Investigating the educational effectiveness of a science museum exhibit on small modular fusion reactors

Abstract

Most people are unaware of the tremendous potential fusion reactors and smaller, more modular reactors possess. To inform them, a science exhibit was.constructed to investigate whether or not it would more effectively teach the audience which in this case are passersby on the first floor of MIT's building 24, about small modular reactors (SMRs) compared to an executive summary written to explain the same technology. Through the employment of hand written surveys, visitor feedback from the executive summary was compared to visitor feedback on the exhibit. The data indicated that although the exhibit lacked the technical detail of the executive summary, it provided a larger proportion of visitors with sufficient background information and a greater appreciation and understanding of fusion energy and reactor modularity. Future SMR exhibits should employ more elements that encourage visitor interaction, such as a demonstration of plasma behavior, as well more information on the cost and feasibility of the technology.