Jamie Beckman
English period-2
October 15, 1998
Visualize striking a match and setting a sheet of paper on fire. The fire starts at the center, then expands in all directions consuming the entire sheet. This is a perfect example of a chain reaction.
You can thank scientists for discovering that uranium naturally speeds up the decay process, which is another chain reaction.
Not only have they discovered this phenomenon, but geologists and physicists at Berkeley developed a way of using uranium traces to determine the age of ancient rocks and fossils.
With this newfound knowledge, the country's demand for uranium is growing. People are flooding to Beaverlodge Lake mining regions in northwestern Saskatchewan, Canada.
Not all locals, however, are pleased with their town's growth and instant popularity. "I wish the uranium was never discovered because the miners are disrupting and destroying our town," said one man from Goldfields, a nearby gold-mining town. "They have brought unwanted attention to our community and hopefully it will pass as quickly as it came."
Layman, Richard, ed. American Decades: 1950-1959. Michigan: Gale Research, Inc., 1995: 412.
Carruth, Gorton, ed. The Volume Library. Tennessee: The Southwestern Company, 1997: 1068.
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