Site Visits – Page 5 – GT in the EU

TTIP, Ukraine, and Art Nouveau

On June 27, 2015

Today was by far the busiest, and enriching day of the program thus far! We started out the day bright and early with a simulation to create compromises between the US and EU regarding TTIP (Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership) and the Ukraine crisis. There were 4 teams, broken up between both US, and EU perspectives and again regarding TTIP of Ukraine. Each team prepared topics of contention to discuss before the simulation. Then each team gave an opening speech addressing what they wanted to get out of the agreement. Next came the negotiations. The US and EU teams from each respective topic got together and worked towards finding a compromise so policy can be passed to solve the issues. This was a great experience for me to practice my skills of persuasion, as well as to learn when to bite my tongue, or speak up to put the information out there that needs to be said. After each topic came to an agreement it was typed up, and formulated into a speech to present to the whole class. Below are some pictures of the simulation in progress. They may not look like much but I promise everyone’s brains were working full speed ahead!

After the simulation was over Dr.Birchfield brought the class a delicious catered lunch in celebration! We didn’t waste much time at all before we jumped straight into a lecture given by our very own Prof. Cottle. He lectured us on common art movements throughout Europe, especially Art Nouveau in Brussels. It was interesting to see the connections between pop culture in the time, and how it reflected in the art movements! Post lecture the class took a walking tour around the city of Brussles. On this walk we meandered through the streets looking at town houses that were built during this movement. Art Nouveau in architecture is when materials such as plaster, wood, and metal are all used in the façade of the house in unique and expensive composition. This was one of my favorite houses we looked at!

It is absolutely gorgeous! Now most of these houses are owned by the city, or art societies so they can be restored and preserved for the public to admire for years to come. To end our walking tour, on one of the hottest days we have had in Brussels thus was, we went to the Horta house museum. Horta was a famous architect during this art movement. He actually built his own house, that is so heavily decorated and beautiful I could barely believe my eyes! Unfortunately pictures were not allowed, so I guess everyone reading this will just have to go there in person one day! Going to the museum was a great, and super interesting end to a jam packed day. After finishing the museum at 7 I promptly went back to my house for some much needed water, and a long nap!

Fleishman Hillard visit: Democracy and Competition

By Evan Long

On June 13, 2015

In European Institutions, Site Visits

Yesterday, June 12, we had the opportunity to visit Fleishman Hillard, a international public relations and consulting firm. We had three speakers who told us a little bit about what Fleishman Hillard is, but the main focus of our discussion was the current state of technology and environmental policy in the EU. However, what really stood out to me and what I would like to write about were two relatively undiscussed problems the EU has.
To start, the first speaker brought up an excellent point that after four weeks of intensive study of the EU I had not realized: policies and decision making in the EU is very non-political. In the US, decisions are made with the voters in mind and and policies come about based on what politicians think voters will respond positively to. SInce the EU’s only popularly elected institution is the Parliament, which, despite consistently growing authority with each EU treaty, still remains the weakest of the three main EU decision making bodies. The EU governance is weakly linked the citizens of the EU. This has led to a “Democratic Deficit” in the EU, which may be an underlying cause of the Euroskeptic movement. Maybe that’s the future to the EU surviving: reform in the popular connections of the EU institutions. Anyways, that is something that I believe few people understand about many of the problems of the EU, and Fleishman Hillard, a firm dedicated to EU public relations, seemed very interested in helping solve that problem.

IFRI and Iran’s Nuclear Crisis

By James Purvis

On July 2, 2014

In Foreign Policy, Security, Site Visits, Transatlantic Relations

At IFRI we had a speaker addressing the Iranian Nuclear Crisis and France’s interest in the issue. The issue centers around Iran’s enrichment of Uranium past being just fuel-grade. Fuel-grade Uranium does not require as much U-235 than weapons-grade Uranium, so this enrichment has caused skepticism among the international community towards Iran’s intentions. But this is not news, this has been the case for many years. France’s interest in this affair lies both in the security threat of Iran to Europe as a whole and in their role as one of the major nuclear powers (along with the US). Current negotiations are hoped to be completed by the end of this year and provide a medium- to long-term solution to this crisis. Specifically, a solution that is long-term enough to be effective and sustainable, but short-term enough to not be affected by changing regimes. Our speaker mentioned how nuclear fuel is at the center of these negotiations, because if an alternative fuel or means of acquiring fuel could be found, the crisis would be solved, for the most part.

Now that that is out of the way, it’s time to get to the purpose of this post: I asked a technical question regarding the fuel situation, one that probably only 4 people in the room could’ve hoped to understand, at least in my opinion, and one of which, the speaker, flat out stated that he had no clue about what I was talking about, because of his lack of research into that specific matter (though he still answered to the best of his abilities). My question was about the use of Thorium as a fuel source for Iran that would both mitigate the conflict and benefit the scientific community. The purpose of this post is to give a basic nuclear engineering background for my fellow students (and speakers, if they happen to read this) to be able to better understand this and to maybe get some basic publicity for what is a very realistic solution to this problem.

The use of Thorium as a fuel source is very easy to adapt to because few modifications would have to be made to Iran’s current nuclear reactors. Thorium, as a fuel, naturally mainly comes in the form of Thorium-232, which is considered “fertile.” “Fertile” means that the material is not fissile (able to undergo fission), but can be bred to become a fissile element (U-233). Uranium-233 is the element that actually undergoes fission in the Thorium fuel cycle. Fission and breeding both occur in generally the same process, so if Iran wanted to collect U-233 to make bombs, they would have to shut down their reactors and remove the fuel. Because of this it is an easy safety check to Iran because we just have to track their waste stream. Also, U-232 which is non-fissile and not fertile, and also a part of the Thorium fuel cycle, cannot be chemically separated from the U-233, and so acts as an inherent proliferation guard. In addition to this, U-233 is universally considered to be completely not effective as weapons material and thus poses little more risk than a dirty bomb. Dirty bombs are conventional explosives laced with radioactive materials, and thus much easier to develop than nuclear weapons for terrorists or rogue nations. Also, Thorium is more than 3 times as abundant as Uranium, so would be a much cheaper fuel for Iran. And in addition to this, because the most common form, Thorium-232, is the fertile isotope and the one that would be used, no enrichment facility would be needed in Iran, which is also at the center of the issue with Iran. Because of the ease of tracking U-233 in the waste stream, the fact that U-232 acts as a natural guard against proliferation, the relative ease of adaptation for Iran to use Thorium-232 (the only natural isotope of it) as a fuel, and the abundance of Thorium, it is of my opinion that this is a very realistic solution to this issue with Iran, one that should be near the center of the discussion if it is not already. Now, I am only a first year nuclear engineer, so I am not extremely well-versed in all of the implications of Thorium as a fuel for Iran, but I do feel that from the knowledge I do have, it would be very successful in ending this crisis. Also, the use of Thorium as a fuel would pose benefits to the scientific community because it has only been very scarcely used throughout history. So, the use of this by Iran would not only improve political relations with the West, but help increase its scientific standing in the international community, which could pose future benefits for Iran as a nation, as well. Thus, I believe that both France and the US, along with all other nations that are parties to the negotiations with Iran, should at least consider this in their solution and maybe do more research into the technical background of this and whether or not it truly is plausible solution.

Students meet General Philip Breedlove, SACEUR

By Jarrod Hayes

On May 25, 2014

In Foreign Policy, Intercultural Learning, Security, Site Visits

On Saturday, May 24, the students and faculty returned to SHAPE, but this time the host was General Philip Breedlove, Supreme Allied Commander Europe and Georgia Tech alum (Civil Engineering, 1977). As befitting their host, the students got a detailed briefing from the general and his senior officers on the system (called the Comprehensive Crisis and Operations Management Centre) NATO has developed to assess and manage threats within Europe, the North Atlantic, Mediterranean, North Africa, Middle East and part of Asia.

Briefing from General Philip Breedlove, SACEUR

Afterward, the students and faculty joined General Breedlove as well as dignitaries from Georgia Tech—including President Bud Peterson, Provost Raphael Bras, Executive Vice President for Research Steve Cross, Vice President for International Development Marta Garcia, Dean of Engineering Gary May, Nunn School Director Joe Bankoff, and Chair of the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering Reginald DesRoches—for a reception in the SHAPE Officer’s Club.

General Breedlove and President Peterson speak to students, faculty, and administrators

There, General Breedlove devoted the entire reception to talking with our students, and our students took every advantage of the opportuntity.

After the reception, General Breedlove made it very clear how impressed he was with our undergrads and the direction and development of the Nunn School. Our students represented themselves and the program very well indeed. General Breedlove is Georgia Tech through and through, and his pride in GT and his home department (Civil and Environmental Engineering) was a treat to witness.