Hazards of harnessing nuclear power
Nalaka Gunawardene and Vindana Ariyawansa
Nuclear power is produced by controlled (that is, non-explosive)
nuclear reactions. Commercial and utility plants currently use nuclear
fission reactions to heat water to produce steam, which is then used to
generate electricity. According to the latest figures, nuclear power
provides about six percent of the world’s total energy generation, and
13 to 14 percent of the world’s electricity generation.
Nuclear power is once again in focus due to the recent accident and
radiation leak in the Fukushima nuclear reactor in Japan following the
massive earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011. However, the incident
that occurred at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant on 26 April 1986 is
still considered the worst nuclear power plant accident in history - it
is the only one classified as a ‘Level 7’ event on the International
Nuclear Event Scale that ranks incidents from 1 (lowest) to 7 (highest).
Today, we start off with a few questions on nuclear power and related
accidents and then move on to other topics.
1. In April 2011, it will be 25 years since the Chernobyl nuclear
accident, which contaminated a large area in Europe with radioactive
fallout. At the time Chernobyl was located in the former Soviet Union.
In which independent country is Chernobyl located today, after the break
up of the Soviet Union?
2. Besides the former Soviet republic where it was located, two other
Soviet Republics were most adversely affected by Chernobyl’s radioactive
fall-out. That forced the evacuation of over 300,000 people. These are
now independent states. One of them is Russia. What is the other
country?
3. Two main nuclear isotopes that contaminated large areas around
Chernobyl will take about 30 years to decay. One of them is
Strontium-90. What was the other?
4. Levels of radioactivity are still higher than normal in the
vicinity of the Chernobyl reactor 25 years after the accident. What is
the international (or SI) unit for measuring radioactivity? Clue: The
unit is named after a French physicist who shared a Nobel Prize
discovering radioactivity.
5. Of all the countries that have nuclear power generation
capability, the United States has the largest capacity, which is about
30 percent of the world’s total in 2008 according to the International
Energy Agency, IEA. Japan came at the third place with 9.4 percent of
the world total. Which European country had the second place in the
total installed capacity to generate electricity from nuclear reactors?
6. This city can trace its history back over 3,000 years. It was
established as the capital of the Yan state, one of the leaders of the
Warring States Period of China. It is believed to have been the largest
city in the world from 1425 to 1650 and again from 1710 to 1825. The
name means ‘northern capital’ in Chinese. What is it?
7. This well known Russian writer was said to have been so ashamed of
his nose that he often wore a piece of cloth which covered his face. His
satirical short story, The Nose, was about an official who awakes one
morning to find that his nose has left his face and is seen wandering
around the town. Who was he?
8. This writer is of Czech origin, but he left his country of birth
in 1975 because of communism and has since lived in Paris. His early
books were originally written in Czech - The Joke was his first novel,
released in 1967. His more recent books are written in French, but the
author reserves the right to Czech translations just for himself. Who is
this author?
9. Martin Wickramasinghe (1890 – 1976) was one of Sri Lanka’s
greatest authors and intellectuals of the 20th Century. He wrote both in
Sinhala and English for several decades covering a broad range of
subjects, topics and literary genres. His first novel titled Leela was
published in 1914 when he was only 24. His last (14th) novel, set in the
time of Gautama Buddha, was published in 1973 three years before the
author’s death. What was the title of this last novel, which caused a
controversy at the time?
10. The Victoria Falls, one of the most famous water falls in the
world, was so named by the Scott explorer David Livingstone in honour of
Queen Victoria of Britain. The indigenous name of ‘Mosi-oa-Tunya’ -
meaning the ‘Smoke that Thunders’ - is also well known. The Victoria
Falls is on the African continent, located between two countries
formerly known and North Rhodesia and South Rhodesia. What are these
countries called today?
11. This rugby player led his country, South Africa, to win its first
Rugby World Cup in 1995. It was a remarkable transformation for the
newly independent, post-Apartheid South Africa where President Nelson
Mandela worked closely with the national rugby team to use sports to
unite the emotionally divided nation. The story behind the South African
team’s victory was made into a 2009 movie called Invictus directed by
Clint Eastwood, where the South African captain’s role was played by
actor Matt Damon. Who is this sportsman?
12. World Cup Cricket is heading to its final stages. While millions
cheer and follow the game, not everyone is equally enthusiastic about
cricket. Those in non-playing countries sometimes wonder just what the
cricket frenzy is all about, especially in South Asia! A witty Irish
writer once described cricket as “eleven flannelled fools chasing a red
ball, with eleven thousand fools cheering them”. Who uttered these
words?
13. Firestone, Goodyear and BF Goodrich are among the names
identified with the city once called the ‘Rubber Capital of the World’.
Thanks to its location along canals, railroads and highways, it was once
the fastest growing city in the entire United States. Name this city,
located in the US state of Ohio.
14. The first patent issued for this item, now commonly found in
stores worldwide, was back in 1952, when this item looked more like a
bull’s eye with concentric circles than its present-day shape and form.
Joseph Woodland and Bernard Silver are credited with inventing this
item, which is enormously helpful to wholesalers and retailers
everywhere. What is this invention?
15. Who was he: a civil servant, he was appointed as the first Sri
Lankan head of the Police Department in 1947. He later served as Sri
Lanka’s High Commissioner to India from 1957 to 1963.
Answers will be published next week
Last week’s answers
1. ‘Harbor wave’
2. The Mediterranean Sea
3. UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, UNESCO
4. On Ewa Beach, near Honolulu, Hawai’i
5. Kalpakkam, 80 kilometres south of Chennai
6. Nippon Hoso Kyokai, which means Japan Broadcasting Corporation
7. Worldwide Fund for Nature (WWF)
8. King George V
9. Calcutta, which is now the capital of West Bengal state
10. Steven Spielberg
11. Jamie Bell
12. Muhammad Ali
13. Belgian national Jacques Rogge, holding office since 2001
14. Sandra Bullock
15. Cape Town, South Africa |