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Bruce Perens: The Day I Blundered Into the Nuclear Facility

Posted by samzenpus on from the did-you-remember-to-lock-the-door? dept.

Bruce Perens writes "I found myself alone in a room, in front of a deep square or rectangular pool of impressively clear, still water. There was a pile of material at the bottom of the pool, and a blue glow of Cherenkov radiation in the water around it. To this day, I can't explain how an unsupervised kid could ever have gotten in there."

5 of 181 comments (clear)

  1. So... I read the article. by Nationless · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Is that it?

    1. Re:So... I read the article. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Is that it?

      "The real question is..."What kind of spin doctor excuse covers this lapse of security?"
      Answer: The same kind of bullshit that comes out of the nuclear industry when caught with their pants down. Nuclear is Unclear.

      Why would it need to be more secured than it was? Holy crap, loosen the straps on your tinfoil hat a little.

      It's like a kid finding a box of used needles... zomg how did that possibly happen, what about teh consequences?!!1

      A car barreling down the road at you with nothing but bare pavement separating your path from his is more dangerous.

  2. The 60s and 70s by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I think Bruce might be looking at the past through the lens of today. In the 60s, nuclear plants and labs had a couple of security guards to protect from theft and whatnot. They didn't carry guns. Unless there were secret things going on, these places weren't heavily guarded. Nuclear power wasn't considered a security issue. Nor were airports, train stations, etc.

    1. Re:The 60s and 70s by cbelt3 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Bingo. I can recall being in the research reactor at U Mo in Columbia in the early 1970's. People forget how accessible facilities were before 9/11 . Apparently we're so used to the Police State that we've created that it's pretty much taken for granted.

      Which is a great pity. The less accessible cool research is for our children, the less interested our children will be in becoming cool researchers. Big Bang Theory and Mohawk Guy nonwithstanding.

  3. And that's a minute or so of my life... by logicassasin · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ... that I'll never get back.

    This was not "News For Nerds", it was "the ramblings of a guy on the internet".

    --
    Fifty watts per channel, baby cakes.