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Anything Radioactive Topic

Yup, that's the one. Loads of stars are in it. I couldn't take it seriously when I realised one of the stars is the guy out of Short Circuit. Also John Lithgow. :p
 
It's not new, but this still makes me chuckle. A nice online tool that converts any quantity of enery (including the Big Mac) in to "how many Hiroshimas is that?" A nice sarcastic article to go with it as well.

Click here for science!
 
delta79 said:
wow 21,400,000 big macs are the same engery as the hiroshimas bomb.
Click to expand...
I wonder how many Little Boys* some of the Maccy's obsessed members of this forum consume in a lifetime?

* No comment on the double meaning
 
I realise I went back to the Threads location but never uploaded the shot.....
d233b41e59b6d78fae7114f474ea1a4a.jpg


Sorry, not 4:3 :p
 
I feel this should have its own thread but I guess it could fit in here, Saves anyone moaning about there already being a thread for it.

A few news articles have been posted about the possibility of nuclear fusion being a few steps closer. I hope that these are true and we are getting closer to cracking fusion. Considering we have been trying to do it since about the 1920s.

A report says that the Lockheed Martin Skunk works are getting closer to making a small usable reactor.

http://aviationweek.com/technology/skunk-works-reveals-compact-fusion-reactor-details

Fingers crossed that they can do this before we run out of time.
 
A short video showing scenes from around chernobyl has beenn put on Vimeo recently:

 
The latest article on Nuclear Secrecy is an interesting read. Seems a lot of the scientists involved in the Manhatten Project never wanted to actually use the bomb. They hoped it could be demonstrated in an unpopulated area to scare the Japanese in to surrender... before promptly banning nukes after the war.
... It should be noted that Oppenheimer was not one of these scientists. He wanted to use it on civilians with no warning. Which is why I never fell for his "now I have become death" quote.
 
A very interesting documentary about the reactor fire at Windscale (now known as Sellafield) in 1957. The British government kept putting pressure on the scientists to increase production of plutonium and tritium, at the cost of safety. When the inevitable happened, the government blamed the very scientists who not only risked their lives to stop the fire turning in to a full meltdown, but had objected to the lax safety in the first place.



An interesting throwaway line in there is that when the Calder Hall reactor was opened in 1956, it was marketed to the public as the world's first nuclear power station, which would produce electricity that would eventually be "too cheap to meter". While it was connected to the national grid, it's primary function (as with all reactors) of producing weapons grade materials actually consumed more power than it produced.
 
Last week I visited something that really showed me just how vulnerable we in Britain was during the cold war. The place is the York Cold War bunker and is owned by the English Heritage. If you are ever gracing the North with your presence and want somewhere else to go other then Flamingo land, this is the place.

The site was bought by the last officer in charge of the place for a whole pound when it was decommissioned and was just left abandoned. Apart from having to replace carpets due to them turning off the sewage pump, the place really is as left in the early 90's. It was run by 1 paid officer, and had to rely on volunteers, who would simply walk to the place and if they were one of the first 60 to arrive, would monitor fall out, giving the army information as to where to go and where not to go.

It amazes me just how little the Government were not willing to spend on the volunteers, there was a light monitor that was on top of the bunker that would give the bunker information as too how far and what type of bomb has exploded. This needed to be changed every 8 hours, the government wouldn't provide a radiation suit, so the poor volunteer would go out unprotected, and be washed with a hose when re entered and hope they don't contaminate the bunker. If you were on guard duty outside, you were locked out with no protection, if bomb was to fall simply turn your back. No photos of family were allowed inside and only one radio that was in the officers, office was allowed.

I've visited the bunker in Scotland but don't think at the time realised just how devastated Britain would be with even a small attack. This bunker is a lot smaller, and if York was hit, (and the chances of this were high as York has good railway connections) this bunker would have been wiped out. The volunteers even if York wasn't hit were sent in to die, but whilst they were in there they might as well do something useful.

If you are ever in York I give this a serious look, lets face it they are only so much Romans and Vikings people can look at.

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/york-cold-war-bunker/
 
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