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2004-01-24 Home Front

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Posted by Mike Kozlowski 2004-01-24 8:35:20 AM|| || Front Page|| [9 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 It's no accident that the plant's located in Amarillo. My first choice would have been in the middle of Death Valley but Amarillo's a very close second.

Posted by Shipman 2004-1-24 9:15:27 AM|| 2004-1-24 9:15:27 AM|| Front Page Top

#2 Workman Publishing Company: We bet you know someone who uses or abuses duct tape on anything and everything (except possibly duct work). These books make a GREAT gift idea fo any one (constructing nuclear bombs)!

Posted by Gasse Katze 2004-1-24 9:54:50 AM|| 2004-1-24 9:54:50 AM|| Front Page Top

#3 Mr. Mike: I think you are right about the HE explosion versus nuclear yield.

It is my understanding that warheads are worked on inside a contraption called a 'gravel gertie', an assembly/disassembly bay. This is basically a big hole constructed under some feet (meters) of gravel that is designed to collapse during an explosion. Apparently this would hinder the spread of nuclear material.

The amount of "hindering" may not be known because, to my knowledge (which is certainly not exhaustive), the gerties have never been used (of course, if they worked properly we'd never know, right?)

As far as duct tape goes, remember it is like The Force: It has a light side, a dark side and it binds the Universe together.

Mr. Shipman: They do have lots of good restaurants. And let's not forget the Helium Centennial Times Column Monument and the Headquarters of the American Quarter Horse Association are located there. Death Valley, indeed!

Posted by Quana 2004-1-24 9:55:57 AM|| 2004-1-24 9:55:57 AM|| Front Page Top

#4 I drive through Amarillo every time I go down to visit my brother in Houston. The nuke plant is quite visible as you take the bypass around the northeast side of the city - along with one of the biggest prisons in Texas. The red dirt canyonland noth of Amarillo would be quite at home in Death Valley, except that it's home to quite a number of oil and gas wells. We seldom stop there for anything but a quick meal and gas - many of the small towns between Amarillo and Wichita Falls provide a better place to stop, and are about halfway between our departure point and our destination.

Amarillo must be a pretty good place for people to live - it keeps growing, even after losing the Bell plant to the east. I like it best in my rear-view mirror.

Posted by Old Patriot 2004-1-24 12:44:55 PM|| [http://users.codenet.net/mweather/default.htm] 2004-1-24 12:44:55 PM|| Front Page Top

#5 Somehow, my BS detectors pegged on this one. If a section of the HE detonates (incredibly unlikely without a detonator), you'll have a malformed pit and a big mess. NOT the unwritten but implied 'nooklyar' explosion. And you can't even get to the pit assembly without the second 'thermonuclear' stage being removed. Somebody is using general ignorance of these things to try and scare people....

"Failing" to to consult a manufacturer of 30 year old RDX? Please.... Yeah, call tech support!

The best part is "Failing to have experts who have developed the procedure watch the taping and removal to spon any problems". Yeah, get a 'duct tape expert'.

Whoever was working on this thing likely saw a cracked lens, and taped it down so it wouldn't fall, or come loose. And, they're probably being hounded by some GS-12 flunkie trying to get a cash award for 'safety'.

Posted by Clunkerjockey 2004-1-24 12:48:18 PM|| 2004-1-24 12:48:18 PM|| Front Page Top

#6 Quana: My remarks were mainly due to the weather... I've been in Amarillo during the Winter when the local weatherman person uses a length of 40 lb. chain to check the wind speed. :)

Actually the folks are rather nice.

Posted by Shipman 2004-1-24 1:17:29 PM|| 2004-1-24 1:17:29 PM|| Front Page Top

#7 Actually the folks are rather nice.
Oprah says its a great place to find a friendly jury.
Quana. Any relation to Commanche Chief Quanah Parker?

Posted by Gasse Katze 2004-1-24 1:39:19 PM|| 2004-1-24 1:39:19 PM|| Front Page Top

#8 Does anyone know how we managed to get an article inside a comment, and then comments on that article? You see that the article about the nuke plant is comment #4 to the article about the ammonia plant, and then the comment numbers start over (because they're comments to the nuke plant article/comment). Have we boldly gone where no one has gone before? I hope this sort of thing does not cause spontaneous vacuum decay, and destroy the universe.

Posted by Angie Schultz 2004-1-24 2:15:11 PM|| [http://darkblogules.blogspot.com] 2004-1-24 2:15:11 PM|| Front Page Top

#9 Yes. I left a quote mark out of a link. I mailed Fred and asked him to fix it.
(Sorry!)

Posted by Kathy K 2004-1-24 2:18:37 PM|| [site-essential.com/] 2004-1-24 2:18:37 PM|| Front Page Top

#10 The article goes out of its way to leave open the assumtion that a nuclear explosion was possible. As indicated by several others, this is a physical impossibility.
Without going into too much detail, it is very hard to create a nuclear explosion even when you set out on purpose to do it.

A nuclear bomb is not a chunk of explosive, it is an apparatus, a complex machine. Under these circumstances, a nuclear explosion is no more likely than a partially dismantled '83 Buick spontaneously starting itself and driving coast to coast without fuel or human assistance.

Spreading disinformation about nuclear energy of any kind seems to be a default position for lazy and ignorant journalists; that is, most of them.

Posted by Atomic Conspiracy 2004-1-24 5:45:31 PM|| [http://www.nuclearspace.com] 2004-1-24 5:45:31 PM|| Front Page Top

#11 Mr. Shipman: I quite agree, the folks are nice. As for the weather and lengths of 40 lb. chain, with my own eyes I have seen birds walking because the wind was blowing too fiercely for them to fly.

Mr. Katz: Yes, somewhere back there. My parents failed to include the 'h' because they thought the name more feminine without it. You may do the math on that one, I am bereft of clues.

It appears that the readers (and commentators) of Rantburg are well endowed with the critical thinking skills necessary to debunk this piece of...ahem..."journalism".

Posted by Quana 2004-1-24 8:25:04 PM|| 2004-1-24 8:25:04 PM|| Front Page Top

#12 Sorry,but the story created for me a mental picture of Slim Pickens fixing a nuke with duct tape before riding it down.

Posted by Stephen 2004-1-24 8:40:05 PM|| 2004-1-24 8:40:05 PM|| Front Page Top

00:35 Silly Old Buffer
00:08 Mike Sylwester
23:10 Russell
23:07 Garrison
23:03 ed
22:55 whitecollar redneck
22:49 Gasse Katze
22:47 Gasse Katze
22:40 ed
22:35 Gasse Katze
22:15 mojo
22:09 mojo
22:01 phil_b
21:56 wuzzalib
21:43 mhw
21:15 phil_b
20:56 Cheddarhead
20:52 Cheddarhead
20:40 Stephen
20:25 Quana
20:20 gawdamman
20:19 gawdamman
20:03 Steve White
19:58 bartelson