Critics say the U.S. is repeating the mistakes of the Cold War by funneling billions of taxpayer dollars into weapons that will hopefully never be used and haven’t been tested in more than a generation
In the Lab Oppenheimer Built, the U.S. Is Building Nuclear Bomb Cores Again
The view from Anderson Overlook in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains on the way up to Los Alamos. As the lab ramps up its workforce, each morning brings increased traffic into town.Not long ago, such ambitions would have been unthinkable. Following the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991, the U.S. stopped designing, building, and testing new nuclear warheads. Stockpiles were slashed, labs’ budgets cut, and a highly skilled workforce allowed to dwindle.
Radioactive waste transportation containers are loaded onto the beds of semi-trucks at the Radioassay and Nondestructive Testing Facility.the PF-4 operations floor, we pulled on thick lab coats, cotton shoe-coverings, protective goggles, and personal radiation-detection badges. It’s a windowless, low-slung facility, with a long gray hallway dividing a series of rooms purpose-built for plutonium production.
The U.S. no longer manufactures new plutonium, so workers at PF-4 take old pits from retired warheads sent from the Pantex plant in the Texas panhandle, which assembles, disassembles, and stores parts for America’s nuclear arsenal. The pits are recycled through a process that purifies them of radioactive elements, which accumulate over time. To do this, plutonium winds its way from glovebox to glovebox through an overhead trolley system snaking through the complex.
of producing plutonium pits are well-established. The last time the U.S. made pits on a mass scale was in 1989, at the Rocky Flats site in Colorado. Production at the plant, which churned out about 1,000 pits per year, was shut down following a raid by the FBI and Environmental Protection Agency that discovered serious environmental violations. There was enough radioactive waste on the premises to cover a football field to a depth of 20 ft.
Belgique Dernières Nouvelles, Belgique Actualités
Similar News:Vous pouvez également lire des articles d'actualité similaires à celui-ci que nous avons collectés auprès d'autres sources d'information.
Inside the UK's stuttering attempts to mine its own minerals - and stop relying on ChinaThe announcement of a £4bn 'gigafactory' in Somerset has sparked warnings that Britain is facing a decisive moment in its efforts to secure the raw materials it needs to build the clean energy industries
Lire la suite »
Inside England's coolest retreat for stressed workers and familiesBirch, Cheshunt, reviewed
Lire la suite »
Beyond Christie: Inside The World Of Black Barbie Collectors“Every time I turned on the news, there was something bad happening to Black people,” said one collector of more than 600 Black Barbie dolls. “I wanted to surround myself with beautiful Black things.”
Lire la suite »
Inside the Bibby Stockholm barge as it readies to house 500 asylum seekersThe Bibby Stockholm is a floating barge off Portland Port in Dorset which will be used to house 500 asylum seekers in the coming weeks. As the Home Office insists it's ‘not a prison’, here's what it looks like 👇
Lire la suite »
Inside Olly Murs and Amelia Tank's magical wedding - see all the exclusive picturesExclusive pictures from Olly Murs and Amelia Tank's stunning wedding
Lire la suite »
Inside four-bedroom NI property on the market with private island lakeEstate agents say planning permission has been granted to convert existing outbuildings into holiday accommodation
Lire la suite »