As part of the Bush administration's effort to boost the nuclear power industry, physics students at Langley High School will become the first in the country to use a new curriculum from the U.S. Department of Energy that promotes nuclear energy.

With memories of the 1979 near-disaster at Three Mile Island fading, federal energy officials said last week they hope the new curriculum will encourage more students to pursue careers in nuclear engineering -- a field energy officials expect to grow.

"No new nuclear power plants have been built for many years, but now because of increasing oil and natural gas prices, utilities are looking to build some new plants in the next few years," said William Magwood IV, a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University and director of the U.S. Energy Department's Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology. "They're looking for people to work in those plants and design those plants, and there you are."

Among those attending Magwood's presentation at Langley last week were 13 physics students. Several of the students plan to study medicine, become teachers, practice psychiatry or go into a math-related field. But a few interested in scientific careers said the two-week pilot program might persuade them to consider nuclear engineering.

"I was interested in aviation, but this really showed me how much broader it could be, that there could be better fields to go into," said Jon Mack, a junior from Crafton Heights, after Magwood's presentation.

The program, which is called "The Harnessed Atom: a new curriculum in nuclear science and technology," is not officially part of the Pittsburgh Public Schools physics curriculum that was designed by the district. Physics teacher Ed Henke, however, said he has committed to teaching the program by volunteering to participate.

It is designed to teach the students about energy physics, atomic structure, power plant design and operation, safety and environmental protection, according to federal officials.

The program -- part of a push by the Bush administration to develop additional nuclear power as an alternative to foreign oil -- could be expanded to other high schools throughout the country if it succeeds at Langley, Magwood said.

No new reactors have been built in the United States since a partial meltdown at Three Mile Island 25 years ago released a small amount of radioactive water into the Susquehanna River, tainting the industry's public image for decades.

Now, however, federal energy officials are touting nuclear energy as "green" power and the nation's largest source of pollution-free electricity. Unlike fossil fuels such as oil and coal, nuclear energy does not emit sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide or carbon dioxide; sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide create acid rain, while carbon dioxide contributes to global warming.

Critics, however, point out that nuclear power is not truly "clean" because the production process creates radioactive waste that remains potentially dangerous for thousands of years. Currently, a backlog of about 80,000 tons of high-level radioactive waste is being stored at nuclear reactor sites throughout the country.

Despite such concerns, the general public's worries about nuclear energy have begun to lift, Magwood said.

"I think people recognize that since [Three Mile Island], a lot of changes have been made, and we haven't had any significant problems with nuclear power," he said. "We know how to operate plants safely."