Nuclear Energy and Proliferation in the 21st Century
A one-day symposium on the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl disaster
WHEN
Friday | 25 Mar, 9:00 AM
WHERE
238 HRCB and 321 MSRB
Friday | 25 Mar, 9:00 AM
WHERE
238 HRCB and 321 MSRB
While global anxieties over nuclear weapons and energy have eased significantly in the quarter century since the end of the Cold War, recent headlines about the nuclear ambitions of Iran and North Korea and the disaster at Fukushima remind us that ours is still very much a nuclear age. Recognizing this reality, on Friday, 25 March, the Kennedy Center will co-sponsor this day-long symposium marking the 30th anniversaries of the Chernobyl meltdown and the Reagan-Gorbachev Reykjavik arms summit to explore what we have since learned about the promises and perils of nuclear engineering.
The symposium will encourage students and faculty from across campus to revisit Chernobyl and Reykjavik and perhaps rethink certain assumptions about nuclear energy and arms. Students studying everything from nuclear physics to environmental humanities to Eastern European history are invited to participate by researching one of the event’s core issues and competing for a cash award in the symposium’s poster competition. Members of the campus community are also invited to attend interdisciplinary panels featuring BYU faculty, lectures by iconic figures in nuclear history and policy, and a staging of key scenes from Richard Rhodes’s play on the Reykjavik summit. Organizers hope that by day’s end participants will come away with ideas for new research projects, a network of new contacts, and an enhanced understanding of the challenges and hopes for nuclear politics in today’s world.
Sponsored by the David M. Kennedy Center for International Studies, European Studies major, Department of Political Science, College of Engineering, and Undergraduate Education
Organizers: Liz Jevtic-Somlai (visiting assistant professor of political science), Nick Mason (professor of English and coordinator of European Studies), and Matt Memmott (assistant professor of chemical engineering)
Call for Posters
Students are invited to submit posters to the symposium on the topics relevant to the following categories:
- Chernobyl
- Nuclear Energy
- Nuclear Arms (Non-) Proliferation
Faculty are encouraged to mentor/review the poster drafts (abstracts) with the students in their courses.
Prizes will be awarded for the best posters.
Guidelines
- Students can co-author
- Poster created can be interdisciplinary (including fields of engineering, history, humanities, international relations, physical and mathematical sciences, political science, and visual arts)
- Students should consult with a faculty mentor on the content of the poster
- Poster can be 2D or 3D
- The poster size should be 24×36 (3D posters should not weigh more than 15lbs)
- Each poster must have:
- Category
- Title
- All student investigator names(s)
- All faculty mentor name(s)
- Department name(s)
- Abstract (paragraph summary) of the research presented
- Students will be responsible for submitting the printed/final version to 237 HRCB
- Final poster should be submitted by 4:00 p.m. on Friday, 18 March 2016
Schedule
Session 1 (238 HRCB)
9:00-10:00 Nuclear Energy 101 and What Went Wrong at Chernobyl
Matthew Memmott, Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering, BYU
10:00-11:00: The Sociopolitical Aftermath of Chernobyl
Moderator: Jeff Hardy, Assistant Professor of History, BYU
“Chernobyl’s Toll on Everyday Belarusians”
Tony Brown, Professor of Russian, BYU
“Chernobyl and the Demise of the Soviet Bloc”
Scott Cooper, Associate Professor of Political Science, BYU
“Chernobyl, Toxicity, and the Culture Politics of the Anthropocene”
Chip Oscarson, Associate Professor of Scandinavian Studies
11:00-11:15: Break
11:15-12:15: Keynote 1: “The Promise and Politics of Nuclear Energy in 21st-century America”
Senator Judd Gregg, Co-Chair of Nuclear Matters and former Governor and US Senator from New Hampshire
12:15-1:45: Lunch in President’s Dining Room (by invitation)
Session 2 (238 HRCB)
1:45-2:40: Keynote 2: “Challenges and Successes of Nuclear Arms Control in the Post-Cold-War Era”
Ambassador Adam Scheinman, Special Rep. of U.S. President for Nuclear Nonproliferation
Session 3 (321 MSRB)
3:00-3:45: Performance of Richard Rhodes’ play Reykjavik (on Reagan-Gorbachev arms summit)
Director Lauren Wilkins
Stephen Moore (M. Gorbachev)
Cooper Sutton (R. Reagan)
3:45-4:30: Keynote 3: Richard Rhodes, Pulitzer-Prize winning historian and playwright
“Reykjavik and Writing about Nuclear Proliferation in the 21st century”
Introduction: Nick Mason
4:30-4:40: Break
4:40-5:25: “Atoms for Peace”: Lessons for the 21st Century:
Moderator: Nick Mason, Professor of English and European Studies, BYU
Eric Jensen (BYU Law), Liz Jevtic-Somlai (BYU Pol. Science), Matt Memmott (BYU Chem. Engineering), and Mike Stimpson (Nuclear Engineering, U of Utah)
5:25-5:30: Closing Remarks and Poster Awards Presentation