On  Wednesday November 4, 2015, our class went to MIT to see their nuclear reactor that is for research uses only. We first was given a small lecture about the history of the Nuclear Reactor. The MIT reactor opened since 1958 and operates 24/7 however it was built in 1948. The reactor was upgraded twice, once in 1975 and once in 2010. It is currently running at 6mw thermal energy and that is barely able to power a light bulb. Which is why this reactor is mostly for students to do research.

Radioactive materials are emitted so they have multiple filters to decrease the radioactivity of the materials emitted. The material Argon 41 is pumped out however it is not marked as dangerous. A product, D20 is an isotope of H20 because of radioactive events. There are alpha particles which can only last for 8-12 inches however they are stopped by the body of a person. The light water will absorb the energy from high electrons which then slow the electrons making a continuous chain effect. The part most sensitive to radiation are our eyes. Beta particles can go through the body however stopped by aluminium. Then there are gamma particle that passes both the body and aluminum however stopped by lead. There is a 10% to 20% lost of power. There are also 6 groups of lifetimes, or what are the half lives of an element. It is Researched that an average miner for coal get more radiation than working on a nuclear reactor. Uranium 235 is the only useful isotope for nuclear reactor and if they get others like 237 or 233 they will have to try to get it closer to 235 and then use it. There are stuff that were experimented and also tested here and maybe even cured some people of stuff. We learned all of this in the lecture.

After the lecture, which I think was a bit boring, we went to actually see the nuclear reactor core and also its control room. There is usually a person there to make sure it is under control, but because this isn’t a major nuclear reactor, shutting down the reactor takes little time. There are automatic system as well. The machines did also get upgraded from paper dials to digital. The Reactor looked a lot smaller from the outside and When we were inside it looked like it was a half a block wide and long. There are air locks to the nuclear reactor core and it is opened only by eye scan. It’s a way to keep it safe. When we were leaving we got tested to see if we were clean of radioactive materials, like dust or strap of something by accident by walking around. Before we went to the Reactor, we were also given this meter that measures the amount of radiation we have absorbed. I checked it every few mins and it does increase once a few but by the time We left the area of the reactor I didn’t take too much.

On Wednesday October 28, 2015 we performed the a solar experiment. We hooked up the equipments according to the LabView program. We first tested the solar panel by blocking out any light from reaching the solar cells in the small panel we were provided with. The voltage generated was negative which means no power was being generated. We then tested 3 different positions of distance where the light source, a phone Flashlight. We started at 1 centimeter to 10 centimeters to 15 centimeters. It is predicted that as the light source is farther away from the cells, the less voltage it will generate. In the graph below it proves that it is true.

As the distance from the lightsource to the solar panel increase the voltage generated decreases. After this part of the experiment we also try another way to test voltage generated by using color filters paper. I choose Red Yellow and Blue Filter. I place the filter in top of the solar panel and then shine the light source 1 centimeters above it. This distance remained the same for the other 2 colors as well. I gotten the following results:

The purple color is when the power have no filters. I couldn’t find a good way to display so i made it a color. As you see the power generated from the yellow filter is much more higher of that of the 3 other settings. The color could be different if I used a different light source because some flash light are different, which our rule was to keep using the same light because a different light might give us a different result.

The Iran Nuclear Power program was first introduced in 1957 under Eisenhower Atoms for Peace Program. Mohamed Reza Shah initiated Iran’s nuclear program during the 1950s with assistance from the U.S. The United States and Iran signed a civil co-operation agreement in 1957.  Then on August 9, 1963 Iran signs the Partial Nuclear test ban treaty or PTBT. This treaty bans the testing of nuclear weapons. After 4 years the Tehran Nuclear Research Centre is built and ran by the AEOI or Atomic Energy Organization of Iran. In September of the same year, United States supplied Iran with 5.545 kg of enriched uranium, with 5.165 kg are fissile isotopes for fuel in research reactor. The United States also supplied 112g of plutonium. In 1968 Iran signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation treaty (NPT) which means to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament. The first Nuclear Power plant was built in Bushehr in 1974.

However 5 years later the Islamic revolution halted the AEOI program and halted the nuclear power plant in Bushehr from running and their contract with Siemens AG is terminated as the German Firms leave. However within the next 10-20 years, they have signed programs with Russia and China to continue their program. Russia reached out to Germany for help because of unfamiliar equipments however they were rejected.  They have signed a $800 million contract with Russia under International Atomic Energy Agency or IAEA.

From 2002 to 2004, under the Bush administration, there were problems. In August of 2002 a spokesman for the  MEK terrorists group held a press conference to “expose” 2 nuclear facilities in Natanz and Arak however that was already known to US Intel. In December of 2002, US accused Iran for attempting to create nuclear weapons. IAEA have reported there are no evidence of Iran making any nuclear weapons like that of a Atomic Bomb. However The Bush administration stated that was impossible to believe that there was no evidence. A talk  between Iran and three European Union members, the United Kingdom, France, and Germany, result in a compromise. Iran agreed to temporarily suspend its active uranium enrichment program for the duration of a second round of talks, during which attempts will be made at arriving at a permanent, mutually-beneficial solution. The United Union leaked a report that stated all nuclear materials was accounted for and no evidence of weapons of mass destruction was found.  ON November 22, 2004,  Iran declares that it will voluntarily suspend its uranium enrichment program to enter negotiations with the EU. Iran will then review its decision in three months. The EU seeks to have the suspension made permanent and is willing to provide economic and political incentives.

On November 24, 2004, Iran seeks to obtain permission from the European Union, in accordance with its recent agreement with the EU, to allow it to continue working with 24 centrifuges for research purposes.

A large amount of events happened between 2005 to 2006 and is too much to be covered here. A summary of those events would be Iran didn’t fulfil the treaty they have signed. On July 31 2006 UNSCR United nation Security  Council Resolution giving Iran till  August 29, 2006 to suspend all nuclear enrichment  and related activities or they will face sanctions. The Iran voted a 14-1 and agreed to suspend all the activities related. On December 16, 2007, Iran’s President  said that US Intel report stated that Iran have halted a nuclear weapon program in 2003.

On March 24, 2008, the last shipment of fuel and equipments arrived at the Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant. On July 8–10, 2009, the 35th G8 summit, “US President Obama said Iran will have to September (at the = G20meeting) to show some improvements on the negotiations about Iran’s nuclear program, or else “face consequences”. French president  Nicolas Sarkozy said G8 are united on the issue with Iran, stating that patience with Iran was running thin: “For the past 6 years we have extended our hand saying stop your nuclear armament program… Do they want discussions or don’t they want them? If they don’t, there will be sanctions” he told reporters. Sarkozy also stated that Israel attacking Iran, would be an absolute catastrophe. “Israel should know that it is not alone and should follow what is going on calmly,” he said, adding that he had not received any assurances that Israel would hold off on any action ahead of the September deadline.”

In 2011, Iran’s nuclear power plant connected to its power grid. In November of 2013, the Preliminary agreed to limit Iran’s nuclear power in exchange of sanction reliefs.  In the same year United states have worked on secret negotiations with Iranian officials in Oman. Iran and IAEA also signed a Joint Statement on a Framework for Cooperation that commits both parties to resolve past and present problems. The Framework identified 6 measures to be completed within 3 months. This program however was extended till the next year of November 24, 2014. Iran however only completed the 3 out of the 5 specific task and ran out of time to complete the rest. However there are no signs of weapons of mass destruction being reported as of November 6, 2015.

Iran produced 254 billion kWh gross in 2012, with consumption of about 200 TWh, per capita about 2600 kWh/yr. Its 2012 electricity production comprised 170 TWh from gas, 69 TWh from oil, both of which it has in abundance, 12.5 TWh from hydro which is less reliably available, and 2 TWh from nuclear power. Demand is growing about 4% per year, and Iran trades electricity with Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iraq, Pakistan, Syria, Turkmenistan and Turkey. Net export is about 7 TWh/yr.

In mid-2013 generating capacity was 68 GWe. The country plans to boost generating capacity to 122 GWe by 2022, with substantial export potential.

In my opinions, Iran can and should have access to nuclear power because it’s a good way to keep the earth alive for a longer period of time. However there must be restrictions placed and that includes all countries, nations, etc because right now the earth and resources to sustain human life is in a condition where we must worry about.

Reference:

<Balmer, Crispian. “Sarkozy Urges Israel Not to Attack Iran.” Reuters. Thomson Reuters, 9 July 2009. Web. 6 Nov. 2015. >

<JARRY, EMMANUEL, and JEFF MASON. “G8 Sets Iran Deadline for Nuclear Talks.” Reuters. Thomson Reuters, 8 July 2009. Web. 6 Nov. 2015. >

< “Profile for Iran | NTI.” NTI: Nuclear Threat Initiative. Web. 6 Nov. 2015.>

< SPETALNICK, MATT. “Obama Uses G8 Debut to Issue Warning to Iran.” Reuters. Thomson Reuters, 10 July 2009. Web. 6 Nov. 2015. >

< “Timeline of the Nuclear Program of Iran.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation. Web. 6 Nov. 2015. >

< Tirone, Jonathan. “Iran’s Nuclear Program – QuickTake.” BloombergView.com. 14 Oct. 2013. Web. 6 Nov. 2015. >

< “World Nuclear Association.” Nuclear Power in Iran. Web. 6 Nov. 2015. >

On Monday October 26, 2015, we conducted a shaking experiment to generate power. We hooked up the LEGO mindstorm to a connecting wire to a shaker that have a coil in its case with a magnet going through it. 

This show the generator we used to create voltage, with a coil of wire and a magnet that pass through the coil center it, changes the magnetic flux as it goes back and forth.Since there is a change in flux it will generate a voltage. This is stated by the Faraday’s Law; changing magnetic fluxes through coiled wires generate electricity (currents and voltage).

In theory, as the amount of shakes increases the voltage generated increases. However on the chart you see that isn’t the case. That is because the LEGO mindstorm isn’t always accurate which is why at 30 shakes and 90 shakes there is a decrease in voltage generation from the previous number of shakes. The mindstorm only records for 30 seconds and it records the power every second. After each set of shakes, we would get the recorded data, and average them then repeat the new set but faster and faster. We then graphed the data according to its number of shakes. what you see above and determine it is still reliable because of some problems the LEGO windstorm presents.