For the first time in seven years, Idaho National Laboratory and Idaho Falls played host to National Nuclear Science Week, which takes place the third week of October every year.
Any U.S. city with a strong connection to the atom can apply to host the Nuclear Science Week national event. Much has changed since 2017, the last time Idaho Falls was picked, but Nuclear Science Week’s purpose remains the same: to raise awareness of nuclear energy, especially among younger people.
Nuclear Science Week started in 2010 after the Smithsonian-affiliated National Museum of Nuclear Science & History, located in Albuquerque, and industry partners decided a special week was a good way to get the museum’s message in front of more people. While smaller celebrations take place throughout the country, each year a different city hosts the national event. Recent events were held in Washington, D.C. (2021), Ann Arbor, Michigan (2022) and San Diego (2023).
“When we received the application from Idaho it just fit, especially considering this is INL’s 75th anniversary,” said Jennifer Hayden, the museum’s president and CEO.
Idaho Falls’ slate of activities began with a reception Oct. 21 at the INL Meeting Center. Local officials, businesspeople and students were invited to meet Hayden, INL leaders and staff members, and Maddox Turner, an Arizona State University student who won a trip to the national event as a finalist in an INL-sponsored multimedia competition.
A major in materials science engineering, Turner said he became interested in nuclear energy after visiting the Maryland University Training Reactor, a water-cooled, pool-type nuclear reactor used for research and education.
“I got to see Cherenkov radiation for the first time and thought it was amazing,” he said. Cherenkov radiation is the blue glow that occurs electromagnetically when charged particles move faster than light in a transparent medium like water.
Turner’s video, “5 Misconceptions About Nuclear Energy,” addresses such questions as whether it’s legal to own uranium (if it’s just ore, yes; if it’s enriched, no); whether nuclear creates more pollution than other sources (no); whether a nuclear plant in meltdown can explode like a nuclear bomb (again, no); whether it’s unreliable and dangerous (it is among the safest forms of power production with the highest year-round capacity); and whether radioactive materials glow on their own (no — uranium glows under black light, but so does peanut butter).
“There’s so much stigma attached to nuclear energy,” he said. “Looking into the facts, I found so much of it unjustified.”
On Tuesday, Oct. 23, the focus shifted to the Museum of Idaho where the Idaho Section of the American Nuclear Society hosted STEM at the Museum. IANS is not affiliated with INL, but its membership includes many INL employes and the lab is a strong supporter. The museum event aimed to make science, technology, engineering and math fun for younger students. Roughly 500 young people, many of them from more rural communities outside Idaho Falls, attended the event.
“It exposes children to things they might not otherwise be exposed to,” said Bernadette Robin, communications director from the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History. “They are the workforce of the future, and if this can spark them to pursue STEM-related careers, that’s what we’re aiming for.”
“They’re loving it,” said Kristi Corless, who teaches third and fourth grade at Firth’s A.W. Johnson Elementary School.
Corless watched her students touch a Van de Graaff generator and listened to them laugh as it made a classmates’ hair stand on end. “We don’t have anything like this at our school,” she said. “It’s fun to see them engaged and listening.”
Wrapping up the week, INL held two Family Nuclear Science Nights on Thursday, Oct. 24, and Friday, 25. Started in 2015, the event has become so popular that a second night was added for this year’s Nuclear Science Week festivities. It offers a chance for families to meet scientists and engineers, engage in hands-on activities and demonstrations, and meet others from across the nuclear industry. Activities and events include building atoms, learning about radiological control, making chromatography butterflies, exploring INL’s interactive STEM trailer and visiting informational booths. Activities are run by INL researchers and representatives from the nuclear industry, universities and other public organizations.
“This is precisely what Nuclear Science Week was made for — to bring nuclear to people outside the labs,” Hayden said. “INL is doing an amazing job reaching out to the community.”
While visiting, she got to see Experimental Breeder Reactor-I and the Advanced Test Reactor for the first time. The magnitude of what she saw was not lost on her. “This is the place where it all got started, and it’s so inspiring,” she said.
