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To: nuclady

A reactor like that produces plutonium at a rates depending on the levels of power the reactor is run at. It is not a linear curve, and quantities produced drop off sharply below a certain knuckle in the curve.

Although Pakistan is a signatory to the NPT, they have never ratified it, but China is and has, so there is some measure of control, in theory at least.

The human race is moving from facing the spectre of nuclear annihilation on a national basis, to the lesser threat of lsoing entire cities in an instant, but the threat of proliferation is still one of the most significant challenges we face. Sustainable energy is another, and the combination of the two problems has the potential to be explosive.

Still, there is hope. Observing Pakistan and India evolve, after both looked into the abyss shortly before OIF, was encouraging. Although the process is slow, and in this case nearly invisible, even Iran is becoming aware that the power inherent in possessing nuclear weapons is tempered by the responsibility of certain knowlege that they and all their kind can vanish in a matter of hours, for all eternity.

For the record, I built more than 250 miles downwind of a major population center, more than 30 miles from the closest population center, and proliferation was at least a part of that decision making process.


1,698 posted on 07/24/2006 9:49:11 PM PDT by jeffers
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To: jeffers

thank you!


1,764 posted on 07/24/2006 11:12:06 PM PDT by nuclady
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