As the first event of the 2007-2008 Critical Issues Forum (CIF), the Teacher Development Workshop was held from November 15 to 17, 2007, at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS) in Monterey. CNS staff, CIF program consultants, and high school teachers from the United States and Russia collaborated to develop curriculum that will be used to teach this year’s CIF topic, “Nuclear Renaissance: Benefits and Risks.” High school teachers from Russia’s 10 closed nuclear cites and nine high school teachers from the United States participated in this year’s workshop.

Experts from CNS, Graduate School of International Policy Studies of the Monterey Institute, the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) and Naval Post Graduate School gave lectures sharing their expertise.

Dr. Potter, CNS Director, discusses nuclear energy and
nonproliferation in his opening remarks

Teachers from high schools in California, New York, and Texas attended along with Russian teachers from the cities of Lesnoy, Novouralsk, Ozersk, Sarov, Seversk, Snezhinsk, Trekhgorniy, Zarechniy, Zelenogorsk, and Zheleznogorsk.

Dr. Craig Smith from LLNL discussing technologies of nuclear power	High school teachers at a break-out session sharing experience on how to implement CIF

At the workshop, teachers were introduced to curriculum and teaching materials on nuclear energy and nonproliferation issues jointly prepared by CNS staff and CIF teachers (CIF Benchmarks). The workshop also included a series of lectures by CNS staff and guest lecturers from LLNL on topics including: the history and current status of nuclear power, nuclear power technologies, nuclear technology development efforts, NPT and IAEA safeguards, nuclear terrorism, country case studies, and a nuclear energy pro and con debate. The workshop participants also discussed tools and methods for implementing the CIF project in the classroom.

Every year, CNS experts in consultation with experienced high school teachers choose a CIF topic taking into consideration timely nonproliferation issues. Teachers are encouraged to take interdisciplinary approaches to each year’s topic related to international nonproliferation issues.

This year’s topic (2007 - 2008) reflects a renewed global interest in nuclear energy. The growing concerns over global warming, climate change, and environmental degradation as a result of greenhouse gas emissions, coupled with the uncertainty of future energy supplies and skyrocketing oil and gas prices have ignited renewed interest in nuclear energy. The term “nuclear renaissance” is used by the media on a daily basis.

On the last day of their stay, Russian teachers also enjoyed the picturesque and spectacular scenery of Monterey.

Participating teachers will now return to their schools to begin work on the nuclear energy and nonproliferation curriculum benchmarks introduced at the workshop. The teachers will return to Monterey in April 2008 with their students to present their findings at the student-teacher conference that will represent the culmination of this year-long program.

CNS thanks the following for their support of the CIF Teacher Development Workshop: the U.S. Department of Energy and the Ford Foundation.

report by Masako Toki, CIF Project Manager

http://www.criticalissuesforum.org/workshop_report_07.html
updated 03 January 2008