The Only Way Out 2013-06-04

[Dave]

Had to look.

[Wyvern]

You have just weirded out my image of G**** just as much as a certain song about cyan oculars did to various characters of that show's cast.

I knew of this back in the day, and always hoped that there would be some reason for it come up on the show. I can just imagine people gawking at an old photo, to "Did you think I was born a librarian?"

[kingklash]

Is it possible to either redraw the door to smooth out the cracks, or draw up a new one on a more solid portion of the wall?

Maybe, but drawing a door didn't work out too well for Barbara & Adam.

Well, drawing a regular door is a lot quicker than doing a full Trump for someplace else.

[Fairportfan]

You have just weirded out my image of G**** just as much as a certain song about cyan oculars did to various characters of that show's cast.

I knew of this back in the day, and always hoped that there would be some reason for it come up on the show. I can just imagine people gawking at an old photo, to "Did you think I was born a librarian?"

Oddly enough, when his old buddy showed up and we got a glimpse of Giles' youthful rebelliousness, instead of using a picture of him in this costume to represent his then-persona as "Ripper", they put his younger head on a shot of Gary Oldman as Sid Vicious in Sid & Nancy*. (Apparently Joss likes that film - when we see Spike driving out of town to go hunting for his crazy girlfriend, he's singing along with Oldman's version of Sid's version of "My Way"...)

[bmonk]

'S kind of a slow motion thing....

Another thread mentioned the researcher that got a near-critical mass of uranium in one spot--not creating an explosion, but enough radiation to ensure a lingering death. He is recorded as remarking it was an odd experience, knowing you would die in so many days.

[Fairportfan]

'S kind of a slow motion thing....

Another thread mentioned the researcher that got a near-critical mass of uranium in one spot--not creating an explosion, but enough radiation to ensure a lingering death. He is recorded as remarking it was an odd experience, knowing you would die in so many days.

Would that be the guy i've heard about who was "tickling the dragon's tail" as a demo in front of a group?

"Tickling the dragon's tail" was setting two non-critical pieces of uranium on a desktop and gently nudging them toward each other until you just barely achieved a "k" of unity*.

So the story goes, this guy's hand slipped and the pieces went super-critical, exposing him and everyone in the room to a burst of radiation.

Realising what had happened, he slapped them apart, and told everyone to stay where they were; he made a chart showing everyone's positions in regard to the event so that their dosages could be calculated, and they were then medically tracked to study long-term radiation effects**.

=================

* From WIkipedia:

A numerical measure of a critical mass is dependent on the effective neutron multiplication factor k, the average number of neutrons released per fission event that go on to cause another fission event rather than being absorbed or leaving the material. When k=1, the mass is critical, and the chain reaction is barely self-sustaining.

** I suspect that this story may be apocryphal (though i recall having specific names and dates/locations attached to it) because it's not in Wikipedia's list of notable criticality accidents...

[Dave]

'S kind of a slow motion thing....

Another thread mentioned the researcher that got a near-critical mass of uranium in one spot--not creating an explosion, but enough radiation to ensure a lingering death. He is recorded as remarking it was an odd experience, knowing you would die in so many days.

Would that be the guy i've heard about who was "tickling the dragon's tail" as a demo in front of a group?

(snip)

** I suspect that this story may be apocryphal (though i recall having specific names and dates/locations attached to it) because it's not in Wikipedia's list of notable criticality accidents...

Not at all apocryphal. See "INADVERTENT SUPERCRITICALITY RESULTS IN DEATH, Los Alamos, N. Mex., May 21, 1946" - the researcher in question was Louis Slotkin.

As I understand it, this was actually the second criticality accident in which this particular "demon" plutonium core was involved! This is why plutonium cores come with the obligatory "Kids, don't try this at home!" warning sticker. The demon core went on to be installed in the "Able" weapon detonated during the Operation Crossroads test sequence, with an explosive yield equivalent to around 23 kilotons of TNT.

You can read about what happened to those exposed during the accident in this document.

[Fairportfan]

Yeah, accto the Wikipedia piece i linked, the "Demon Core" was involved in two incidents.

The scary thing i've read about plutonium is that it can radically change density (and thus size) with temperature change ... and a non-critical piece could become critical...

[DilyV]

Yeah, accto the Wikipedia piece i linked, the "Demon Core" was involved in two incidents.

The scary thing i've read about plutonium is that it can radically change density (and thus size) with temperature change ... and a non-critical piece could become critical...

Remember too how the bombs were set to detonate. Little Boy was basically a large gun, blasting one lump of uranium into another at the other end of the bomb casing. Fat Man was basically an implosion device, where an explosive sphere surrounded the "demon" core and blasted it inward into a critical mass. Plutonium is much more deadly in that even inhaling a microscopic amount can kill. The incursion I read about was he 1945 one I think. It's been so long ago.

Fore more atomic goodness, read The Day we bombed Utah about the Upshot-Knothole tests... and Idaho Falls, about the SL-1 reactor incursion. The descriptions in that book will send chills up and down your spine!

Had to come back and edit this... part of my original post disappeared and I had to complete it.

[Timotheus]

You might enjoy "We Almost Lost Detroit" too. It's a fascinating look at nuclear power plant safety.

[bmonk]

Another thread mentioned the researcher that got a near-critical mass of uranium in one spot--not creating an explosion, but enough radiation to ensure a lingering death. He is recorded as remarking it was an odd experience, knowing you would die in so many days.

Would that be the guy i've heard about who was "tickling the dragon's tail" as a demo in front of a group?

(snip)

** I suspect that this story may be apocryphal (though i recall having specific names and dates/locations attached to it) because it's not in Wikipedia's list of notable criticality accidents...

Not at all apocryphal. See "INADVERTENT SUPERCRITICALITY RESULTS IN DEATH, Los Alamos, N. Mex., May 21, 1946" - the researcher in question was Louis Slotkin.

As I understand it, this was actually the second criticality accident in which this particular "demon" plutonium core was involved! This is why plutonium cores come with the obligatory "Kids, don't try this at home!" warning sticker. The demon core went on to be installed in the "Able" weapon detonated during the Operation Crossroads test sequence, with an explosive yield equivalent to around 23 kilotons of TNT.

You can read about what happened to those exposed during the accident in this document.

That's the one I heard about--Louis Slotin.