A huge expansion of nuclear power has been proposed as for a solution to the combined peak oil and global warming problems.
There is an unrecognized problem with nuclear power. It is believed that the reason the North Korean bomb fizzled is that they used reactor plutonium, which has a high percentage of plutonium 240. Plutonium 240 has a high rate of spontaneous fission. That causes the bomb to go off in a low-grade mode before the core is completely compressed.
Weapons grade plutonium is 90% or better plutonium 239. It is made by pushing slugs of uranium though a reactor fast enough that little of the plutonium 239 formed picks up a second neutron and becomes plutonium 240. The slugs are then chemically separated to recover the plutonium. It's a trade off between grade and production rate.
Several years ago it occurred to me that exceptionally high grade plutonium 239 could be made by briefly exposing U 238 in solution to neutrons, removing the plutonium with from the solution with ion exchange and pumping the solution back though the reactor to convert more U 238 to plutonium 239. (U 238, depleted uranium, is scattered all over Iraq.)
This will generate low cost plutonium 239 upwards of 99% purity, perhaps high enough that simple gun type bomb designs could be used. Considering that over a fuel consumption cycle a large power reactor generates a number of kilograms of neutrons, tapping 10% percent of them in this loop would produce a considerable amount of super weapons grade plutonium.
For a long time I considered it something I wished I had never thought of. But while I was in jail recently and thinking there was a good chance the cult would kill me, I decided to release it. (Mentioned it here a few weeks ago.) After all if I can think of it, so can any number of other people. Released it will give International nuclear inspectors an idea of what to look for.
I spent considerable thought over the last few years trying to figure out a way to transfer this information to responsible people in the government without making it public. I gave up because if FBI agents could not convince people above them to pay attention to this group of Arabs learning to fly--but not land--large airplanes then they certainly were not going to pay a bit of attention to someone who just had an idea they were not likely to understand.
In spite of all the problems, including this one, vast numbers of nuclear reactors are one of the few central power plant approaches to replacing coal and doing something about global warming.
The only other approach I know about is solar power satellites, lifted to GEO either with rockets or a space elevator. If nanotube cable can be made at low cost and strong enough, then a mechanically powered elevator is possible. (Per the presentation I created for the recent ESA conference.)
But if this idea for making high purity plutonium 239 gets used by terrorists to nuke an American city, this puts it in the historical record of which cult caused it to be made public. :-(
In article <462642f8.2022610...@news2.lightlink.com>, hkhen...@rogers.com says...
Beyond the new-to-me speculation on the characteristics of PU- 239 vs, 240, which only leads me to wonder about the possibility of exploitibility of the concept to make *itty bitty tiny A Bombs* if it could be better controlled, I'm far less worried about terrorist use, since, for *terrorist* purposes, a 'dirty bomb' is ideal, and, I'd expect a cult or a cabal or a 'disinfranchised minoroty' to implement one in keeping with the calling.
After all, a 'dirty bomb' is practically worthless militarily, but ideal for a tiny group, with no infrastructure whose primary purpose is in being *LOUD*.
Destruction isn't necessary; merely extortion and terror.
Nukes of *any* magnitude require a *huge* infrastructure *and* a 'delivery system' *and* some plan for exploiting the destruction they *actually* cause.
What good does it do an 'Al Qaida' (for example) to vaporize 2 square blocks of downtown LA if they're not ready to flood the Valley with jihadists?
Nukes are *hard* to build; hard to deliver; hard to exploit.
It's why they're not being used *generally*; by the people who *could*.
'Dirty Bombs' don't care about your level of PU-239; medical waste works *just* as well, and, is far easier to get, handle and deliver.
But wait! There's more! :)
If I get energetic I'll tell you about why I *want* 'Global Warming', and it's not so I won't have to shovel snow...
Zinj -- You Can Lead a Clam to Reason; but You Can't Make Him Think
In article <462642f8.2022610...@news2.lightlink.com>, hkhen...@rogers.com says...
Beyond the new-to-me speculation on the characteristics of PU- 239 vs, 240, which only leads me to wonder about the possibility of exploitibility of the concept to make *itty bitty tiny A Bombs* if it could be better controlled, I'm far less worried about terrorist use, since, for *terrorist* purposes, a 'dirty bomb' is ideal, and, I'd expect a cult or a cabal or a 'disinfranchised minoroty' to implement one in keeping with the calling.
After all, a 'dirty bomb' is practically worthless militarily, but ideal for a tiny group, with no infrastructure whose primary purpose is in being *LOUD*.
Destruction isn't necessary; merely extortion and terror.
Nukes of *any* magnitude require a *huge* infrastructure *and* a 'delivery system' *and* some plan for exploiting the destruction they *actually* cause.
What good does it do an 'Al Qaida' (for example) to vaporize 2 square blocks of downtown LA if they're not ready to flood the Valley with jihadists?
Nukes are *hard* to build; hard to deliver; hard to exploit.
It's why they're not being used *generally*; by the people who *could*.
'Dirty Bombs' don't care about your level of PU-239; medical waste works *just* as well, and, is far easier to get, handle and deliver.
But wait! There's more! :)
If I get energetic I'll tell you about why I *want* 'Global Warming', and it's not so I won't have to shovel snow...
Zinj -- You Can Lead a Clam to Reason; but You Can't Make Him Think
> Several years ago it occurred to me that exceptionally high grade > plutonium 239 could be made by briefly exposing U 238 in solution to > neutrons, removing the plutonium with from the solution with ion > exchange and pumping the solution back though the reactor to convert > more U 238 to plutonium 239. (U 238, depleted uranium, is scattered > all over Iraq.)
[. . .]
> In spite of all the problems, including this one, vast numbers of > nuclear reactors are one of the few central power plant approaches > to replacing coal and doing something about global warming.
> The only other approach I know about is solar power satellites, > lifted to GEO either with rockets or a space elevator. If nanotube > cable can be made at low cost and strong enough, then a mechanically > powered elevator is possible. (Per the presentation I created > for the recent ESA conference.)
There are fission reactors which cannot be used the way you describe, because they have no cooling water.
>> Several years ago it occurred to me that exceptionally high grade >> plutonium 239 could be made by briefly exposing U 238 in solution to >> neutrons, removing the plutonium with from the solution with ion >> exchange and pumping the solution back though the reactor to convert >> more U 238 to plutonium 239. (U 238, depleted uranium, is scattered >> all over Iraq.)
>[. . .]
>> In spite of all the problems, including this one, vast numbers of >> nuclear reactors are one of the few central power plant approaches >> to replacing coal and doing something about global warming.
>> The only other approach I know about is solar power satellites, >> lifted to GEO either with rockets or a space elevator. If nanotube >> cable can be made at low cost and strong enough, then a mechanically >> powered elevator is possible. (Per the presentation I created >> for the recent ESA conference.)
>There are fission reactors which cannot be used the way >you describe, because they have no cooling water.
"For maintenance, many designs include control rods, called "absorbers" that are inserted through tubes in a neutron reflector around the reactor core."
Long as you can get at the neutron flux, someone could divert it to producing Pu 239. :-(
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