The Atomic Bus goes on tour in Poland
From 8 to 19 September, middle and high school students will be able to learn the ins and outs of nuclear power plant operation. This is when the Atomic Bus-Mobile Laboratory will pass through Poland. This is the fourth edition of the Atomic Forum Foundation project.
The aim of the campaign is to reach local communities and provide reliable information on the peaceful use of nuclear energy in the context of the nuclear power plant construction programme in Poland. Employees of the Foundation, equipped with appropriate equipment and teaching aids, will inform guests about the principles of nuclear power plant operation, perform experiments on nuclear physics and radiological protection. Participants will be treated to demonstrations and experiments, simulations and popular science seminars. An interesting highlight of the programme will be a demonstration entitled “Look inside a lozenge”. “An interesting highlight of the programme will be a demonstration entitled ‘Take a peek inside a fuel lozenge’, during which the audience can see what nuclear fission of a uranium atom looks like. This demonstration is a three-dimensional animation, for which it is not necessary to put on special glasses. It is all thanks to a special holographic pyramid – a device that displays the image in such a way that the viewer can see the object from all sides.
“Atomic Bus” will start on 8 September in Puławy. It will then travel to Ostrowiec Świętokrzyski, Częstochowa, Kalisz, Bydgoszcz, and in the following week to Lębork, Kłanin, Gniewno, Elbląg, Tczew. The full itinerary can be found on the website: www.atomowyautobus.pl
“Atomic Bus” is the main project of the Atomic Forum Foundation and at the same time part of an education and information campaign involving a group of about 20 volunteer scientists. During face-to-face discussions at the education and information stand, they are able to answer the most difficult questions.
During the three previous editions of the project, the Atomic Bus travelled more than 8,000 km and visited 36 cities, including universities, schools and public institutions. The atomic laboratory has so far been visited by more than 10000 people. The project was also awarded at this year’s PIME Award for Communication Excellence for the best information campaign on the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
The Atomic Forum Foundation was founded in 2008 and is run by young people united by a passion for popularising science, particularly physics and nuclear energy. The aim of the Foundation is to educate and inform on the peaceful use of nuclear energy and radioactivity. The Foundation’s other projects include the popular science portal energiajądrowa.pl, which is intended to be a place for honest discussion around the challenges of building a nuclear power plant, the e-learning platform (knowledge portal) Nukleo, aimed at people aged between 6 and 106, and a series of ‘Meetings with Atomic Energy‘, educational lectures aimed at schools and beyond. Later this year, a project unique in our country, the ‘School Radiological Map of Poland’, will be launched. Pupils and their tutors will create an interactive map of the distribution of ionising radiation dose power in our country.
The partners of the Atomic Bus are: PGE EJ 1 sp. z o.o., EDF, Areva, General Electric Hitachi, as well as the Central Laboratory of Radiological Protection and the State Enterprise Radioactive Waste Neutralisation Plant. Media patronage for the event is provided by: Fokus TV, portal naukowiec.org, Świat Nauki and Wiedza i Życie.
