As part of Nuclear Science Week, the Saskatchewan Science Centre set up various booths on Saturday to help educate the public on the topic. Some of the organizations that took part were the Ministry of Energy and Resources, Sask. Mining, and SaskPower. “I think the goal right now is just to start letting people understand what nuclear is,” said Dave Loos, the science centre’s director of community programming. “For a long time growing up here, nobody really talked about it other than the things you hear about from the big stories from across the world where things went wrong.” “Nuclear power is something that could be a solution to a lot of things down the road, but understanding what are the risks and what are the benefits, so this is a good way to kind of start that conversation and help people feel a little more familiar with it.” This is the second year in a row the centre has hosted Nuclear Science Week. They are hoping it can be an annual event with different voices discussing nuclear science every year. “What we think about when we see the Simpsons in the green glowing sludge everywhere, or Fukushima or Chernobyl, all the bad things, understanding that we’re a long way from that and a lot of steps have been taken to make sure that those dangers aren’t here anymore. I don’t think any source of energy is perfect or flawless, but it’s nice to know that there’s a lot of potential benefits and the risks are well understood as well,” Loos said. Around the world, Nuclear Science Week took place from Oct. 19 to Oct. 23. A presentation from University of Regina Assistant Professor Dr. Arthur Situm on the basics of nuclear science and modular reactors rounded out the event for the day.
