English 421Y: Technical Writing Online

The website http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/nuclear/page/nuc_reactors/reactsum.html will be the main source of information for the nuclear power section of the white paper project. This website contains summaries of official energy statistics from the United States Government for up to the past 10 years. Since this website is a government run page, the information should be completely factual and unbiased. It will also give credibility to our white paper.

Among the information contained in the website, nuclear reactors are introduced and explained, the different types of reactors operating in the U.S., and the power produced by nuclear reactors. The pages are very easy to navigate and use factual, technical yet easy to understand language. Pictures and diagrams also accompany many of the discussion areas. Specifically the diagrams that explain and describe the reactors. These diagrams will be easy to reference in the white paper.

The next most helpful thing that this website contains, as mentioned above, is the tabulations of energy production and consumption over the past 10 years. This will help to show that the energy needs of the U.S. are growing and the need for a renewable, clean energy source is prominent.

As a group, we are still discussing different ways we will present our information in the final white paper. We’re not sure if we should model the paper after the ‘Steak Behind the Sizzle’ example we read earlier or to take a different more practical approach which would compare each energy source side by side. Right now, we will probably use the general information from this and other websites to introduce and briefly explain each different topic and explain its significance in the energy future of the United States. After all topics have been introduced, diagrams and tables will be presented that will be able to be directly compared with dependence on oil.