. Even though Roosevelt may not have realized how amazingly powerful the bombs could be, it was seen as a way to end WWII. Even though they defeated the Nazis, Japan was still seen as a viable threat. The Japanese army would seemingly not let up, even if the US Army reached the mainland. So they dropped two bombs, one on Hiroshima and one on Nagasaki.
Certain body parts of the human body are more resistant to radiation than others. (http://standeyo.com/News_Files/UN_Images/radiation.and.human.body.gif, 05/01/08) The most sensitive areas to radiation are the lung, breast, stomach, and colon. If one breathes in radioactive fumes, they have a high chance of dying because it is such a sensitive area. Same with consuming radioactive material.
However, just because certain areas such as the bone are not as sensitive doesn't make them invulnerable to radiation. "In 1966, after seven years of illness, my mother died in the A-Bomb victims Hospital in Hiroshima. When I went to the crematorium to collect her ashes, I was shocked. There were no bones left in my mother's ashes, as there normally are after a cremation. Radioactive cesium from the bomb had eaten away at her bones to the point that they disintegrated"(Nakazawa, Intro) This shows how even though it may take longer in order for the effects to be felt, radiation still can strike even the strongest parts of the human body.

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