A specific section for people to place their studies, research, projects etc for peer review is a good idea. Maybe not in the forum, the structure is "wrong" - but there's existing open spource solutions that would fit the bill and bolt on in a seamless and modular fashion.

It would help starting an archive of knowledge, as much as the critique(including chance for rebuttal. The forum structure could suit this purpose). Both halves crucial for a rounded view. I agree with the "free access" specification, too. This conforms well with founding ethics. This would also give the scientists within our midst the chance to shine and establish ourselves as a center of technical excellence and expertise in all fields... Which in turn will not only strengthen our reputation, but that of our educational system - when we eventually have one.

Nuclear weapons and nuclear energy are indeed not the same thing, and there are some misconceptions amongst the uneducated. However, I don't think the "issue" is with this topic, specifically. More being the educational lack leading to the misconceptions. The only possible use we could have for a "weaponised" nuclear system is for the deflection of an inbound asteroid of serious potential to cause the Earth harm... And this would most effective a significant distance off... However, stealing these from their problematic orbits and parking them in a less problematic one has better long term mining prospects, and could double as clearing the solar system of hazardous debris and fueling our expansion. If you intercept far enough out, or on the "right" part of the orbit, you'd need comparatively little deltaV and then can take longer to guide it to a safer place for processing.