SESSION 8: EXERCISES FOR DISCUSSION AND FINAL TASK
2. EXERCISES FOR DISCUSSION
2.1 PROTESTS: What would you protest against, Why would you protest and How would you protest?
- nuclear waste
- high taxes
- racism
- religious intolerance
- lack of press freedom
- going to war
2.2 NUCLEAR POWER: express your opinion:
- I strongly believe nuclear power is the future
- I strongly believe nuclear power will one day be a thing of the past
2.3 ENERGY: What is your favourite, rank them by putting your favourite at the top:
- nuclear
- solar
- fossil fuels
- thermal
- wind power
- wave power
- recycled waste
- other...
2.4 NUCLEAR WASTE DISCUSSION: Here are some questions you can try asking yourself before you come to our discussion on Wednesday:
a) Did you hear this news on TV or on the radio before reading the text? If so, in what way has this news been treated by the TV or radio in your country?
b) What springs to mind when you hear the word ‘nuclear’?
c) What do you know about nuclear power?d) Why were the protestors angry?
e) What would make you angry enough to protest about?
f) Do you think nuclear energy is a necessary energy for any country?
g) Would you live in a town that has a nuclear power plant?
h) What did people in your country protest about recently?
i) If you don´t like nuclear power what’s the alternative you would recommend?
j) How dangerous do you think nuclear waste is?
k) Why is the issue of nuclear waste so controversial?
l) What’s the problem with keeping nuclear power plants active for longer?
m) What nuclear accidents do you know of? What happened exactly? Were the authorities sincere with the inhabitants and with the rest of the population?
n) Do you know how authorities deal with nuclear accidents?
o) Would you ever go to a nuclear rally?
p) Will the nuclear power plant issue in Germany quietly disappear?
q) Does nuclear energy have any advantages in relation to other energies?
PREPARING A DISCUSSION IS FUNDAMENTAL:
THIS MUST BE DONE IN TWO DIRECTIONS:
FIRST, YOU NEED TO LEARN NEW VOCABULARY AND EXPRESSIONS THAT YOU WILL HAVE TO USE FOR THE DISCUSSION.
SECONDLY, YOU HAVE TO PREPARE THE TOPIC BY LOOKING UP INFORMATION IN THE INTERNET, BOOKS, ENCYCLOPAEDIAS.
THIS WAY YOU WILL FEEL MUCH MORE CONFIDENT AND AT THE SAME TIME YOU WILL HAVE MUCH MORE TO TALK ABOUT.
FINAL TASK:
HERE IS ONE FINAL TASK THAT YOU MAY DO IN ORDER TO COVER THE FOUR SKILLS YOU SHOULD FOCUS ON WHEN LEARNING A LANGUAGE: LISTENING, READING, SPEAKING AND WRITING.
Write a composition and leave it in the blog as a comment to Session 8, I will edit it in the blog so that everybody can learn from other people´s opinions. Choose one of these two options:
- Advantages and disadvantages of Nuclear Energy
- Write a letter to the president of your country asking three questions related to how the government deals with nuclear waste and giving some advice and your personal opinion about the issue.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteNowadays, energy sources have become in one of the most difficult problems to keep our life style. Fosil fuels are very expensive and they are very complicated to get them, so governments have to think about new energy sources. There are several of them such as, solar, wind, wave power and the most controversial, nuclear power. Apart from nuclear power, the other energy sources are not enough developed to supply the energy we need each day, so the best source might be nuclear energy.
ReplyDeleteSome people are concern by nuclear power because of their disadvantages. The main problem with this energy is nuclear waste. Nuclear plants generate Tons of nuclear waste which have to be keep into secure places for long time, actually hundreds of years, because this materials are very radioactive, so you can not get rid of any place. Another concern people is when a nuclear plant breaks down and the risk it might cause to local population.
On the other hand, it has some advantages as well, for example, economic factors. France some decades ago, decided to develop nuclear energy and recently is one of the countries of Europe which produce electricity in a cheaper way and sells electricity almost all the Continent. Many surveys has been researching to find out the way how nuclear waste might be reused, so when they achieved it, they could solve one of the most dangerous problems of this sort of energy. Another positive aspect of this energy is the greenhouse effect which is too much low, because this system only gives off steam of water, so the atmosphere is kept clean.
In conclusion, nuclear power should be an important supply of energy in the future because new plants are very secure. The energy is cheaper than renewable energies which are developing recently and it is cleaner than fosil energies. Besides, in the future the researcher will develop the use of nuclear waste, so in my opinion our country should copy the French system in this kind of energy.
Advantages and disadvantages of Nuclear Energy
ReplyDeleteIn these obscure economic times, people have good reasons to be skeptical. Many of the most influential supporters of nuclear energy are very liberal (with economical interests behind)and they want to make us believe the benefits of nuclear energy.
It is true that nuclear energy does not emit greenhouse gases. In this time of urgency for clean energy, this is the one reason why many have converted their support to fission power. Another reason is that nuclear energy creates high paying jobs.
Many rural towns have grown into prosperous communities all because of their local nuclear power plant.
Moreover, nuclear energy is not only good for generating electricity. Nuclear technology is also used in mining and the aerospace industries or smoke alarms that save lives. It is considered a vital component of a high technology economy.
Nowadays, we can say that nuclear energy provides affordable electricity. A person has little choice regarding the source of the electricity generated to their. To choose emission free energy, a person might choose solar and/or wind but these choices are limited and expensive.
In spite of the nuclear accidents of the past. The industry prides itself on an excellent safety record. According to this opinions, researches says that nuclear energy is sustainable for millions of years to power all of the Earth. In the meantime, there is plenty of uranium resources. This and other many economical reasons defend the benefits of the nuclear energy. But many questions are still on the table. "what about the waste?" or "are we really sure is it safe?”
Most people are concerned with the physical dangers from accidents at nuclear reactors. Uranium miners suffer the worse effects, and the incidence of lung cancer among uranium miners is scandalous. Who is talking about that? Talking about the army resources, few nations have atomic weapons even now, but lots of countries have ordinary bombs and guided missiles to attack nuclear reactors all over the planet.
There are many countries producing nuclear energy and not with the same safety standards- that could involve escape of radiation. Who is controlling? And, what about the nature of radiation?. It kills humans. It might be anywhere and you would never know. Some of it remains dangerous for thousands, longer than human beings have been on this planet. The real fact is that experts still don't know what to do with the stuff. The most favoured idea at the moment is to “encapsulate the waste in glass blocks ("vitrification") and then get rid of them somewhere inaccesible, underground, underwater or in the space. Now, we are searching a lucky village in Spain to hide our nuclear wastes. Do we know what we do? Is this the kind of place we want to live in?
Nowadays, we have witnessed on the media how thousands of protesters chained themselves to a railway track in France, in order to complain about the nuclear waste usage and the unpopular way European governments approach this ‘hot potato’. But, what is the real situation hidden behind this trouble?
ReplyDeleteOnly one third of the energy produced in Europe comes from a nuclear source, it means that still seven hundred million tons of carbon monoxide are released into the air due to the use of fossil fuels.
Likewise, the lack of fossil sources in the near future will lead to the imminent use of nuclear energy. In terms of proportion, this sort of energy stands for a more profitable mean, since with less amount of fuel much more benefit is obtained.
Some experts support this cleaner energy pointing out the benefits humanity will take advantage of in the long run in terms of health. That is to say, it will prevent us from breathing the polluted air that today results in the so-called greenhouse effect. As a consequence, the percentage of serious lung diseases, along with some kinds of cancer, would be drastically reduced in favour of a healthier and better quality of life.
Nevertheless, although many people think of nuclear energy as the greenest solution to global warming, the truth is that, actually, the use of it will not make a difference to our damaged atmosphere, since air pollution has more to do with those harmful gases coming from transport (mainly, buy road), than from the burning of fossil fuels, which is used in the production of electricity, to name but one.
On the other hand, although nobody doubts its profitability as fuel, few people come to an agreement when the spread of nuclear plants issue comes to the surface. And, controversy lies, not only, on the high expenses the construction of a brand new plant requires, but also, on the fact of its short lifespan; which leads many wonder if it is worth such a huge investment for just a forty-year nuclear plant in return.
However, the most significant disadvantage is related to nuclear waste, its high levels of pollution and how long it takes radioactivity to weaken its unquestionable danger.
What is more, nuclear energy increases the likelihood of terrorist attacks, by making it more accessible to those, whose goals are not so ‘green’ as we would like to think.
In conclusion, we are dealing with a very controversial issue that should be looked into having carefully in mind both, advantages and disadvantages, leaving aside the large profits brought to the government involved in the project.
About this topic, I must confess that I have not a clear opinion and I just know what I have read or seen in the media.
ReplyDeleteIt is supposed that this way of obtain energy it was temporary, therefore after some decades the nuclear power plants would be disappear. This foreseeable action was based on the idea of avoiding the disadvantages these plants imply, in other words, to produce a limited amount of nuclear waste since this will keep its nuclear radioactivity for hundreds of years and it is impossible to find places where to store an increasing quantity of it.
But the time to close nuclear power plants has come and other ways to get energy, as renewable energies, in order to replace nuclear one are still very expensive. This situation with the current crisis have made governments to change their politics and most of them are prolonging the life of the nuclear power plants because they get cheaper energy than other kind of plants what is a big advantage at the present time.
Of course, this controversy, which it already lasts more than twenty years, seems to be going confronting detractors and defenders of nuclear energy for much time.
There are countries which are completely in favor of nuclear power plants such as some emergent ones, the two big powers or France, the one with the biggest number proportionally. Some others are in standby. Let´s mention Spain but there are other countries that never have had nuclear power plants and are even strongly against them. As well as there are opponents and supporters, the advantages or disadvantages are easy to mention. In my opinion what it is not so easy is to define yourself in one or the other side. Because this is a very controversial issue in which one can be in between.
ReplyDeleteOn the one hand, people are increasingly concerned about the waste produced by nuclear power plants. It is not much but very dangerous. So, It must be sealed and buried for many thousand years. Furthermore, a lot of money has to be invested in safety. Waste also has to be kept away from earthquakes, flooding, terrorists and everything else. The worst is that accidents may occur and if it does go wrong, a nuclear accident can be a major disaster. Moreover, nuclear reactors only last for about forty or fifty years.
On the other hand, the earth has limited supplies of coal and oil. Uranium is not either endless but produces huge amounts of energy and…furthermore, from small amounts of fuel. That means that it does not contribute to the greenhouse effect because it does not produce smoke or carbon dioxide.
All in all, nuclear power is reliable as far as is well operated but should we take so many risks? In my opinion, we should not be against progress.
Immigration on a whole is very beneficial to Canada and its residents. History tells repeatedly that it is human kind that loses its previleges. Immigration is good for Canada and its people in any way you consider but the undeue advantage taken by a few people in the name of refugee act bestowed by Canadian government is being highly misused. We have to wait and see how far Canada can allow people in the name of refugees. Of course, humanitarian concerns are to be given the highest priority for human kind’s development and survival but misuse of a syustm is highly deplorable. Let us all pray that the gates of immigration be not closed for all those good people and eligible aspirants just because of the refugees who infiltrate this country and can be a bigger and unsolvable problem. As of now Canada is large in heart and resources.
ReplyDelete