Lt. Dave in The Blob said, "I think you should send us the biggest transport plane you have, and take this thing to the Arctic or somewhere and drop it where it will never thaw."
Savannah River Site scientists are working to identify a strange growth found on racks of spent nuclear fuel collected from foreign governments.
The “white, stringlike” material was found among thousands of spent fuel assemblies submerged in deep pools within the site’s L Area, according to a report filed by the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, a federal oversight panel.
“The growth, which resembles a spider web, has yet to be characterized, but may be biological in nature,” the report said.
Savannah River National Laboratory collected a small sample in hopes of identifying the mystery lint – and determining whether it is alive.
L Area, with 3-foot-thick concrete walls, includes pools that range from 17 to 30 feet deep, where submerged racks are used to store an array of assemblies – some containing highly enriched uranium – from foreign and domestic research reactors. The material is kept there for national security reasons.
The safety board’s report said the initial sample collected was too small to allow further characterization.
“Further evaluation still needs to be completed,” the report said.
Will Callicott, a spokesman for Savannah River National Laboratory, said in an e-mail that officials hope to collect a larger sample for analysis.
“But whatever it is, (it) doesn’t appear to be causing any damage,” he said.
Comments
Lt. Dave in The Blob said, "I think you should send us the biggest transport plane you have, and take this thing to the Arctic or somewhere and drop it where it will never thaw."
Riverman, I've been enjoying your lighter additions to the mix today -- especially the Haley one :-)
Hey Burn. Thank you. Laughter is such a good thing. Ya know?
I'm thinking Andromeda Strain......
Oh goody. Yuck.
"The safety board’s report said the initial sample collected was too small to allow further characterization."
The "Safety Board" is lying through its rotten teeth. 12 blood cells is enough for forensics to put away a murderer for life. Any sample they collected in that pool is enough to contaminate Earth for the next million years.
The South Carolina Nuclear Wasteland will be the death of all of us, some day in the near future.....before it goes critical, maybe.
Then you should be right angry about the cessation of plans for Yucca Mt.
Probably comes from some radiated spider who is simply weaving its web around tanks of its food (fuel) source. No worries.
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