All Things Nuclear
Countdown to Zero
14/04/11 02:21
Some of my students were talking about movies this evening during lab and asked for recommendations. I don’t really watch many movies, but I came up with this suggestion: Countdown to Zer0.
It’s not the suggestion they were looking for. However, it’s either this, or watch Dr. Strangelove and realize the basic premise of the movie isn’t so far fetched. Recall, if you will, that in protest to McNamara’s insistence on installing launch code computers inside the silos, that NORAD actually set all the launch codes to 00 00 00 00 00 00. Essentially any launch officer for several years knew the launch order for the US nuclear arsenal.
Or think for a moment on the relative ease with which an organization with the sole aim of detonating a nuclear weapon could succeed. Especially if you’re not concerned about what happens afterwards. I fear this really is just a matter of time.
Nuclear weapons : they have not gone away you know. We just don’t care about them as much as we did. And frankly that makes their use more likely, not less. Hell, even Reagan said we should, “eliminate nuclear weapons from the face of the earth.” (granted, I have no idea what he was thinking in Reykjavik at the insistence on SDI)
Fear mongering, Americans and Potassium Iodide
17/03/11 18:34
The media frenzy over the ongoing crisis in Japan is... often very, very, poor.
Case in point: we don’t need to start self dosing ourselves with iodine. Unless you’re in Japan, I really wouldn’t worry about getting Potassium-Iodide pills, let alone actually taking them. West coast Americans don’t need them. People in cities with international flights from Japan don’t need them (ahem Chicago and Dallas). There may be a measurable increase, there may be small amounts of radiation over, but it’s far, far too little to be concerned about. On top of that, only a fraction will be radioactive iodine. Taking potassium iodide pills only protects against that one radioactive isotope.
The levels of radiation, if even measurable at all, are much too small to do anything. You’re probably getting a much larger dose from the smoke detectors in your house, the tiny dental x-rays you take, or a single airplane flight. All you’ll be doing is self medicating yourself with something that might have some health complication. And that could seriously impact your health.
And for those of you in metropolitan Chicagoland, I can offer you my own personal measurements of the radiation levels outside my house. Yes, I have a Geiger counter. Yes, it’s calibrated. Yes, it detects a wide energy range of beta, gamma, and, to a lesser extent, alpha radiation. I am happy (though not surprised) that the radiation levels in my backyard continue to average 15 count/minute. That’s what they were in January and February.
If there ever is some reasonable risk, you’ll hear about it, from reputable sources, well in advance.
Newspapers with headlines such as “PANIC” are not helping things either.
Lastly, if you’re on this side of the pond and still concerned about radiation and cancer, just stop smoking.
Nuclear links, pt 2
15/03/11 16:51
(Edited to collect all links at the top)
A few more links regarding the nuclear events:
International Atomic Energy Agency : Lots of news, general updates/info.
An interview with Temipote Taiwo on some of the basics of what is happening. He just happens to be a nuclear engineer here at Argonne.
A site by the EPA on the health effects of different kinds of radiation exposure. It’s dense, but general information.
The blog for the American Nuclear Society. It contains links to several relevant things.
A link to what appears to be a Geiger counter stuck somewhere outside an apartment in Tokyo. It’s interesting, though I’d caution against drawing any conclusions from it. 20 counts/minute is probably background, so even its full-scale of 100 counts/min for a while is not really a big deal. 5 times background is (ballpark figure) the difference you’d get living up in the mountains instead of at sea level if I recall correctly.
A few graphics from the NY Times.
Nuclear Power, Nuclear Accidents, Nuclear Weapons, Nuclear Perceptions, a lecture posted by one of my former professors at the University of Washington, Prof. G. Seidler.
Report to The American Physical Society of the study group on radionuclide release from severe accidents at nuclear power plants Rev. Mod. Phys. 57, S1-144(1985). It should be freely available to anyone that wishes to download.
-----------------
Events continue to unfold and everyone is anxious for new information regarding the disaster. TV and internet news seem, as usual, to be particularly vague (at best) and downright wrong with intent to scare.
I think the honest answer at the moment is, “This is uncharted territory.” Reactors don’t do this every day, so we just don’t know. These kinds of problems have been thought about and planned for (at least they should have been at some point), but we frankly (and thankfully) don’t have many real-world tests of what will happen to them under these conditions.
In general, the longer that it is before catastrophic failure, the less likely it is to occur. The more water that gets in, the more the energy is capable of dissipating in a way that won’t lead to large ejection of radioisotopes into the environment. I suspect many of the engineers and scientists are literally risking (potentially sacrificing) their lives to try and keep things as intact as possible.
All this is on top of the devastation from the tsunami and earthquake.
------------------------------------------------------------
Well, by the time I finished this entry it has come out that the workers at the facility have been evacuated.
Despite me being a rather strong proponent of nuclear energy (done responsibly), it’s worth realizing that we’re using virtually the same nuclear technology over here. I’d love to see new plants developed and done correctly. But at the same time the industry as it currently is in this country needs a long hard look. While almost 20% of our annual electricity is supplied by nuclear power, it’s quit old. The most recent of these was begun, get this, 1974. Yes, construction was begun on even the youngest US nuclear plant before I was born (I can’t technically say they’re all older than me since some were not finished for several years later).
These are 1st and 2nd generation nuclear reactors, many of whom are operating beyond their original life expectancy. We (well, other countries at least) know so much more by this point and there are vast improvements to the designs, hardware, and facilities that can be done. These things, if made today using say.... French technology, could be done much better and safer than we currently do them.
One further personal thought on this: It’s sobering. To be a scientist at Argonne National Lab feels sobering. Being at one of the principle places in the world that developed nuclear power, it gives one the feeling of responsibility even though I work in very different research topics.
This is all maddening and I need to get some work done tonight, so I’ll leave it at that. Best wishes to everyone involved.
Nuclear info
14/03/11 19:23
With the current on-going crisis in Japan, I have been getting inundated with calls from family and friends regarding nuclear power and what’s going on. News programs and blogs seem to completely from one end of the spectrum to the other.
My personal thoughts? I’m watching with increased concern and feeling helpless. I’d initially thought that the worst that would happen would be internal core meltdowns, though no loss of containment. Now that appears almost something to hope for in light of the new information. It appears that the official statements thus far have seemed truthful and also indicative of their own lack of knowledge to the facilities.
There are too many unknowns for me to prognosticate as to exactly what will happen.
As a great resource, I’ll invite you to have a look at a lecture, Nuclear Power, Nuclear Accidents, Nuclear Weapons, Nuclear Perceptions, posted by one of my former professors at the University of Washington, Prof. G. Seidler. It’s a 2 hour long lecture, so there’s plenty of information. He’s a great lecturer, very easy to understand, and it is even entertaining. The lecture was from an Energy Science course he taught (for the first time I believe) Fall of 2010. It obviously won’t tell you the specifics of what is occurring in Japan right now, but it’s a great resource.
Another interesting, though thick and very dated source of information about “worst case” releases of information is a long review article in the Review of Modern Physics : Report to The American Physical Society of the study group on radionuclide release from severe accidents at nuclear power plants Rev. Mod. Phys. 57, S1-144(1985). It should be freely available to anyone that wishes to download it.
How to start a war
20/10/10 03:45
Here’s an interesting little quote on how to start a war:
“Of course the people don’t want war. … But after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along whether it is a democracy, a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. … All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism, and exposing the country to greater danger. It works the same way in any country.”
That quote comes from Hermann Göring. I suppose he had some experience at it. I always cringe a bit when I hear how perfectly reasonable discussion of reducing the supply and availability of nuclear weapons and material gets supplanted by comments (usually phrased in an asinine fashion) of how it will weaken our country.
sigh...
Nuclear Posture Review
08/04/10 16:15
More good news of late :
We appear to be headed towards a real, positive change in our nation’s (and hence hopefully the world’s) nuclear weapons policy. I think too many of us assume that this threat somehow vanished with the end of the cold war. Many of my students have not even lived in that era and seem to find the whole matter somewhat unbelievable. And I suppose that’s a matter of great concern as these weapons and devices still very much exist, and are still very much ready to be used in very short order.
Aside from utter global annihilation, we also live with perhaps a much more real threat today from small groups/terrorists that could perhaps obtain such a weapon. While large nation states may be seen to be somewhat reliable (or at least readable), small groups with no concern for their personal welfare pose a significant threat. I think few young people today really understand the nature of these devices and what incredible devastation can be brought by even a single detonation. It’s sort of the modern “Base Commander Ripper” from Dr. Strangelove.
Anyhow, I am encouraged that we seem to be moving towards not only fewer devices, but hopefully better control over those we do possess.