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| Duct Tape, Nukes, And Other Handy Hints |
| 2004-01-24 |
| From FNC.. Workers dismantling an aging nuclear weapon secured broken pieces of high explosive by taping them together, federal investigators found. An explosion could have occurred, they said. Well, bombs exploding ARE kind of traditional, but tell me more! The incident was among several recent safety lapses at the Energy Department?s Pantex plant near Amarillo, Texas, noted by the independent Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board. ..Is it just me, or do the words "safety lapses" and "nuclear" in close conjunction to one another give YOU the heebie-jeebies too? Last fall, workers taking apart another old warhead accidentally drilled into the warhead's radioactive core, forcing evacuation of the facility. ...Actually, all they found was Edward Teller's recipe for Chicken Paprikas... This month's unorthodox handling of the unstable explosive increased the risk that the technicians would drop it and set off a "violent reaction," the safety board said Tuesday in a letter to Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham. Such a reaction could have "potentially unacceptable consequences," board chairman John T. Conway said in the letter, which raised disquieting questions about safety at the Pantex plant. ...F**kin? DUH, Mister Chairman... About 250,000 people live within 50 miles of the Pantex plant, where the motto on its Web site is "Maintaining the safety, security and reliability of America's nuclear weapons stockpile." Nothing exploded, and no one was hurt. The National Nuclear Security Administration, which oversees the Energy Department's nuclear weapons programs, is investigating, spokesman Bryan Wilkes said Friday. "Safety remains a priority for us," Wilkes said. "We are working to address the issues in the letter." "...but it?s hard for us to do that, cover our asses, AND save our phoney-baloney jobs at the same time, so throw us a bone here, okay??" Safety board chairman Conway?s letter did not make clear whether the explosive had been separated at the time from the softball-sized chunk of plutonium that forms the pit, or trigger, of a thermonuclear warhead. "...and we ain?t tellin?, either." To prevent a thermonuclear blast, the pit would have to have been separated from the larger warhead. There?s actually a whole bunch of other things that have to happen in a precise order and fashion to get a thermonuclear yield, and these lunkheads weren't close to any of them. On the other hand, they could have spread nuclear material all over the break room - read on. If the explosive were still connected to the trigger, an explosion could have injured or killed workers and could have spread plutonium or other radioactive materials around the facility. The taping and removal of the explosive did not go as planned, and only quick thinking by the technicians prevented them from dropping the explosive, Conway wrote. "...that and the fact that it was apparently taped to Mister Dumbjohn's ass." Conway said taping the explosives together was one of several mistakes made by Pantex officials that risked an explosion. Pantex officials also played down the risk, Conway said, calling the cracks in the explosive and the fact that workers taped it together a trivial change in procedures. "...Normally we use string, bailing wire,and staples, which are a whole heck of a lot better than that muicilage we used to use." Jud Simmons, a spokesman for Pantex plant operator BWX Technologies Inc., did not return telephone messages on Friday. Good move, Jud. When you DO answer them, just tell ?em that you deny everything, demand counsel, and besides, it was some other nuclear weapons manufacturing plant. The pit's plutonium is surrounded by an explosive shell. When the explosives detonate, the plutonium is compressed and causes a nuclear explosion. In a thermonuclear weapon, that explosion sets off an even stronger nuclear blast. Basically, yes. Workers dismantling the pit in question found the explosive was cracked, which made it more unstable and easier to detonate, Conway wrote. Their solution was to tape together the cracked explosives and move them to another location. Of course, they STILL haven't mentioned whether or not the detonators were attached to this stuff. In his letter, Conway said other problems included: --Failing to consult the explosives' manufacturer to determine how unstable the cracked explosives might be;Conway's letter does not elaborate on what might have happened had the explosive detonated. Okay, anybody here NOT know what would have happened? Anybody?... The Nuclear Facilities Safety Board has an inspector stationed at the Pantex plant and at the nation's other nuclear weapons sites. Weekly reports by the Pantex inspector, William White, show several problems with safety at the plant, including flaws in the software designed to control the movement of nuclear and explosive materials around the site. White reported in October that Pantex technicians had made a mistake while dismantling a W62 warhead from a Minuteman missile. A drill damaged part of the warhead's nuclear core, prompting officials to evacuate the facility until experts determined that no radiation had leaked, White wrote. From my time in SAC, I remember Pantex having a distinctly lousy reputation for safety and reliability. These guys were not, repeat NOT going to set off a nuclear yield - they could not have possibly done that. What they could have done, and IMHO were awfully close to doing, was getting an HE yield out of the conventional detonators, which would have scattered nuclear material all over the damned place and definitely required some heavy duty cleanup. |
| Posted by:Mike Kozlowski |
| #12 Sorry,but the story created for me a mental picture of Slim Pickens fixing a nuke with duct tape before riding it down. |
| Posted by: Stephen 2004-1-24 8:40:05 PM |
| #11 Mr. Shipman: I quite agree, the folks are nice. As for the weather and lengths of 40 lb. chain, with my own eyes I have seen birds walking because the wind was blowing too fiercely for them to fly. Mr. Katz: Yes, somewhere back there. My parents failed to include the 'h' because they thought the name more feminine without it. You may do the math on that one, I am bereft of clues. It appears that the readers (and commentators) of Rantburg are well endowed with the critical thinking skills necessary to debunk this piece of...ahem..."journalism". |
| Posted by: Quana 2004-1-24 8:25:04 PM |
| #10 The article goes out of its way to leave open the assumtion that a nuclear explosion was possible. As indicated by several others, this is a physical impossibility. Without going into too much detail, it is very hard to create a nuclear explosion even when you set out on purpose to do it. A nuclear bomb is not a chunk of explosive, it is an apparatus, a complex machine. Under these circumstances, a nuclear explosion is no more likely than a partially dismantled '83 Buick spontaneously starting itself and driving coast to coast without fuel or human assistance. Spreading disinformation about nuclear energy of any kind seems to be a default position for lazy and ignorant journalists; that is, most of them. |
| Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy 2004-1-24 5:45:31 PM |
| #9 Yes. I left a quote mark out of a link. I mailed Fred and asked him to fix it. (Sorry!) |
| Posted by: Kathy K 2004-1-24 2:18:37 PM |
| #8 Does anyone know how we managed to get an article inside a comment, and then comments on that article? You see that the article about the nuke plant is comment #4 to the article about the ammonia plant, and then the comment numbers start over (because they're comments to the nuke plant article/comment). Have we boldly gone where no one has gone before? I hope this sort of thing does not cause spontaneous vacuum decay, and destroy the universe. |
| Posted by: Angie Schultz 2004-1-24 2:15:11 PM |
| #7 Actually the folks are rather nice. Oprah says its a great place to find a friendly jury. Quana. Any relation to Commanche Chief Quanah Parker? |
| Posted by: Gasse Katze 2004-1-24 1:39:19 PM |
| #6 Quana: My remarks were mainly due to the weather... I've been in Amarillo during the Winter when the local weatherman person uses a length of 40 lb. chain to check the wind speed. :) Actually the folks are rather nice. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-1-24 1:17:29 PM |
| #5 Somehow, my BS detectors pegged on this one. If a section of the HE detonates (incredibly unlikely without a detonator), you'll have a malformed pit and a big mess. NOT the unwritten but implied 'nooklyar' explosion. And you can't even get to the pit assembly without the second 'thermonuclear' stage being removed. Somebody is using general ignorance of these things to try and scare people.... "Failing" to to consult a manufacturer of 30 year old RDX? Please.... Yeah, call tech support! The best part is "Failing to have experts who have developed the procedure watch the taping and removal to spon any problems". Yeah, get a 'duct tape expert'. Whoever was working on this thing likely saw a cracked lens, and taped it down so it wouldn't fall, or come loose. And, they're probably being hounded by some GS-12 flunkie trying to get a cash award for 'safety'. |
| Posted by: Clunkerjockey 2004-1-24 12:48:18 PM |
| #4 I drive through Amarillo every time I go down to visit my brother in Houston. The nuke plant is quite visible as you take the bypass around the northeast side of the city - along with one of the biggest prisons in Texas. The red dirt canyonland noth of Amarillo would be quite at home in Death Valley, except that it's home to quite a number of oil and gas wells. We seldom stop there for anything but a quick meal and gas - many of the small towns between Amarillo and Wichita Falls provide a better place to stop, and are about halfway between our departure point and our destination. Amarillo must be a pretty good place for people to live - it keeps growing, even after losing the Bell plant to the east. I like it best in my rear-view mirror. |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2004-1-24 12:44:55 PM |
| #3 Mr. Mike: I think you are right about the HE explosion versus nuclear yield. It is my understanding that warheads are worked on inside a contraption called a 'gravel gertie', an assembly/disassembly bay. This is basically a big hole constructed under some feet (meters) of gravel that is designed to collapse during an explosion. Apparently this would hinder the spread of nuclear material. The amount of "hindering" may not be known because, to my knowledge (which is certainly not exhaustive), the gerties have never been used (of course, if they worked properly we'd never know, right?) As far as duct tape goes, remember it is like The Force: It has a light side, a dark side and it binds the Universe together. Mr. Shipman: They do have lots of good restaurants. And let's not forget the Helium Centennial Times Column Monument and the Headquarters of the American Quarter Horse Association are located there. Death Valley, indeed! |
| Posted by: Quana 2004-1-24 9:55:57 AM |
| #2 Workman Publishing Company: We bet you know someone who uses or abuses duct tape on anything and everything (except possibly duct work). These books make a GREAT gift idea fo any one (constructing nuclear bombs)! |
| Posted by: Gasse Katze 2004-1-24 9:54:50 AM |
| #1 It's no accident that the plant's located in Amarillo. My first choice would have been in the middle of Death Valley but Amarillo's a very close second. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-1-24 9:15:27 AM |