Article

2005-03-15 Europe

French plutonium at 'extreme risk' of terrorist attack

Archived material is restricted to Rantburg regulars and members. If you need access email fred.pruitt=at=gmail.com with your nick to be added to the members list. There is no charge to join Rantburg as a member.

Posted by Sobiesky 2005-03-15 2:43:48 PM|| || Front Page|| [3 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 I swear, it must be International Day of Typos or something in water today...
PIMF: Accicent=accident.

Posted by Sobiesky 2005-03-15 3:43:43 PM|| 2005-03-15 3:43:43 PM|| Front Page Top

#2 Here are the specs, found here, for the casks:

Radioactive waste is currently shipped in specially designed containers, called casks that function as barriers against the release of radiation during transport. Casks are heavily shielded to reduce the radiation to the allowable limits established by NRC and must be certified by NRC to withstand extreme conditions.

Several different kinds of casks are currently in use for different kinds of shipments â and several others are being developed for possible future use in shipments like those that would go to Yucca Mountain. One cask that DOE has used frequently to transport spent nuclear fuel is made of steel and lined with aluminum, has walls approximately eight inches thick, and weighs 26 tons.

Federal regulations do not dictate a particular kind of container to be used, but do specify particular requirements that any container must meet before it can be certified for use. Casks for spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste, called Type B transportation casks, must be shown to retain their integrity and not leak radioactive material following four tests â with the first three done one immediately after the other:
1) A 30-foot drop in which the containerâs weakest point strikes a flat, unyielding surface
2) A 40-inch drop in which the containerâs weakest point strikes a six-inch-diameter steel rod eight inches long
3) Engulfment of the entire container in a fire of 1,475Â°F for 30 minutes
4) Immersion of the entire container under three feet of water for eight hours

Presently, there are no requirements for physical testing of transportation casks. Cask designs must only demonstrate that they meet physical testing requirements through computer simulations. Scale model tests are optional. However, it is worth noting that in the 1980s Sandia National Laboratories conducted full-scale crashes of transportation casks in various scenarios, such as a train hitting a truck loaded with a cask, and a train carrying a cask and running into cement walls.

Posted by .com 2005-03-15 4:23:12 PM|| 2005-03-15 4:23:12 PM|| Front Page Top

#3 Plutonium is sometimes described in media reports as the most toxic substance known to man, although there is general agreement among experts in the field that this is incorrect. As of 2003, there has yet to be a single human death officially attributed to plutonium exposure. Naturally-occurring radium is about 200 times more radiotoxic than plutonium, and some organic toxins like Botulism toxin are billions of times more toxic than plutonium.

The alpha radiation it emits does not penetrate the skin, but can irradiate internal organs when plutonium is inhaled or ingested. Extremely small particles of plutonium on the order of micrograms can cause lung cancer if inhaled into the lungs. Considerably larger amounts may cause acute radiation poisoning and death if ingested or inhaled; however, so far, no human is known to have died because of inhaling or ingesting plutonium and many people have measurable amounts of plutonium in their bodies.

Because plutonium has no gamma radiation, health effects are not likely to occur while working with plutonium, unless it is breathed in or swallowed somehow.
Link

Posted by phil_b 2005-03-15 4:34:19 PM|| 2005-03-15 4:34:19 PM|| Front Page Top

#4 This reminds me of our so called friend Gasoline.

Do not inhale large amounts (huff) it can cause lasting liver disease altho you may see the Blue Lady, this is not a good payoff.

Glue: Aka the good stuff. Minor liver damage, Blue Lady lives under your bed and cries for your soul.

Glue White: The stuff you scarf in the 5th grade. Nurse Sister hates you and has laid a curse. You will be notified.

Posted by Fr. Kolac 2005-03-15 6:13:02 PM|| 2005-03-15 6:13:02 PM|| Front Page Top

10:08 Hawk Eye
10:08 Hawk Eye
23:57 Kalle (kafir forever)
23:49 Sobiesky
23:48 3dc
23:44 Laurence of the Rats
23:44 Aris Katsaris
23:43 Sock Puppet 0â Doom
23:39 AzCat
23:16 dcreeper
22:57 Kalle (kafir forever)
22:49 mojo
22:48 Sock Puppet 0â Doom
22:43 Kalle (kafir forever)
22:43 trailing wife
22:40 Kalle (kafir forever)
22:38 Sobiesky
22:33 Bobby
22:30 trailing wife
22:30 Sock Puppet 0â Doom
22:29 SteveS
22:29 AzCat
22:28 anymouse
22:27 Bobby