The Nuclear Debate. Introductory level course for future teachers of Science

By Claudio Perez Matzen

I've been teaching introductory Nuclear Physics in an elective course for many years at Universidad Metropolitana de Ciencias de la Educación (UMCE) in Santiago, Chile, a public university working on the preparation of new teachers for the Chilean educational system. The course is aimed to promote the knowledge on peaceful applications of nuclear energy and technology, with special focus on the generation of electricity with nuclear power plants, in a safely and environmentally-friendly way. Each 2nd semester here (August-December) we have this course running, and we always finish with a nuclear debate in class, discussing the "hot topics" of nuclear power. We have plans this years for an "international debate" using Skype, with my students and a group from the Nuclear Engineering Program of the University of Utah (Salt Lake City). We hope to succeed!