Roundtable Debate
Should Ontario (and Canada) consider building new nuclear reactors to increase
electrical generating capacity and reduce fossil fuel pollution?
Group Questions
1. The Economics of Power Production
- How much does it cost to produce power using different methods, how do these
costs get transferred to the public?
2. Alternative Power Production Technologies
- If not nuclear or fossil fuel, then what? Are there fossil fuel options that are less
polluting?
3. Nuclear Safety and Proliferation
- How do we know that new nuclear reactors will be safe? Are we at greater risk of
terrorists obtaining nuclear materials with more nuclear plants?
4. Private versus Government Ownership
- Should new nuclear plants be built and owned by the government, or by private
industry? Has the recent privatization of nuclear plants in Ontario led to cheaper
power?
5. Environmental Issues
- Does nuclear power pollute? What about waste disposal? How do environmental
organizations feel about the environmental consequences of nuclear? Are the
concerns about fossil fuel burning realistic?
6. Health Issues
- What are the health risks associated with working at nuclear plants? What about
living near them? Are they greater than the existing coal plant technologies?
7. Public Participation
- Who gets to decide whether or not new nuclear plants are built? Are there any
ways for citizens to influence their placement?
8. The Anti-Nuclear Movement
- Are there any organizations resisting new nuclear development in Ontario or
Canada? How successful have they been? What are their arguments?
Once organized into groups I would suggest that you divide up the work and go from
there. Here is a sample list of tasks to divide up amongst the group members; you can of
course divide things up in any way you wish:
- Library research (books on nuclear power – nuclear history)
- Magazine and Newspaper research
- Internet Research (same rule about printing out sources used)
- Interviews
- Report preparation
- Report Editing
- Presentation
- Questions
- Project management (optional)
I expect that you can police yourselves with respect to the amount of work each person
has to do. Part of the challenge of group work is to do the work in a timely and fair
fashion. I would suggest that you schedule at least 3 meetings (one a month) before the
final presentation, to exchange ideas, check on progress and determine your group’s
position. I would further suggest that only one or two people are responsible for the
presentation and questions (for example, one person for presentation, and one for
questions).
With respect to research, there are many possibilities. You might consider interviewing
people from anti-nuclear groups, or if you can, finding government representatives to
speak with about the issue. Feel free to poll or interview fellow students and citizens to
gather information about your question as well (if that is appropriate). It is useful to
consider the following sorts of issues with respect to your questions:
1. Comparisons between the Canadian case and other cases
2. Historical evidence about nuclear reactors (and about the Ontario government
plan to build new ones)
3. Recent examples of new nuclear reactor projects
4. Considering positives and negatives (e.g. give a balanced account)
5. Obtaining perspectives from a wide audience (citizens, scientists, politicians,
economists, etc.)
Your report should be in written form, approximately 2-4 pages double spaced, and each
report should be accompanied by a short bibliography of sources. The report is a short
summary of your research along with a clear conclusion as to whether or not your group
recommends the creation of further nuclear plants based on the research into your
question.
Your group will present the results of the report to the class during the roundtable
session, and then the whole class will vote on the issue, given the reports that were
presented. Each group will have a short period of time to discuss the reports and their
position, and they will have to give a brief, 2 or 3 minute statement to justify their vote.
Note that it is acceptable to change your group position on this issue after hearing the
other reports, but the change needs to be justified.
The group will be graded on:
a. The presentation
b. The report
Each individual member of the group will get the same mark. I will also ask the group to
pick the person they feel made the greatest contribution to the project, and the top 5 vote
recipients will get a bonus mark (one restriction, you can’t pick yourself).