brickboy

Don't worry, you only need 4kg of plutonium for a fission device of around 20 kiloton yield

David Lock

e-bay?

boxst

Hello

I did wonder about that. If I mis-place a few pence in my budget I have people all over me so quite how they can get away with mislaying plutonium is beyond me.

As an idea of how much Plutonium is required to make a bomb:

From: http://www.terrorismanswers.org/weap...ing_print.html

Steve.

ajm

Reading between the lines somewhat, I don't think this means they have dropped a 30kg lump of plutonium somewhere "Homer style" . Rather it means that they measure the amounts of plutonium coming into the plant and the depleated waste that comes out of the plant and try and match the two. The way I understand it this is limited in accuracy and the 30kg discrepancy has come about after hundreds of tonnes of throughput and spread across a lengthy period of time, so statistically it is insignificant and, apparently, well within specified limits set by the authorities.

Either that or pslewis nicked it!

Belmondo

Me too. I've had to spend whole days looking for sums like 12 Hongkong cents and 4p on accounts that total tens of millions, just because someone thinks it looks untidy if you write it off .
This is just typical of anything the government has any hand in....

David Lock

The analogy is your bank melting down several tons of coins and using material to make a new coin. There will be a theoretically "correct" number of new coins minted but the end result is bound to be slightly out because of the process. DL.

On the other hand no one can be CERTAIN that the stuff hasn't gone missing!

Leslie

Despite the huge tonnage involved, 60 kg of plutonium is a signifcant amount when you consider how many nukes you could produce from it.

It looks like a pretty lackadaisical system they use and bearing in mind the importance attached its about time they got it down to a much more accurate system.

Les

Brendan Hughes

Presumably we can expect to be invaded by the US any time soon then?

ozzy

here we go again, typical media scare mongering. I'm sure the Tony brigade will launch a full enquiry at tax payers expense and we'll then feel nice and safe and vote them in for another term

Every industry that produces industrial waste has descrepencies between what's "physically" accounted for a what the paper chase says should be there.

If it did go "missing" (and it happens every year), just where are all these home-made nuclear bombs????

Are people so paranoid these days that they'll believe any old rubbish?

SJ_Skyline

Didn't pslewis say in the hunting thread yesterday that he was going to be away for a few days....


edit:

Brendan Hughes

"I'm just going outside - I might be some time..."

David Lock

Les,
Do you know something we don't? It was 30 kgs last time I looked. Oh well what's a few nukes between friends?

hades

I'd be worried if the only thing preventing plutonium leaving site is the inventory. However, it isn't even nearly the case. The monitoring procedure for anyone or anything going in and out of these sort of buildings will pick up stupidly small amounts of radioactive material. I've worked at power stations and seen major enquiries about invisibly small specs of contaminated steel or graphite, with much smaller total radioactivity than a jar of brazillian coffee. You would not get out carrying a milligram of plutonium without a lot of people knowing about it.

You do have to remember just how tightly regulated the UK nuclear industry is. Aforementioned jar of coffee would have to be packaged and processed as low level waste if it found it's way into certain bits of plant.

Unless anyone actually knows a lot more than is written in the report, we really aren't in a position to determine whether the system or operators need improvement. It wouldn't be the first instance of press sensationalism of something which is no different to any other industry but can grab headlines because of the word "nuclear".

Jap2Scrap

<Homer mode>It's pronounced nucular boy, n-u-c-u-l-a-r </Homer mode>

Diesel

Forget to pay a £60 speeding fine chaps - THAT is considered serious in this country! Plutonium Schplootonium

Leslie

My mistake, I must have been thinking in pounds, like I usually do.

Les

Patt@firstime

PMSL

Neil Smalley

"I'm sure that in 1985 Plutonium is available from every corner store, but here in 1955 it's a bit more difficult to obtain..."

1.21 Gigawatts!!!

SJ_Skyline

PMSL!!

"You built a time machine out of a DeLorean!?!?"
"I figure if you're gonna build a time machine, do it with style!"

16vmarc