"...high energy electrons colliding with atomic nuclei causing fission..." ???? via Yahoo.news (Quote is the best recollection of a news article read on 10/1/99.) Hmmm, electromagnetic theory meets nuclear theory... NOT! And I suppose if I short a battery I'll get a thermonuclear meltdown
"...nuclear experts said criticality happens when moisture seeps into the process to turn uranium 235 into nuclear fuel." 10/1/99 10:35 a.m. CBS.com Hmmm, new physics... moisture is the closely guarded secret to the production of nuclear fuel.. NOT!
"...a nuclear chain reaction like that seen in Tokaimura would 'never happen at a nuclear power reactor.'" 10/1/99 5:01 a.m. Reuters via CNN.com Ah, I suppose it's a different nuclear chain reaction that happens at power plants... NOT! It's the containment and shielding, stupid.
"Water...magnifies the radiation...." 10/1/99 1:41 a.m. CNN via CNN.com Hmmm, that's why we use it for shielding... oh, yea, right...maybe, it's water makes a criticality easier... It's the water, Vern!
"...a major nuclear accident which released high levels of uranium...." 10/1/99 AFP via Yahoo.news Hmmm, since uranium was involved in the accident, it must be the uranium that was released that caused the 'high' radiation levels... oh, yea, right...NOT!
"Ken Maruoka, an official in Japan's Science and Technology Agency, said today that the radiation leaked Thursday in an atomic reaction at a uranium-processing plant was from neutrons." 10/1/99 ABCnews.com Hmmm, ultimately you can trace the "radiation leak" to neutrons but it's not the neutrons in the radiation that the general public was worried about. How about them alphas, betas, and gammas?
"A nuclear reaction (criticality accident) is a dangerous phenomenon that releases extremely intense energy as well as radiation, but it stops once the radioactive material is spent." 9/30/99 1:13 p.m. CBS.com (Parenthetical phrase added for clarity.)
Hmmm, what is "extremely intense energy" and where do I buy some; maybe I can run my car on it for a while... a long while.
"Company officials said they thought that while radioactivity was released into the atmosphere, the radioactive material itself remained contained." 9/30/99 MSNBC.com & 9/30/99 1:13 p.m. CBS.com Ah, yup... and that there radioactivity is coming from what? Hmmm, me thinks that radioactive material must have gotten out, possibly some of them radioactive fission product noble gases. And since they were worried about the rain concentrating the radioactivity, I'd bet more than noble gases go out.
"...no previous Japanese accident had left workers so seriously injured." 9/30/99 MSNBC.com & 9/30/99 1:13 p.m. CBS.com Ah, all right, I guess they're right; nobody, I mean, no worker has ever been killed or maimed in Japan.
"A similar accident has occurred only once in the United States, and that was in 1964 at a fuel processing plant in Wood River Junction, R.I." 9/30/99 ABCnews.com Hmmm, and I guess the other similar accidents in DOE facilities don't count because the DOE (or AEC back then) is not part of the United States.
"Some experts said it may be years before the radiation within the building drops to a safe level." 10/3/99 Washington Post Foreign Service Oh, yea... 'hey Elmer, you're an expert at something, right? Tell me that it's going to take years before the building will be safe to enter'...NOT!
'"We should take steps to ensure that something like this never happens," said Akito Arima, the head of the Science and Technology Agency.' 10/4/99 USA Today Hmmm, the regulating agency wants to make future events incredible; but according to the company and them, this event was already incredible (i.e., no response plans existed because such an event would never happen). Making a criticality incredible is way beyond double contingency. I wonder who's being realistic here. If in doubt, always state the politically correct answer.
"Even officials of the nuclear industry said there are morale problems among workers and mismanagement in companies." 10/3/99 Washington Post Foreign Service Dah! What company doesn't have mismanagement and morale problems; I'd like to hire on!... All we need to do is fire all the current workers and management and replace them with someone off the street and hire a Harvard graduate to manage them.
"An accident like this should not happen at a U.S. fuel fabrication facility due to the extensive level of administrative controls and procedures. In the U.S., two plant operators must verify the materials used in the fuel mix to ensure a proper blend." 10/6/99 American Nuclear Society via www.ans.org Ah-ha, more experts talk. It was just a matter of time before the politically correct posture had to be assumed.
"Based on the recent Japanese criticality accident, other criticality accidents, and criticality safety violations, I propose to add the following paragraph to Section 4.3.3.c of the revised Order... '...a graded approach shall be followed that emphasizes ... operating procedures....'" 10/6/99 Burt Rothleder, DOE-EH And, ah-ha, again... hmmm, we thinks the political bandwagon is starting up! Remember children, always add more requirements to make things safe from a paperwork standpoint...Remember, real safety is in the paper; with enough of it, you can shield anything.