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Using a Toy Train To Calibrate a Reactor

Posted by samzenpus on from the little-engine-that-could-measure-minute-amounts dept.

alfredos writes "Physicists and engineers at Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory built tracks inside a fusion reactor and ran a toy train for three days to help them with their calibrations. From the article: 'The modified model of a diesel train engine was carrying a small chunk of californium-252, a radioactive element that spews neutrons as it falls apart. “We needed to refine the calibration technique to make sure we are measuring our neutrons as accurately as possible,” said Masa Ono, the project head of the National Spherical Torus Experiment.'"

19 of 120 comments (clear)

  1. So what is this... by srothroc · · Score: 5, Funny

    Nuclear reactor training?

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    http://www.tenjou.net/
    1. Re:So what is this... by Monkeedude1212 · · Score: 4, Funny

      One of these days I'm going to have to set up my laptop right beside the drumset and read slashdot.

      Gotta practice those rimshots.

      (who knows, maybe one day I'll be a great sidekick on a late night talk show!)

    2. Re:So what is this... by craash420 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Too much effort, just bookmark http://www.sadtrombone.com/

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      Extra medication for all!
  2. Aha! by Monkeedude1212 · · Score: 4, Funny

    You can use this just about anywhere. Now I have an excuse to bring the train into the office!

    Boss: What's this?

    Me: I'm calibrating the security cameras motion detection system. We need to know at what speeds the motion detection fails, lest the server room be broken into by someone with alot of patience.

    1. Re:Aha! by type40 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      That how I use to sneak into the house back in high-school. I'd coast my car into the driveway and slow walk across the lawn. A five count per step was slow enough to keep the motion light (that was aimed at my light sleeping parents bedroom) from going off.

      --
      "You can see I know very little about pimp policy." George McGovern.
  3. Done something similar by Wonko+the+Sane · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I did this plenty of times in the Navy, except that they have a tube installed that circled the reactor between it and the detectors.

    The tube contained the source and you moved it from detector to detector by pulling on a cable that was attached to both ends.

  4. Makes more sense than... by Jon.Laslow · · Score: 5, Funny

    Makes more sense than using random passengers to test your airport bomb-detecting technology.

    Oh. Right.

  5. Spherical Torus? by tunabomber · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Those two surfaces are fundamentally different, topologically speaking. Would a spherical torus would look something like a 4-sided triangle? Or sound like one hand clapping?

    Cosmic.

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    pi = 3.141592653589793helpimtrappedinauniversefactory71 ...
    1. Re:Spherical Torus? by NewbieProgrammerMan · · Score: 3, Informative

      NSTX produces a plasma that is shaped like a sphere with a hole through its center (a "cored apple" profile, see Mega Ampere Spherical Tokamak), different from the "donut" (toroidal) shaped plasmas of conventional tokamaks.

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      [b.belong('us') for b in bases if b.owner() == 'you']
    2. Re:Spherical Torus? by Scrameustache · · Score: 2, Informative

      Those two surfaces are fundamentally different, topologically speaking. Would a spherical torus would look something like a 4-sided triangle?

      I was wondering the same thing: "a plasma that is shaped like a sphere with a hole through its center (a "cored apple" profile, see Mega Ampere Spherical Tokamak), different from the "donut" (toroidal) shaped plasmas of conventional tokamaks. This innovative plasma configuration may have several advantages, a major one being the ability to confine a higher plasma pressure for a given magnetic field strength. Since the amount of fusion power produced is proportional to the square of the plasma pressure, the use of spherically shaped plasmas could allow the development of smaller, more economical fusion reactors."

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      You can't take the sky from me...

    3. Re:Spherical Torus? by mako1138 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I think it's called a "spherical" torus because the design represents an evolution from a plain torus. You squash a donut into a roughly spherical space. IIRC the advantage of this configuration over a tokamak is that the stability of the plasma is improved. However there is a fundamental trade-off between stability and energy density, so these designs are less likely to be workable sources of fusion energy.

  6. Casey Jones by Dupple · · Score: 4, Funny

    Casey Jones, streaming and decaying
    Casey on the Californium Express

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ig3GcDBjQN4

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    Watch those corners
  7. Uncomfortable by PopeRatzo · · Score: 3, Funny

    I know the physicists mean well, and it probably gets the job done, but for some reason the notion that they use a toy train to calibrate a nuclear reactor would not make me feel more secure about living near a nuclear reactor.

    Maybe if they'd used slot cars.

    Hey, now there's a generational reference. Who among us remembers slot cars? And who among us is willing to admit it?

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    You are welcome on my lawn.
  8. Selling this to management . . . by e_armadillo · · Score: 3, Funny

    "So you want to put a toy train in my reactor?" Condescending glare and awkward silence . . .

    1. Re:Selling this to management . . . by shabtai87 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I wonder if it started as a joke: Admin: and how do you propose we sprinkle the neutrons around our reactor? Physicist(sarcastically): I dunno, we put it in a toy train and run it in circles. Admin: OK, get me the results by Fri.

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      @humanity: *facepalm*
  9. Link to the original article at the lab by cruff · · Score: 5, Informative

    http://www.pppl.gov/PPPLnews101.cfm

  10. Glowing trains by woboyle · · Score: 4, Funny

    I can just see the adv. on eBay now: Slightly used, somewhat radioactive train set. Glows in the dark! Minimum bid $50.00

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    Sometimes, real fast is almost as good as real-time.
  11. Ran 3 days and didn't jump the track? by Latent+Heat · · Score: 2, Informative

    As someone with with years of experience in model railroading, that story is "real scary."

    You mean to tell me you are going to count on a model train going around its tracks for 3 days straight without someone, at some time during the 3 days, to either have to give the train a nudge when it gets stuck, or put it back on the track?

  12. Re:radioactivity understanding fail by Wonko+the+Sane · · Score: 2, Informative

    Generally, things which are exposed to radioactivity do not themselves become radioactive

    It depends on what form it is exposed to. If it is exposed to radioactivity in the form of a solid or dust or particulate material suspended in the air then it is quite possible for it to become contaminated.

    If an object is exposed to radiation then it depends on the type. Neutron radiation is known for activating stable materials and making them radioactive while alpha, beta and gamma radiation generally does not.