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This (rocky flats) is the only case where on federal agency (FBI) raided another (DOE). It's a fascinating and terrifying story. Many of the employees who wor
by iancmceachern 9y ago
This (rocky flats) is the only case where on federal agency (FBI) raided another (DOE). It's a fascinating and terrifying story. Many of the employees who worked there died terrible drawn out deaths from radiation exposure during their jobs without any support. They just had 50 gallon oil drums of radioactive waste sitting in the open to the elements with visible rust holes in them for decades. They had multiple plutonium fires due to the buildup of plutonium dust in the air handling systems of the glove boxes which were supposed to contain it. They had manual machinists manually operating machine tools, mills and lathes, located within glove boxes to make the parts for the triggers. Also, on the less scary side they developed amazing ultra high speed film cameras to record the trigger explosions.
- coldtea 9y agoWhich is a good story to tell all those techno-naive who go on about the safety of modern nuclear reactors and such (it's always past designs that are at fault)... When there's money to be made by cheapening out (on construction, safety, disposal, testing, quality of employees, etc), whether the risk to others (and sometimes even to self), some people will cheapen out. Add human error to that, and it's better if the whole thing happens to some old-style electricity factory, and not to one whose waste needs safe storage for decades, and an accident can kill hundreds of thousands.
- wbl 9y agoI've got bad news for you about coal ash.
- coldtea 9y agoIf anything, that would be an argument against using coat factories too -- not an argument in favor of nuclear factories. That said, the whole comparison that makes it as coal factories produce "more radioactive" waste, is based on comparing with "normal" nuclear factory emissions, under their 'theoretical' operation. Not the total long term potential, when one includes catastrophes, breakdowns, lousy waste containment and disposal, or the mafia just throwing it in the sea in the calculation.
- monocasa 9y agoI mean, the coal ash calculations are "normal" numbers as well.
- coldtea 9y agoYes, but there are not much "abnormal" situations that can happen with those plants...
- monocasa 9y agoYou mean other than the fairliy regular coal ash spills?
- freeone3000 9y agoThe normal operations kill more than the abnormal situations. That doesn't make it better.
- justinpombrio 9y ago> That said, the whole comparison that makes it as coal factories produce "more radioactive" waste The important thing to look at isn't what power source produces the "most radioactive" waste, it's the actual death tolls per KWh of different power sources. And coal is about 1000 times worse, both worldwide and in the US, _counting_ Chernobyl and Fukushima. https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2012/06/10/energys-deathprint-a-price-always-paid/#1ed1bc13709b https://www.forbes.com/sites/jamesconca/2012/06/10/energys-d...