7.2 Developing the rough outline

In the early stages of developing a formal, detailed outline, create a working outline before you begin gathering information. The rough outline shows you which specific topics to gather information on and which ones to ignore. Think of the outline as a series of questions:

Rough outline for a report on light water nuclear reactors Questions generated by the outline
  1. Pressurized Water Reactors
    1. Major Components
    2. Basic Operations
 What are the main differences? What are the main components? What are the materials? Design? Dimensions? How many are in operation? Where Who designed them?
  1.  Boiling Water Reactors
    1. Major Components
    2. Basic Operation
 How do they differ from PWRs? What are the main components? What are the materials? Design? Dimensions? Designers? Where used? How many?
  1.  Safety Measures
    1. Pressurized Water Reactors
    2. Boiling Water Reactors
    3. Role of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission
 What are the chief dangers? What are the dangers and safety measures associated with PWRs? What are the dangers and safety measures associated with BWRs? How does the NRC regulate nuclear power plants? What standards does it enforce? How?
  1.  Economic Aspects of Light Water Reactors
    1. Construction Costs
    2. Operation and Maintenance Costs
    3. Operating Capacity
 What are the construction, operation, maintenance, and fuel costs? What about the availability of fuel? How do these costs compare to output? How do the PWR and the BWR compare in terms of costs and output? How much electricity can a LWR generate at full capacity?

Figure 1. Viewing an outline as a series of questions

Keep in mind that this rough outline is in its early stage. The formal outline you will ultimately create and submit will be much more developed, containing specific details and information from your anticipated sections of your report.

Chapter Attribution Information

This chapter was derived by Annemarie Hamlin, Chris Rubio, and Michele DeSilva, Central Oregon Community College, from Online Technical Writing by David McMurrey – CC: BY 4.0

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Technical Writing Copyright © 2017 by Allison Gross; Annemarie Hamlin; Billy Merck; Chris Rubio; Jodi Naas; Megan Savage; and Michele DeSilva is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.

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