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| U.S. plans to produce plutonium-238 | |
| 2005-06-27 | |
| The Bush administration is planning the government's first production of plutonium 238 - a highly radioactive substance valued as a power source - since the Cold War, stirring debate over the risks and benefits of the deadly material. It is hot enough to melt plastic and so dangerous that a speck can cause cancer. Federal officials say the program would produce a total of 330 pounds, or 150 kilograms, over 30 years at the Idaho National Laboratory, a sprawling site outside Idaho Falls some 100 miles, or 160 kilometers, to the west and upwind of Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. The program could cost $1.5 billion and generate more than 50,000 drums of hazardous and radioactive waste. Project managers say that most if not all of the new plutonium is intended for secret missions and declined to divulge any details. "The real reason we're starting production is for national security," Timothy Frazier, head of radioisotope power systems at the Department of Energy, said at the end of a recent interview. He vigorously denied that any of the classified missions would involve nuclear arms, satellites or weapons in space. But the secrecy is adding to unease in Wyoming, where environmentalists are scrutinizing the production plan - made public late Friday - and considering whether to fight it. They say the production effort is a potential threat to nearby ecosystems, including Yellowstone National Park, Grand Teton National Park and the area around Jackson Hole, famous for its billionaires, celebrities and weekend cowboys, including Vice President Dick Cheney. "It's completely wrapped in the flag," said Mary Woollen-Mitchell, executive director of Keep Yellowstone Nuclear Free, a group based in Jackson Hole. "They absolutely won't let on" about the missions.
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| Posted by:Steve White |
| #17 Is that anything like the Illudium PU-239 Explosive Space Modulator? I always new you Earthlings would blow yourselves up someday with an earth-shattering kaboom. |
| Posted by: Marvin the Martian 2005-06-27 16:53 |
| #16 They're located at RAF Barnahm |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-06-27 16:03 |
| #15 Shipman: WTF????? |
| Posted by: Dave D. 2005-06-27 16:01 |
| #14 It's where the Plutonium cores were kept at one of two RAF sites. The metal seals have been removed from the hole.... one outhouse one core. The UK built more outhouses than bombs to confuser the Russ. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-06-27 16:00 |
| #13 Atomic Conspiracy, are you cleared for Deep WC? |
| Posted by: zygote w/ no name 2005-06-27 16:00 |
| #12 Pu-238 is something like 300 times as radioactive as Pu-239 and commensurately harder and more hazardous to handle. Pu-238 is still primarily an alpha emitter, though there is some neutron decay. With a half-life of 88 years, it's clearly hot, but it's not ridiculously so. Like all plutonium isotopes, the main risk is the extreme toxicity associated with all heavy metals. Of course, the first sentence tell us all we need to know about the author, stringing together the words Bush, radioactive and deadly. Nope, no agendas here. |
| Posted by: Dreadnought 2005-06-27 15:57 |
| #11 Sorry, Shipman, I don't get it. |
| Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy 2005-06-27 15:45 |
| #10 Doesn't look very comfortable. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-06-27 15:08 |
#9 AC, here's a picture of a bizzare UK outhouse... |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-06-27 15:06 |
| #8 The article naturally invites a false conclusion by failing to mention a very significant and relevant fact: Pu-238 is not fissionable, it cannot be used in nuclear bombs. Pu-239 is the fissionable isotope used in bombs. Given their contempt for numbers, proportion, and other nerdy concepts, pop-culturist Moonbats would probably ask, "hey, man, what difference can one little number make?" Interestingly enough, Pu-238 is something like 300 times as radioactive as Pu-239 and commensurately harder and more hazardous to handle. You could kill yourself stone-dead with a very small amount of it, but you could not make it explode. |
| Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy 2005-06-27 13:44 |
| #7 Don't Russian Ocean Recon satellites use a reactor? They always have that bizzare end of life boost (hopefully, I think one didn't go) to a safe higher orbit. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2005-06-27 13:25 |
| #6 Acording to a picture caption at the site linked in #1, Plutonium isotopes are primarily alpha-emitters so they pose little risk outside the body. Here the plastic bag, gloves, and outer (dead) layer of skin would each alone stop the emitted alpha particles from entering the body. Meaning the spec has to be inhaled, not resting on your skin. A technical detail omitted in all of the media. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2005-06-27 12:43 |
| #5 The Voyager space probes, launched in 1977, were fueled with plutonium and will run thru 2020, although NASA may stop listening before then. IIRC, the Cassini (Saturn) probe was also 238-fueled, and caused a big stink when it was launched - well, after all, the launch vehicle could've exploded, killing zillions! |
| Posted by: Bobby 2005-06-27 12:36 |
| #4 Satellite power supplies. Not only does it provider a much longer life than batteries, it also eliminates the need for large "Solar Wings". This combination greatly improves the flight characteristics for orbital maneuver. Also reduces the visible profile, making them far harder to hit. Given the recent "leaks" about space warfare and "stealth" satellites, and now this, you can do the math yourself. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2005-06-27 12:16 |
| #3 Robotics is an interest of mine. There is one application that autonomous robots are far superior to humans, which is surveillance/observation of remote areas. Lets say you know terrorists are using several dozen routes across a large desert area to reach urban areas. The terrorists will use any particular route rarely and there is local population sympathetic to the terrs which makes inserting and supplying onservations posts difficult and any particular post will have a high risk and a low chance of paying off. An autonomous OP will operate 24/7 without resupply as long as its power source lasts. The largest and best fuel cells last a couple of weeks at most, what is required is a power source that lasts for months. There are several other applications for these kinds of devices (with a long lasting power supply). My favourite is the submarine tracker. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2005-06-27 05:28 |
| #2 Read - GMD and SPACE-based LASERS, Nuke SPACE ENGINES, and BCNW/TCNW. i.e. manportable to light mobile Batttlefield/Tactical Conventional Nuclear Weapons, vv STARSHIP-/STAR WARS TROOPERS. Every Amer boy should have a laser anti-tank weapon for Xmas, NOW D*** YOU!? BWAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA..... |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2005-06-27 02:58 |
| #1 The only application of P238 appears to be in radiothermal generators especially for satellites. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2005-06-27 01:43 |