Nuclear energy is subject to intense debates over safety, cost, and long-term effects. Are the potential risks of nuclear power generation outweighed by the benefits in terms of reduced pollution and emissions from greenhouse gases? This 60-minute lesson plan, appropriate for middle school science, social studies, or language arts classrooms, engages students in discussing these complex problems....

It might be inadvisable to build your own nuclear power plant, but for those looking to learn the basics, this OpenCourseWare course from MIT can help. This course was originally taught in the fall of 2011 by Dr. Michael Short. On the page, visitors can look over the syllabus, the course calendar, the readings, and the lecture videos and class notes. This last area is quite useful, as it contains...