Objective III

INTRODUCTION TO BENCHMARK III
The primary objective for completing Benchmark III was to conduct original research from a local perspective about the knowledge and attitudes of people in Stockton towards nuclear energy. After reviewing the survey, students from Weber Institute’s class interviewed individuals at a local Farmer’s Market and then analyzed the results. The “Benchmark III” link above provides the results of the survey, the analysis, and a short video of those interviewed. Additionally, three PowerPoints are included that explain how a member of Greenpeace, a member of the NRA, and a GE nuclear engineer might view the possibility of a nuclear power plant in our local community.

10 question survey about Nuclear Energy?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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From one of the questions that was asked in the studies taken on May 9, 2008 we learned that out 85 individuals surveyed, 52% disagreed that nuclear energy is a safe source of energy. 8% Strongly agreed and said that technology has improved the safety of nuclear energy production.

 

 

 

 

According to studies taken on May 9, 2008 we learned that out 85 individuals surveyed, 43% agreed that nuclear energy should be a concern in this year’s presidential election. It is our planet we are talking about. 11% Strongly disagreed and said that there were more important issues to be discussed.

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•Out of 84 people we interviewed, 42% said a nuclear power plant should not be built in Stockton.15% said they strongly agreed. The people who disagreed felt that having a nuclear plant in the city would be dangerous and the people who agreed said that using nuclear energy was safer than the kind of energy we use now. I believe that people in Stockton strongly oppose to the construction of a nuclear power plant because they believe that it is dangerous for all the residents.

 

How much do you know about the following issues or organization?

•On May 9, 2008, we surveyed a total of 88 people in Stockton California. We asked each and everyone the same question about nuclear energy. The question that we asked was, “Have you heard about the reprocessing of nuclear fuel for nuclear weapons?” From the 88 individuals surveyed 57% showed that they had never heard about the reprocessing of nuclear fuel for nuclear weapons.  Only 8% of the individuals said to be informed about the reprocessing of nuclear fuel.

 

 

•During the same survey we asked 87 individuals from the city of Stockton California how well they are informed they were about “International Treaties concerning nuclear weapons?”  44% showed to not know about the International Treaties at all and only a small 5% acknowledge the International Treaties.

 

 

 

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We surveyed 85 people in Stockton and asked them what they knew about Iran’s nuclear program. 38% said that they knew nothing about it, and 19% said they were very well informed on the topic. We concluded that there are so many ­things that we do not know about the world and how it can affect our daily life. With one blink of an eye we could all be death and most of the survivors would know very little to nothing on why and how it happened.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After conducting interviews on the benefits and disadvantages of nuclear energy in dowtown Stockton, our CIF class videotaped these interviews. The link below provides the actual videotaped sessions:

Interviews- Video

The following PowerPoints explain how a member of the NRC and a GE employee might justify their positions on nuclear energy to a city council.

NRC Powerpoint

GE Powerpoint