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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.'"

12 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. 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.

  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. 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
  6. 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']
  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.