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Sandia Helps Secure Kazakh Nuclear Material
RedEaredSlider writes "A large cache of enriched nuclear fuel – some 13 metric tons — was stored in a nuclear reactor in the port city of Aktau, on the Caspian seacoast. The reactor was a Soviet-era fast breeder reactor, designed to make nuclear fuel for both weapons and power plants. The reactor, which started operations in 1973, also provided 135 megawatts of electricity, 9 million gallons of water per day and steam for hot water and heating for Aktau. It was shut down by the Kazakh government in 1999. Getting the material out of a seaport was one way to make it harder to steal, [Dave Barber of Sandia Labs] said. So the US and Kazakh governments embarked on a project to move it to a guarded — and remote — facility in the interior."
A few months after we took Iraq, we secured and flew out almost 14 tons of Yellow Cake in 55 gallon drums, 4 to a pallet,on C-17's to Diego Garcia, where it was put on ships to other places. A year or two later 3 of our pilots came down with Lymphoma. Uncle Sam says it was unrelated...
If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
Gentlemen, it has come to my attention that a breakaway Russian Republic called Kazakhstan will be transferring nuclear fuel to the United Nations in a few days. Here's the plan. We get the fuel and we hold the world ransom for... ONE MILLION DOLLARS!
I am officially gone from
Or it didn't happen.
Duh, big juicy story, lots of details. Right out of a James Bond novel, with Nuclear Powered Ninjas too. Just need sharks and lasers.
Just bought a new quantum computer, but I'm uncertain how it works.
GREAT SUCCESS!
they say it is often more relevant then the comment above, all we know is its called the Sig!
One would expect the water in a nuclear reactor to be continuously recycled; using it to provide the city with water doesn't make any sense at all.
"Getting the material out of a seaport was one way to make it harder to steal" ...How?
The US helped remove a half ton of fissile material from Kazakhstan in 1993-94 in a covert project called Project Sapphire at a cost of $27 million.
US get 13 ton of nuclear material from my country yet I show US my sister, she show her vazhïn to US and say "You will never get this you will never get it la la la la la la."
Nuclear Fuel removes you!
Am I the only US citizen that reads this who has been to Aktau?
The US didn't get this material - it was moved from near the port to a secure location on the *interior*.
That's 13 tonnes of material
I am Slashdot. Are you Slashdot as well?
Why would the cash-strapped republic of K. not resell the material for reprocessing to some country that has running reactors, rather than store it?
This is not a signature.
Sangria not necessary. Vodka sufficient secure all Kazakh nuclear material under 18 years of age.
and have some way to handle it without exposing themselves to a lot of radiation
If they're "suicide" whatevers, they won't care about that. In fact, that might never enter into the picture. Someone might, for example, choose to detonate one portable device in the midst of it all and let the prevailing winds do the rest.
Me, I'd be rethinking above-ground storage...or at least ringing the site with some quality ground-to-air missiles.
Orwell: "In a Time of Universal Deceit, telling the Truth is a Revolutionary Act"
A large cache of enriched nuclear fuel - some 13 metric tons -- was stored in a nuclear reactor in the port city of Aktau, on the Caspian seacoast.
The really interesting thing about this story is that it demonstrates exactly why a well engineered spent fuel containment facility with appropriate logistics to support it is required in the United States. Currently there is approximately 70,000 tons of spent fuel around the U.S waiting transportation to longer term facilities. So if the following statement illustrates the logistics required to move 13 tons from one location;
The nuclear fuel was placed in steel casks, each one the size of a train car. Each of the 60 casks weighs 100 tons. They are designed to hold the material for 50 years, and they were taken across Kazakhstan to a remote location...The casks were put onto a special train, which made the 1,860 mile journey under guard. To make sure that nobody tried to sabotage the transport, nearly every mile of the tracks ahead were checked for damage.
then it also illustrates what an enormous logistics challenge moving 70,000 tons of spent fuel from multiple locations around the U.S represents. I point this out because often, when conversations arise around nuclear power, the discussion is focused on the reactor technology and none on any of the other logistic and infrastructure required to support the reactors operating.
Efforts like this are a positive one to reduce the threat of asymmetrical nuclear weapons use and should be applauded, even if they are only to a temporary location. Considering that the DOEs own report into Yucca mountain said that the geology was unsuitable for the containment of nuclear waste there should be no doubt why a geologically stable (embedded in granite as opposed to pumice) spent fuel containment facility is a necessity in the U.S. It has to be built to last as it will become the center point of many other large logistics operations that connect it to nuclear facilities around the country.
My ism, it's full of beliefs.
Sangria not necessary. Vodka sufficient secure all Kazakh nuclear material under 18 years of age. Mediafire Links
The nuclear fuel was placed in steel casks, each one the size of a train car. Each of the 60 casks weighs 100 tons. They are designed to hold the material for 50 years, and they were taken across Kazakhstan to a remote location (which is classified) in the northeastern part of the country.
The casks were put onto a special train, which made the 1,860 mile journey under guard. To make sure that nobody tried to sabotage the transport, nearly every mile of the tracks ahead were checked for damage. The casks are now stored in a guarded area outdoors, and rest on a giant slab of concrete.
A secret location that is 1860 miles to the northeast, where train tracks run, where a special train went ... That sort of narrows it down a bit.
Also, it sounds like they just buried these containers in concrete. But, the containers were only good for 50 years? Is concrete really awesome at storing nuclear waste or something?
Given that 10 lbs of uranium is only one cup, 8 oz, or so.
28 660.0941 pounds which is 13 metric tonnes, only takes up a volume of a cube 35" along each side.
Amazing. I guess big things do come in small packages.
Its not like it actually answers your question or anything