It could be the dark side of the moon!
Nary a tree, bush, weed or blade of grass in sight.
Doesn't anything grow in the ground around there?
Posted on 05/09/2017 9:20:46 AM PDT by lancium
Hundreds of workers were in "take cover" position after a tunnel in a plutonium finishing plant collapsed in Hanford early Tuesday morning. The tunnel was full of highly contaminated materials such as hot radioactive trains that transport fuel rods.
The problem is alpha radiation.
Alpha radiation occurs when an atom undergoes radioactive decay, giving off a particle (called an alpha particle) consisting of two protons and two neutrons (essentially the nucleus of a helium-4 atom), changing the originating atom to one of an element with an atomic number 2 less and atomic weight 4 less than it started with. Due to their charge and mass, alpha particles interact strongly with matter, and only travel a few centimeters in air. Alpha particles are unable to penetrate the outer layer of dead skin cells, but are capable, if an alpha emitting substance is ingested in food or air, of causing serious cell damage. Alexander Litvinenko is a famous example. He was poisoned by polonium-210, an alpha emitter, in his tea.
Alpha has a lot of mass and thus energy. You could bombard me with alpha and I would not be harmed. If ingested it causes massive damage to cells. Your skin will stop alpha. If ingested your DNA stops the alpha particle and this is bad, very very bad.
Relative to the fuel in transit in the tunnel it would be in sealed containers of great strength. I would be very amazed if their is any contamination. If their is contamination which is doubtful, seal the tunnel and call the concrete man. A lot of concrete and forget about it.
They’re hacking our tunnels!
Any DOD/E plant I worked in had stricter protocols than NRC requirements.
You owe me a new keyboard:-)
It could be the dark side of the moon!
Nary a tree, bush, weed or blade of grass in sight.
Doesn't anything grow in the ground around there?
I think it has been bladed off to keep down the wildlife that might spread contaminant. Something like a total of nine reactors built, used and then decommissioned but only to the standards of the time when they were taken out of service.
You know, it looks bleak and it is, of course, around the Hanford site itself. It is the east side of the mountains. It is actually quite beautiful around there - wheat fields, orchards, cows and cattle. Lilacs, apricots, wonderful produce. STARS like we forget they have here in Los Angeles. Lewis & Clark came right through there on their trek, and the wagon trains to Oregon were near there.
A whole lot of the West is dry plains and beautiful rocks. It is quite beautiful in its own way.
Oh, and the air smells ‘green’ like alfalfa.
It’s a desert. Check it out on Google Earth.
Does that include INEL that had the spent fuel rods lying at the bottom of the fuel pools after the hangers rotted apart or Hanford that had the tank filled with liquid waste that was generating heat or Fernald that had waste stored from WWII?
I wonder if the government is monitoring wildlife which might eat radioactive vegetation there, then be hunted and eaten by humans?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanford_Site?wprov=sfsi1
According to the lengthy and informative Wikipedia article (link above) Hanford is the major source of employment for several nearby communities. The word about what game can safely harvested and eaten has probably long since gotten out to to local hunting and fishing communities.
If the Hanford plant can take out Seattle, I’m all for it.
Mayor not running again because he’s a communist nut and may face charges of molesting young boys.
“Let them glow, let them glow, let them glow!”
Dude...
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