I am sure you’ve heard the news already and seen the video of the explosion a million times. That is unless you are living under a rock. The new bomb is supposed to be completely free of nuclear materials but still delivers the “boom” that would be expected of a nuclear device. Quite interesting and a little scary considering that Putin has been sacking and [shuffling][1] his cabinet recently to fit the profile he wants. Is this an attempt by Putin to bring Russia back into a state of global power ? Time will tell.

Anyway, without diverging further, let me give you an excerpt from an article on the new Russian test. From [CNN][2]

The Russian military has successfully tested what it described as the world’s most powerful non-nuclear air-delivered bomb, Russia’s state television reported Tuesday.

The bomb’s detonation is shown in this image taken from videotape.

It was the latest show of Russia’s military muscle amid chilly relations with the United States.

Channel One television said the new weapon, nicknamed the “dad of all bombs” is four times more powerful than the U.S. “mother of all bombs.”

“The tests have shown that the new air-delivered ordnance is comparable to a nuclear weapon in its efficiency and capability,” said Col.-Gen. Alexander Rukshin, a deputy chief of the Russian military’s General Staff, said in televised remarks. Video Watch Russian bomb test »

Unlike a nuclear weapon, the bomb doesn’t hurt the environment, he added.

[Read more][3] …

YESSS ! It doesn’t hurt the environment ! That should keep the global warming fanatics quiet. You showed them Russia. Way to go.
Retards.

Btw, also found a nice video of the test, an official release from the Russian government. I should say, the mushroom clouds get me all tingly every time I see it on video. Let’s hope I’ll never have to see that in person during my life !!

[1]: http://www.plenglish.com/article.asp?ID=%7BD4D1CE98-0E9E-4D3D-B679-87653783A9E8%7D)&language=EN [2]: http://www.cnn.com [3]: http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/europe/09/12/russia.bomb.ap/

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  &#8220;We had just given thanks to Allah for this glorious means to destroy the Great Satan once and for all, when [sub-lieutenant] Mahmoud [Ghassan] asked, &#8216;So, what&#8217;s the next step?'&#8221; Akhtar said. &#8220;I was at a loss.&#8221;
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  The 28-year-old fanatic said he and his associates had initially assumed that at least one member of their group had the physics and engineering background necessary to construct a thermonuclear device.
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  &#8220;Many eyes were upon me,&#8221; said Basim Aljawad, whose knowledge of physics did not extend to the principles of nuclear fission. &#8220;I make nail bombs. That&#8217;s it.&#8221;
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This is scary at first sight.Excerpt from the article

A potential problem with the emergency reactor core cooling system at the nation’s largest nuclear power plant went undetected from 1986, when it began producing power, until last week, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission(NRC) and the plant operator confirmed Thursday.

The issue was identified when engineers at the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station did an analysis after NRC inspectors raised questions at a detailed inspection early last week. The NRC was following up to see if earlier cooling system problems had been fixed.

The review showed the emergency cooling system may not operate as expected to provide water to reactor cores after a small leak in the reactor cooling lines, NRC spokesman Victor Dricks said.

Practically, for this flaw to lead to any kind of disatrous results, lots of redundant safety systems need to fail together. Well, i am not refuting the fact that such an incident could have happened anytime in the past 19 years of its operation but chances for a complete failure and a meltdown are slim. Nevertheless, this is definitely a serious issue and hopefully, the NRC will bring in a stricter system to check all the flaws in all operating reactors.

God, i dont even want to begin to imagine what the media fuss will be, on all this.

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  Engineers from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, added beryllium oxide to the standard uranium oxide pellets used in light water reactors. Because uranium oxide does not conduct heat well, pellets made of it tend to crack and degrade as the temperature of the reactor core rises and falls, and this means they have to be replaced before all the fuel has been used. Beryllium oxide is a better conductor of heat, so it allows the fuel pellet to cool more efficiently, says Alvin Solomon, who led the research. This means the combined pellet lasts much longer than the standard one.
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Just got the hot news. I have cleared all three papers in my qualification exam ! I rock ! I am high with excitement now. If the world is going to collapse onto itself, please let it be now.

Good things aside, i still have a oral qualifier round to look forward to. I was told that i was a bit weak with Reactor Physics and so have 2 major Gods in nuclear department specializing in Xr physics on my committee for the oral.

Now this is going to be fun. Before even the thought of starting preparation for the oral, i am going out to party ! Woohoo …

Why nuclear power is not the answer

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    If nuclear power was used to the fullest practical extent in the United States, we would need about 300 power plants of the type now in use. The waste produced each year would then be enough to kill (300 x 50 million =) over 10 billion people. I have authored over 250 scientific papers over the past 35 years presenting tens of thousands of pieces of data, but that &#8220;over 10 billion&#8221; number is the one most frequently quoted. Rarely quoted, however, are the other numbers given along with it: we produce enough chlorine gas each year to kill 400 trillion people, enough phosgene to kill 20 trillion, enough ammonia and hydrogen cyanide to kill 6 trillion with each, enough barium to kill 100 billion, and enough arsenic trioxide to kill 10 billion. All of these numbers are calculated, as for the radioactive waste, on the assumption that all of it gets into people. I hope these comparisons dissolve the fear that, in generating nuclear electricity, we are producing unprecedented quantities of toxic materials.
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  </span><span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"  >&#8211; If you ask me, that is a profound and insightful statement. Another thumbs up for the book ! Definitely a must read for everyone &#8211; both pro and anti nuclear folks.</span>
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  <span style=";font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"  ><a href="http://www.phyast.pitt.edu/%7Eblc/book/">Link</a> via <a href="http://science.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=161804&cid=13529161">Slashdot</a></span></div> 
  
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