Nuclear energy at the European Union Information Point in Poland

on 9 December 2011, in cooperation with the European Union Information Point in Poland, we organised a didactic activity about radioactivity and nuclear energy for a group of 50 students from Tadeusz Reytan High School in Warsaw, who came to meet their physics teacher Mr Juliusz Bienias.

The entire meeting was chaired by the President of the Foundation, Łukasz Koszuk, and assisted by volunteers Jakub Danecki and Michał Chmielewski. The main topic of the meeting was nuclear energy and issues related to the construction of Poland’s first nuclear power plant. The lecture was preceded by an initial questionnaire to gauge the students’ knowledge and opinions on the topic presented. During the lecture, basic issues related to the phenomenon of radioactivity and the impact of ionising radiation on the environment and people were discussed, and basic principles of radiological protection were presented. The lecture was illustrated with demonstrations.

The main objective of the FORUM ATOMOWE Foundation is a professional approach to the reliable and credible transfer of knowledge about the peaceful use of nuclear energy. Therefore, at the end of the meeting, an anonymous questionnaire was carried out, in which students answered questions about nuclear power and gave their opinions about the construction of a nuclear power plant in Poland. They were also able to assess the preparation and difficulty level of the didactic activities.

The Foundation’s team is made up of young people specialising in various fields, primarily physics, but also biology, environmental protection or computer science. In this way, they set a good example for the slightly younger generation, encouraging them with their activities to study, develop their interests and passions. They can thus inspire junior and senior high school students to study technical subjects related to, for example, nuclear energy, and this in turn will contribute to the creation of a fully qualified workforce building and operating modern nuclear power plants in Poland.

We would like to thank the entire team of the European Union Information Point for their help in organising the meeting, hoping for further successful cooperation.