From the beginning of the second year of the project to mid-October 2019, the nuclear physics group worked on a debate on pros and cons of developing nuclear and particle physics and its practical applications, preparing their speeches and the scenario for the entire debate. A group of six students who were going to a meeting in France at the beginning of October were ready with their speeches before they left. They filmed their rehearsal and showed the film in France. The entire debate took place on October 19, 2019 and also was filmed.

The participants of the debate talked about reasons for development of nuclear and particle physics, as well as its practical applications, for example in electricity production or in medicine, but also in construction of weapons of mass destruction. They emphasized undoubted benefits of harnessing nuclear forces to satysfy the needs of humanity, but also highlighted resulting dangers. They argued why, despite the risks involved, it is worth developing and using nuclear and particle physics, or on the contrary, why we should refrain from it, despite numerous undisputable benefits. At the end of the debate, they held a vote, as a result of which they decided, by a slight majority, that benefits of practicing nuclear and particle physics outweigh any possible risks, so the expenditure on basic research in this field and development of nuclear medicine and nuclear power in our country should be increased.

THE SCENARIO OF THE DEBATE

NUCLEAR AND ELEMENTARY PARTICLE PHYSICS – A BLESSING OR A CURSE FOR HUMANITY?: DEBATE WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF THE ERASMUS+ PROJECT ,,SCIENCE AROUND US”

Welcome to a debate entitled ,,Nuclear and particle physics – a blessing or a curse for humanity?” taking place within the framework of the ‘’Science around us” project implemented in the European Union Erasmus Plus program in cooperation with schools from Finland, France, Greece, Iceland and Malta. The most important aims of ,,Science around us” project is to arouse and develop interest in natural sciences, so that we all could understand the surrounding world, the operating rules of commonly used devices and the power of the human mind capable of explaining phenomena as well as of responsible use of this knowledge in practice, at the same time learning critical and innovative thinking, sensitivity to environmental issues and the belief, that together we are able to change the world.

Nuclear physics, from which later particle physics evolved, unlike many other fields of science is deprived of prehistory. The discovery of the atomic nucleus in 1911 opened a completely new chapter of knowledge, because no one before had any grounds to predict the existence of something like the atomic nucleus. In this relatively short period of time – about a hundred years of nuclear physics existence, a lot has been achieved, both in the area of basic research and the use of the obtained knowledge. For many years nuclear physics, and then particle physics, were almost synonymous with modern science, a symbol of power but also dilemmas related to their cultivation. Treaties about peaceful use of nuclear energy were written; fabulous perspectives of civilization were given, which, having learned the secrets of atoms, will get energy almost for free. Nuclear technologies have established themselves in many areas of life. However, the dangers of practicing and applying nuclear physics, although often imaginary, discredited it in the eyes of society. Nowadays, nuclear physics arouses much controversy. In today’s debate we will try to consider, weather it really is a blessing for humanity, or on the contrary, a curse. 

1. Why did nuclear and particle physics develop at all? Why does this research continue on a large scale, despite much controversy?

ZUZANNA GŁĘBIŃSKA ID

Out of curiosity. While Hans Geiger and Ernest Marsden studied the interaction of a particles with matter,  it was not understood how the atom is built, it was not known why stars shine, where various chemical elements existing on Earth came from or how the radiation discovered by Becquerel is produced and why it has the observed properties. Demonstrating that one in several thousand particles bombarding gold foil bounces off it and runs backwards, which, according to the discoverer of the atomic nucleus, Ernest Rutherford, was as unusual as launching a cannonball, that hitting a paper napkin, would bounce back and hit the shooter, initiated the entire series of further research and discoveries. These discoveries showed that the atom is composed of electrons and a nucleus that contains neutrons and protons, which in turn are made of quarks. They made it possible to understand that stars shine thanks to thermonuclear fusion reactions, and the elements existing on Earth, like hydrogen, helium and insignificant amounts of lithium, were formed during the Big Bang, heavier than hydrogen up to iron, inside stars and heavier than iron in supernova explosions.  Understanding the structure of atomic nuclei and interactions between their components helped explain the emission of a, b and g radiation by atomic nuclei, as well as the properties of the radiation. Understanding nuclear reactions led to production of elements that do not exist in nature, and even fulfilled the dream of alchemists - enabled production of gold from other elements, which, however, would not bring financial benefits, because gold is formed from more expensive elements and in addition it is radioactive. 

JULIA BONIECKA IA

Human curiosity still remains unsatisfied, so research is going on. Until recently, we didn’t know whether the Higgs’s theory explaining different rest masses of elementary particles of different generations was correct. Only heavy ion collision experiments carried out in the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, using high-energy ion beams travelling in opposite directions, led to the discovery of the Higgs boson in 2012, and thus confirmed this theory. However, we still don’t understand what dark matter or dark energy is. Their existence would explain much stronger gravitational interactions of galaxies than would result from the ordinary matter contained in them, leading to the observed anomalies in rotation of galaxies or their movements in clusters. Currently, experiments are being carried out at CERN to solve this problem, and also to prove the so-called supersymmetry theory, which would result in transformation of bosons into fermions and which is used in the theory of superstrings, one of the so-called theories of everything

2. Satisfying curiosity is not enough for all people to agree to spend money on developing a scientific discipline. Have the knowledge acquired through the development of nuclear physics and devices which operate using nuclear processes found any practical applications to meet the needs of humanity?

BARTOSZ GĘBSKI IIC

The reaction of nuclear fission of heavy elements can be controlled and it’s mostly used in nuclear reactors, for example in nuclear power plants. Uranium-235 is the most commonly used fissile fuel. Internal energy released in this way is used to drive the turbines of electric generators.  In 2013, about 4.5% of the energy consumed by humanity, including almost 11.5% of electrical energy, was produced from nuclear energy. France is a leading country when it comes to electricity production in nuclear power plants, with almost 75% of electricity produced in this way (in the USA for example it is 19%).

Nuclear energy is also used to propel submarines and aircraft carriers, and to power the measuring devices of space probes, especially of those that penetrate the peripheral areas of the Solar System. Nuclear reactors allow you to power vehicles even in the most hostile places in the universe. They make it possible to explore the most distant corners of the Solar System, where solar panels are too inefficient. Thanks to them it’s possible to build ships that can remain in the open sea for months without returning to port for refuelling. They will be the main power source if we ever decide to set up a base on another celestial body.

To summarize, the most important advantages of nuclear power are as follows:

• It’s a concentrated energy source

• It does not produce carbon dioxide
• It does not depend on weather conditions
• We can easily produce the amount of energy that we need
• the amount of uranium fuel needed is relatively small, which reduces the costs of transport and storage,
• Long life-span of nuclear power plant
• Sufficient uranium resources to meet energetic requirements of humanity for the next 1500 years

Since the 1950s, scientists have been working on controlled fusion reactions of light atomic nuclei. Despite many attempts, so far it has not been possible to build an installation that would allow to obtain useful energy in a continuous and stable manner. The ITER reactor construction project implemented in the south of France is to be the basis for future fusion power plants. The ITER reactor has a tokamak design - a device that allows for controlled thermonuclear reaction. Such reactions occur in nature - they are, apart from gravitational energy, the main source of energy for stars. According to experts, the construction of a reactor in which similar reactions can be carried out will help solve the problem of clean and very cheap electricity production, as fuel for these reactors is sea water. In practice, this means that in the future, tokamaks can be used to generate electricity without burdening the environment.

JAKUB BANASIEWICZ IIIA

Nuclear reactors are used not only to produce energy. They also produce neutron beams, mainly for scientific research. They produce plutonium which is the fuel for some types of reactors. Another important product is radioactive isotopes. They have found application in scientific research, engineering, industry, medicine and many other branches of human activity.

Radioisotopes are mainly used to track various types of processes. With the help of radiophosphorus emitting beta radiation, it is possible, for example, to test the abrasion of car tires.

Radiography is a method of analyzing internal structure of objects and materials, which uses gamma rays or X-rays. As a result, we obtain an image which is called radiogram and it allows us to eliminate defective parts of various objects.

Cobalt bomb is a popular name of a device used for cancer radiotherapy. It uses high doses of gamma rays emitted by a radioactive cobalt isotope for irradiation of diseased tissue. Selective and energetic damaging effect of this radiation on young, intensively reproducing cancerous tissues is used in anti-cancer therapy.

G (gamma) rays, accelerated electrons and sometimes X rays can be used for irradiation of food. Doses of radiation below 10 Gy can destroy bacteria, mould, yeast and pathogenic microflora in food, which extends its shelf life and decreases the number of food poisonings.

Radiation techniques are used in various industries, for example to sterilize medical equipment, modify polymers in chemistry as well as materials and semiconductor devices, to dye fabrics, glass or plastics, or even natural gemstones. The principle of using radiation technique is to irradiate materials and finished products using an electron beam or gamma radiation. They are used wherever it is necessary to make durable and tight connections of elements.

Finally, the ¹⁴C carbon isotope method is used to estimate the age of excavations, which is widely used in archaeological research.

MARIA TWARÓG IIC

When it comes to nuclear medicine I would say that I strongly feel that it has many advantages. Medicine is a prime example when nuclear physic can help you recover or save your life. Basically, nuclear medicine involves the use of the latest scans and facilities, such as magnetic resonance imaging, computed tomography scans and positron emission tomography, which you will find in many modern medical institutions of today. Moreover, nuclear medicine offers much more than sophisticated medical equipment, for example additional treatment plans or methods for early detection diseases.

Nuclear medicine imaging procedures are noninvasive. With the exception of intravenous injections, they are usually painless. They allow the doctor to identify your disease before it can be seen in other imaging tests.

Many centres combine nuclear medicine images with computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging to produce special views. These views allow the doctor to interpret the data from two different tests in one image, which leads to more precise information and more accurate diagnoses.

It would be hard to deny the fact that nuclear physic allows doctors to use new forms of therapy for example:

• Brachytherapy – It allows you to direct the radiation precisely to the site affected by cancerous changes, while reducing the risk of damage to healthy tissues. For this reason, brachytherapy is used to treat cancers sensitive to ionizing radiation.
• Radiotheraphy - Radiation therapy is one of the most effective treatment options for prostate cancer.
• Radioactive iodine therapy - It uses small amounts of radioactive material to treat cancer and other medical conditions.

In conclusion, forms of treatment using nuclear physics are much more accurate and effective. In addition, nuclear physics provides very sophisticated equipment for more accurate and precise medical tests.

JOANNA DUKACZEWSKA ID

You can also mention some by-products of developing nuclear physics. Quantum mechanics and electrodynamics, initiated by the discoveries of atomic physics, were developed for the needs of nuclear and particles physics. These theories allowed us to understand the structure and properties of semiconductors, which revolutionized electronics, enabling the construction of many modern devices that have nothing to do with nuclear physics, such as computers or mobile phones. By-products of the development of nuclear physics at CERN are the World Wide Web, that is the Internet, supercomputers and many materials with extraordinary properties, such as superconductors, that is substances that do not resist the flow of electric current.

3. Since discoveries of nuclear physics satisfy human curiosity and allow to understand processes occurring both in micro and macro scale, and understanding these processes leads to very useful practical solutions, why does this science arouse so much controversy?

ANTON PENCHEV IIC

Construction of nuclear physics devices, such as accelerators or reactors, requires significant financial outlays. Very expensive are also tests of materials that will be used to build them, as well as safety tests of the devices themselves carried out before the devices are allowed to work. Also, operation of enormous and very sophisticated accelerators is associated with large expenses. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) working at CERN is 27 kilometers long and is placed 100 meters underground. Its superconducting electromagnets require cooling to the temperature of minus 271.3 degrees Celsius, which is the lowest temperature ever recorded anywhere in the Universe, and inside the pipe transporting ion beam there is a vacuum lower than found anywhere in the Universe. Achieving such parameters is extremely costly. Detectors or computers cooperating with the LHC are also very complicated and expensive.

PATRYCJA PRZYBYSZ IID

Radioisotopes and the nuclear radiation they produce are very dangerous to human health, especially if radioactive nuclei get into the body along with air or food, because radioactive elements accumulate in different parts of the body and continually radiate there, ionizing our cell atoms, which leads to many often fatal diseases. Such health disorders are generally called radiation sickness (poisoning).

Symptoms and effects of radiation poisoning depend primarily on the dose of ionising radiation absorbed by the body. Healthcare professionals, especially those specializing in nuclear medicine, are the most exposed to ionizing radiation. Nuclear medicine is a branch of medicine in which special drugs (called radiopharmaceuticals) combined with radioactive isotopes are used in diagnosis and treatment. Radiation sickness may also be the result of working close to a broken X-ray tube or working with this device without the use of appropriate protective measures. Exceptional situations that can lead to radiation sickness are nuclear reactor failures (e.g. the Chernobyl disaster in 1986) or the use of nuclear weapons (e.g. the atomic attack on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945). There is an acute radiation syndrome - if the symptoms occur within the first days to 2 weeks after irradiation - and a chronic one - which can manifest itself a long time after irradiation.

The form of acute radiation sickness depends on the dose of ionising radiation absorbed by the body. The following forms can be observed:
• subclinical form - general weakness and reduction of peripheral blood lymphocytes
• haematological form - general weakness, decrease in peripheral blood lymphocytes, anaemia, decrease in immunity, hemorrhagic diathesis
• intestinal form - bloody diarrhea, bleeding diathesis, water and electrolyte imbalance, and edema appear. Everyone with this form of radiation sickness dies.
• cerebral form - seizures and unconsciousness occur shortly after irradiation, and then the patient dies
• enzymatic form - the patient loses consciousness and soon dies

Chronic radiation poisoning is the name of distant effects of single exposure to radiation or the effects of prolonged exposure to repeated low doses of radiation. They appear after several or more years of exposure. As a result of chronic radiation poisoning, the following can be observed;

• development of malignant tumours,
• infertility,
• hormonal imbalances,
• cataract.

The effects of radiation during pregnancy depend on the dose and duration of pregnancy. In early pregnancy, high-dose radiation usually leads to intrauterine foetal death, while radiation at a later stage promotes congenital malformations (birth defects) or perinatal death.

Radiation-related reactions are all complications (side effects) related to cancer radiotherapy. We can divide them into early (occurring up to 6 months after the end of radiotherapy) and late (occurring after half a year).

BARTOSZ WRZESIŃSKI IIIA

Unfortunately, human activity is very often driven by greed and a desire for power. Man does not shy away from using discoveries of natural sciences to create increasingly deadly weapons. Understanding nuclear fission reactions of heavy elements and demonstrating that an enormous amount of energy is released during the process led to construction of a nuclear bomb and two such bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki during World War II. In Hiroshima about 78,000 people were killed in the explosion and 14,000 got wounded. In Nagasaki, 39,000 people were killed and 25,000 got wounded. Many people died of radiation sickness in the ensuing years. The worst thing is, however, that it is people who bring such fate to other people, which means that someday, maybe not in such a distant future, we will end our era ourselves by killing each other and the weapons will be atomic bombs. About half the energy produced during a nuclear explosion is released in the form of a shock wave. A further 35% of energy is released in the form of heat. The rest is ionizing radiation. Of course, the larger the nuclear bomb, the more damage it causes. It is possible that terrorists have managed to construct a portable nuclear bomb, e.g. with a blast energy of 15 kT. The bomb dropped by the United States on Hiroshima had a destructive power of just about 15 kT. It's the same as the RA-115 portable suitcase bombs have, in which the Russian army is probably equipped with. According to officially unconfirmed reports, during the collapse of the USSR, an indefinite number of such bombs was lost. Terrorists, however, are not the greatest danger. It is not difficult to guess that more dangerous - far more dangerous - are intercontinental ballistic missiles carrying several atomic warheads each. It is estimated that each of these missiles can carry from 1 to 10 atomic warheads. Each of the heads can hit a separate target, often tens or even hundreds of kilometers away. Modern atomic warheads have smaller destructive power than it was the case before. It is estimated that most of the missiles stationed on land have warheads with the destructive power lower than 500 kT and those launched from submarines up to 200 kT each. Their large number means that many potential targets can be reached and destroyed in a single attack.

What's more, explanation of nuclear fusion reactions, in which light elements combine to form heavier nuclei, with the release of even more energy per nucleon, also inspired man to build a bomb, the so-called hydrogen bomb, even more powerful, even more deadly and in addition using material much more accessible and safe during processing than uranium or plutonium, namely hydrogen. Both the Americans and Russians have carried out several test explosions of hydrogen bombs, the blast energy of the biggest of which was equal to that of almost 4000 bombs dropped on Hiroszima.

If an atomic war ever happened, it could be the last war in human history. Most people would die. The survivors would hide until supplies ran out. However, if someone miraculously survived  even that, it would be difficult for them to live, considering that air, soil and water would be polluted, and you can't live without them.

MATEUSZ JAKUBIAK IIA

The use of nuclear medicine is associated with high costs. Devices and radioisotopes for nuclear medicine are very expensive. Costs are also generated by transporting patients to centres offering such methods of treatment. The half-life of some radioisotopes used in medicine is short and this is problematic when you want to use them in centres distant from the place of their production. Ionizing radiation damages not only diseased tissues but all tissues that it passes through. Safer treatment techniques, such as hadron therapy, are expensive and require the use of complex equipment and the employment of properly trained specialists, not only doctors but also physicists. Therefore, they are not available for everybody who needs them. In case of a mistake by a doctor or a physicist planning the radiation, or equipment failure, the patient is at risk of burns or radiation sickness. As a result of the use of nuclear medicine, radioactive waste is generated, whose storage or disposal also generate costs and may cause environmental pollution.

JAKUB MARCINOWSKI IAg

Nuclear power, despite its undoubted advantages, also has disadvantages, and above all it brings many significant threats. Both the construction and the closure of a nuclear power plant are associated with high costs, and a working nuclear power plant requires constant radiological monitoring. Investment in nuclear plants, security, mining infrastructure, etc. draws funding away from investment in cleaner sources such as wind, solar, and geothermal. Both nuclear fuel and waste generated by a nuclear power plant are radioactive. The disposal and storage of such waste is very expensive. There is also a possibility of contamination of waters, air and soils in the storage area. To make things worse, the waste generated by nuclear reactors remains radioactive for tens to hundreds of thousands of years. Human error and natural disasters can lead to dangerous and costly accidents. The 1986 Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine led to the deaths of 30 employees in the initial explosion and has had a variety of negative health effects on thousands across Russia and Eastern Europe. A massive tsunami caused three nuclear meltdowns at a power plant in Fukushima, Japan, resulting in the release of radioactive materials into the surrounding area. In both disasters, hundreds of thousands were relocated, a huge amount of money spent, and the radiation-related deaths are being evaluated to this day. Cancer rates among populations living in proximity to Chernobyl and Fukushima, especially among children, rose significantly in the years after the accidents. In addition, nuclear power plants are a potential target for terrorist operations. An attack could cause major explosions ejecting dangerous radioactive material into the atmosphere and surrounding region. Nuclear research facilities, uranium enrichment plants, and uranium mines are also potentially at risk for attacks that could cause widespread contamination with radioactive material. Also, there is great concern that the development of nuclear energy programs increases the likelihood of proliferation of nuclear weapons. As nuclear fuel and technologies become globally available, the risk of these falling into the wrong hands is increasingly present.

4. Can the use of nuclear physics devices or radioactive isotopes be a better choice or sometimes a necessity despite the obvious threats? Can man somehow limit the risks associated with developing and using nuclear physics?

ZOFIA CYMERSKA ID

Conventional fuels and their use also have an adverse effect on the natural environment. For instance, huge oil tanker disasters causing high environmental pollution, industrial wastewater, exhaust fumes, acid rain caused by smoke, aerosol emissions that destroy the protective ozone layer of our atmosphere. During an accident at a pesticide factory in Bhopal, India, 40 tons of a poisonous chemical compound called methyl isocyanate was released into the atmosphere in the form of gas. At the time of the disaster, 3787 people died, and about 15 thousand died later due to complications after contact with the released substance. Several thousand people suffered permanent health damage. Failures in chemical factories occur much more often than in nuclear power plants.

OSKAR SYNCERZ IIIA

Today’s nuclear reactors are much safer than the ones built 20, 30 or 40 years ago. Technology and development allowed a significant increase in efficiency, while reducing the possibility of failure. Reactors built today have a failure rate close to 0% and only unpredictable extreme conditions can pose a threat. What's important; these reactors allow us to produce clean energy at a low cost, which may be the answer to the impending ecological disaster and be our salvation. And this is because they produce huge amounts of energy while releasing a negligible amount of greenhouse gases. Even the amount of unrecyclable radioactive waste remains very low. The amount of unrecyclable waste produced by the whole of Sweden since 1970, when they built their first reactor, would not fill an Olympic swimming pool completely, which is ridiculously little compared to the amount of gases emitted by coal-fired power plants.

Nuclear reactors are surrounded by biological shields protecting the environment against contamination. Their work control system is doubled - two independent computers operate it to exclude the risk of reactor failure following the malfunction of the control computer. The core cooling substance, which is radioactive, does not escape- only heat is transferred. Neutron flux sensors placed in the core monitor the power produced in individual areas and in the case of excessive growth, they activate control or stopping rods, that limit or completely disable fission reactions in a given place or in the entire core. Accelerators are placed in special bunkers or underground, so that the synchrotron radiation they produce does not endanger people and the environment.

All employees exposed to nuclear radiation wear dosimeters - special devices for measuring the absorbed dose or radiation. Stationary dosimeters are placed in rooms where nuclear radiation occurs. Exposure limits for radiation workers and the general public are defined. Employees who for various reasons have absorbed a dose of radiation close to the limit specified for a given time interval are removed from work with radiation until the end of that interval. People who have absorbed a dose that exceeds the limit are subjected to very detailed medical examinations and treated if necessary.

Radioactive waste is processed in order to retrieve radioactive isotopes, which can be used in industry, medicine, agriculture or food preservation. The remaining waste is carefully covered with a thick layer of concrete and stored in inaccessible places, such as old mines far away from inhabited areas. Moreover, storage places and concrete containers are constantly monitored for possible damage and nuclear radiation emission.

You have heard voices highlighting the benefits of practicing nuclear and particle physics, as well as critical voices pointing to the risks associated with it. You know that there are no industrial nuclear reactors or large research accelerators in Poland and there are few sophisticated nuclear medicine devices. We will now vote.

Who believes that benefits of practicing nuclear and particle physics outweigh any possible risks, so the expenditure on basic research in this field and development of nuclear medicine and nuclear power in our country should be increased, please raise your hand.

Now, let those who think that you should not make any changes in this aspect or even limit research expenses, as well as reduce the use of nuclear medicine and slowly quench nuclear reactors working for the electrical energy sector replacing them with other energy sources, raise your hand.

Who abstained?

Participants in the debate entitled "Nuclear physics - a blessing or a curse for humanity" by ... votes against ... with ... abstentions recognized ...

DEBATE - FILM