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A History of Uranium, the Rock That Nuked the World

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Chip Overclock
04/29/09

In reply to A History of Uranium, the Rock That Nuked the World
Used to be you could order a tiny piece of uranium ore from a scientific supply house via Amazon.com. I have it setting on the bookshelf in my office at home, along with a tiny sample of Aerogel.

I once startled some government officials on a train we were traveling on through the PRC that I had some tritium. It was in my wristwatch dial. Not the smartest thing I've ever said under the circumstances.
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Roklimber
04/29/09

@Chip Overclock:

Tritium, eh? Do you, by any chance, wear goggles and sport mechanical arms attached directly to your cerebellum through an inhibitor chip? :)
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omgwtflolbbqbye
04/29/09

@Roklimber: An inhibitor chip that is hilariously fragile, under-protected, and precariously placed at a point prone to collision?
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Roklimber
04/29/09

@omgwtflolbbqbye:

Yes, the one and only.
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Grey_Area
04/29/09

@Roklimber: Doc Ock Overclock!
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Fall-Apart
04/29/09

In reply to A History of Uranium, the Rock That Nuked the World
Pierre Curie did not die of radiation poisoning. He might have been on his way to that eventually, but he was run over by a horse cart. Sucks to be him...
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Andrew Liptak
04/29/09

@Fall-Apart: Hm. No mention of that in the book, and I was writing this up without the benefit of any other sources. I'll work in a correction somewhere.
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TheAardvark
04/29/09

In reply to A History of Uranium, the Rock That Nuked the World
"...his scheme would eradicate trillions of dollars of contracts for the waste disposal industry."

The Europeans have experimented with vitrification, running current through the waste until it becomes glass. No leaking! Mr. Atom IS our friend!
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Andrew Liptak
04/29/09

@TheAardvark: Interesting. Can you point me in the direction for some more information on that?
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Grey_Area
04/29/09

In reply to A History of Uranium, the Rock That Nuked the World
Yeah, this book has the heady scent of Agenda wafting from it. Zoellner seems irresponsible to avoid the very real negative aspects of nuclear power. Scads of cheap clean energy is great but the Waste problem and the occasional meltdown still disturbs me.

Can you suggest any books with a more objective take on the subject?
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Andrew Liptak
04/29/09

@Grey_Area: Sadly, no, I'm not well versed in the subject.

One point that a friend of mine noted is that the book is simply about Uranium, not about nuclear technology, which might account for some of this lack of viewpoints, but the two are so inseparable, it's hard to talk about one without talking about the other.
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crashfrog
04/29/09

@Grey_Area: Meltdowns are a design problem, not endemic to nuclear power. New reactor designs prevent meltdowns by making it physically impossible to bring together a sufficient critical mass.

The waste problem isn't trivial, but it's blown somewhat out of proportion. The biggest problems with nuclear power continue to be the cost of mining the fuel - and the fact that there's relatively little uranium in the United States, making us dependent on foreign trade for power.
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Grey_Area
04/29/09

@crashfrog: Thanks for the intel.

So we have to replace these older plants, much money but quite the wise investment.

The waste: big ol' case of NIMBY right?

Launch it out of the gravity well? Yeah, right. Very expensive and one botched launch would be a big PR problem to say the least. Is there any way to recycle it besides as ordnance?

The reliance to different foreign sources, hmmm, this sounds depressingly familiar.

Who are we talking about? A quick search tells me Canada and Australia have the most, okay cool, they are pretty level-headed cats. After that is Kazakhstan, Russia, Namibia, and Niger- could be tricky but not as annoying as dealing with the Middle East or Venezuala.

Food for thought, thanks again.
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alphanumeric1971
04/29/09

@Grey_Area: Ahem. Just read this article on pebble bed reactors and then get back to me.

[en.wikipedia.org]
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Grey_Area
04/29/09

@alphanumeric1971: That does sound safer and more efficient than the Light Water Reactors. Pebble Bed Reactors produce more waste but in a less hazardous form. I guess they are crazy expensive to build but could be very useful. Maybe opposition to them will weaken as young people who want a change in energy policies mature.

Hipsters might support Pebble Bed Reactors, they love PBR, right?
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riotnrrd
04/29/09

In reply to A History of Uranium, the Rock That Nuked the World
Thanks for the nice review, Andrew. But because I am a horrible pedant, I would quibble with your characterization of Three Mile Island as one "of the worst disasters in the civilian world." I assume you meant "worst nuclear disasters," but even with that caveat, TMI was not a very big deal. Very little radiation (in a form hazardous to humans) was released: only 13 to 17 curies of iodine-131. People who lived within a mile of the reactor received radiation doses less than from an X-ray. I'm not trying to downplay the danger of radiation or the seriousness of accidents at nuclear power plants, but there were no fatalities and evidence of even long-term health problems for exposed people is contested.

Also, nuclear power shouldn't be evaluated in a vacuum. Nuclear power produces radioactive waste, but so do coal burning plants, and coal power stations are unregulated w.r.t. radiation. They can just dump radioactive ash (that would be classified as high-level radioactive waste if produced by a nuke plant) into a landfill.
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tk.
04/29/09

@riotnrrd: I was reminded of an interesting article from the WSJ from a couple of weeks back: There Is No Such Thing as Nuclear Waste.
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Andrew Liptak
04/29/09

@riotnrrd: Very good point - Worst Nuclear disaster would be more appropriate.

It's all relative - you can argue that it's the worse accident in the US, and it's had quite an impact on the use of the technology in the US.

I'm right there with you - I think that nuclear power is an incredibly helpful thing, just so long as you have competent people at the controls. An engineering friend told me that one of the problems was that there was a button that told the coolant valves to open, except that the light that was supposed to alert you that the valves were open only let you know that you threw the switch.
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geekgrrl
04/30/09

@tk.: fascinating stuff. one thing i liked about McCain was his acknowledgement of nuclear power as a necessity to our power grid. it took guts to suggest building new plants in this supersensitive environmental age. if we could recycle all our materials, that'd be incredible. we'd have virtually no need for coal anymore. and those solar and wind generators? they cannot get the job done with as much efficiency or power as nuclear.

disclosure: i once worked in a nuclear radiation lab and still have a strange fondness for the subject.
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Garrison Dean: R.O.A.C.H.
04/29/09

In reply to A History of Uranium, the Rock That Nuked the World
HG Wells was a time traveler right?
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ZanipoloLebron
04/29/09

@Garrison Dean: If the future is dependant on you writing a scifi Novel about it...you are more a victim of Causality.
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Elizabeth Weinbloom
04/29/09

@ZanipoloLebron: A casualty of causality, you might say.

...I'll get my coat.
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alphanumeric1971
04/29/09

In reply to A History of Uranium, the Rock That Nuked the World
I do not know why the South African helium pebble bed reactor isn't being built all over the world.

It could replace coal burning powerplants overnight.

[en.wikipedia.org]
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Andrew Liptak
04/29/09

@alphanumeric1971: Zoellner talks about that style of reactor, and notes that it is far more advanced, and, if memory serves, that there were plans for a couple in the US, but they were scrapped because some butterflies would be offended... or something.

I'm not entirely sure, because almost nothing about the anti-nuclear movement is talked about.
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♠ Final ♠
04/29/09

In reply to A History of Uranium, the Rock That Nuked the World
I'm in the mood for yellow cake.
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Andrew Liptak
04/29/09

@♠ Final ♠: It certainly gives the Monty Python sketch Cake or Death a whole new meaning.
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Grey_Area
04/29/09

@Andrew Liptak: Eddie Izzard, wasn't it?
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Andrew Liptak
04/29/09

@Grey_Area: Oop, you're right, Izzard.

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Kevin Jones
04/29/09

In reply to A History of Uranium, the Rock That Nuked the World
From Uranium's unpublished memoirs:

"Today, gave Marie Curie cancer. Kinda felt bad about that."
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crashedpc - Haifisch
04/29/09

@Kevin Jones: Oh boy, are we going to do a reality show about Uranium too?

Nah, that's enough snark for today.

"Made a scientist's balls fall off. Asshole kept prodding me and trying to dismantle my very core being."
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