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Above: Students explore chemistry during a Chemistry Crime Solvers class.

“Ok, are you guys ready?” asked Vanessa, the host for the camp’s tour at Reed College. Some students nodded absently, not exactly sure what they were getting ready for. Others just stared at the water. As if to punctuate the bizarre experience, a rubber duck glided across the surface, oblivious to what lay at the bottom of the pool. Gasps could be heard from the students as the room plunged into darkness. But their surprise turned to awe as their eyes adjusted to the luminescence that filled the pool.

“It’s…wow…”

“The water is blue!”

“No it isn’t, it’s the reactor. The reactor is glowing!”

Vanessa walked back to the students. “It’s called the Cerenkov effect. The water allows the beta particles to move faster than the speed of light, which is why it gives off a blue glow.”

“Weird how something so beautiful can come from something so dangerous.” Hilary said to Scott, the camp instructor while Vanessa continued explaining the phenomenon.

Scott nodded. “And the real problem is that we’re stuck with it. Radioactive materials can sometimes take millions of years to decay.”

“But what if someone speeded it up?” You know… make it decay quicker… in a way that doesn’t cause an explosion, I mean.” she watched Scott’s expression to see if he found it funny, but the instructor looked thoughtful.

“It’s a possible solution, but no one’s done it yet. Maybe you will be the one to figure it out.”

“Really?”

“Sure. Someone will have to find out what to do with all our nuclear waste. It’s a problem that isn’t going away.” Hilary wore a pensive expression for the rest of the day.

— Class Observation by Simona Patange