Saturday, March 26, 2011

Tickling the Dragon's Tail

During the 1960s I was a nuclear physicist conducting research on nuclear reactor safety at the National Reactor Testing Station in Idaho. It was exciting cutting edge science. In November of 1962 I sat at the controls of a reactor, operated remotely from a half mile away, and ran a super-prompt critical power excursion of such magnitude that it blew up the reactor. It was goddamn fun! The Atomic Energy Commission eventually killed all nuclear safety research. Knowing what I do about the various aspects of reactor safety, I feel we should not build anymore nuclear power plants. Reinforcing that viewpoint are the accidents at SL-1, Fermi, Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and now Fukushima. Here's the video of my blowing up the reactor.