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82 Comments
- ChronicFiles, on 10/10/2007, -0/+38The site isnt loading anymore.... mirror at http://pic.bestpicever.com/piles/?s=radioactive for everybody else
- cusoman, on 10/10/2007, -0/+36Wait, I'm confused. Why is there a car on fire in the last pic in the series?
- ph3rny, on 10/10/2007, -2/+37I'm pretty sure the last picture is from something completely different and has nothing to do with the radioactive stuff... and its a different resolution (the burning car)
- jeffeb3, on 10/10/2007, -1/+21The driver's mind exploded.
- vuke69, on 10/10/2007, -0/+19Sounds like an energy drink.
- hoju247, on 10/10/2007, -2/+17Uranium Hexaflouride is a caustic gas. In power reactors in the US, enrichment is limited to 5 weight percent U-235 (the fissile stuff). The radioactivity label is there because Uranium emits a "detectable" amount of radiation in the form of alpha radiation. Alpha radiation can only travel a short distance in air (
- neoform, on 10/10/2007, -5/+20He posted sensitive info online! TERRORIST!! Ship him to gitmo!
- SnuKs, on 10/10/2007, -2/+17I'd like to think it burst into flames upon tailgating to closely to the semi.
- nymphetamine, on 10/10/2007, -0/+10What was the point of the burning car at the end?
- yosempai, on 10/10/2007, -2/+10Its just showing that cars catch on fire on the highway. IMHO fire + uranium == death.
- eliot2000, on 10/10/2007, -1/+9Those barrels are probably full of drugs. Would YOU open them to check them out?
- dj_sea2005, on 10/10/2007, -1/+7Women?
- inactive, on 10/10/2007, -1/+7I drove by two tracker trailers, which were military, in Montana 8 years ago that each had a half of an ICBM. That was an odd sight. No digital cameras back then to capture the event though.
- inactive, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5KInd of, but not exactly. It's carried in big Trupak containers on the back of flatbeds. It looks like a big grey cylinder standing upright. Inside are 55-gallon drums of rad waste in a stacked configuration. The trucks are GPS tagged and driven by teams of two trained drivers with a series of checkpoints to hit. It's a pretty good system. They've got an exceptional record. There have been a couple of accidents, but the Trupak containers have never breached and no containment failures have ever occurred. Not much in the way of armed protection or escort, though. And if you know what to look for you'd spot one of the trucks instantly. Not much else they could be.
- inactive, on 10/10/2007, -1/+6Hexaflouride Fizzle. The next Billboard #1.
- osuchasenuts, on 10/10/2007, -1/+5Gotta love the super secure 10,000 pound steel container has a little rubber grommet at the bottom to drain out.
- AlphaEta, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4Maybe the truck was hauling empty containers?
- DiggzDE, on 10/10/2007, -1/+5I have seen something similar to that. It was a big Semi with a single lead box on it. The box itself was huge, but not as big as the entire trailer. It had large yellow Radioactive signs on all sides of it and stuff. I drove past it rather quickly. Sure didn't want to stay behind it for too long.
- cusoman, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4Holy Balls, as in... "Holy Balls this site is slow"
- mrbambastik, on 10/10/2007, -4/+7These trucks have Washington state plates and are likely headed to the "Hanford Nuclear Reservation", a highly toxic nuclear waste dump located next to the Columbia river, upstream from Portland, Oregon:
http://www.hanfordwatch.org/ - rohcky, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3It's an Audi, that's what happened to it.
- Dax420, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Your sarcasm detector is broken
- exomni, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Yeah, for RAINWATER.
- geomon, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4You are not the most misinformed ***** in the world, but you're close.
There isn't anything at Hanford that would use uranium hexafloride. The stuff might be headed for Richland, but not Hanford. - nukeworker70, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4That's nothing compared to some stuff that's on our roads.
- Fracture98, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4Yeah. Don't eat your smoke detector.
- mithi, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3I would reply to hoju247 but there is no reply button :/. Anyway, the alpha radiation will get stopped by a piece of paper so there is no risk of being near the containers however if the lorry was to crash and one of the containers to open up well the insects would not have a fun time.
- jellygraph, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2ah, like playing good ol' test drive... the ukranian version anyhow
- crazzy88ss, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3what happened to the audi..?
- geomon, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Of course leaving all of the waste generated from 60 years of weapons production at each of the weapons sites is the *best* alternative to consolidating the waste in one or two management sites where we can
1) watch the vadose zone for migration of radioactive wastes over time, and
2) watch for potential groundwater contamination.
No, better to leave the waste at SEVERAL waste sites and manage them in SEVERAL vadose management units and monitor SEVERAL groundwater operable units.
Nope, better not transport nuclear waste. - TheOtherShoe, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3"A short distance" is about an inch - depending on the energy of the alpha particles. The radiation isn't capable of penetrating a metal canister, or even a single sheet of paper.
However, alpha radiation does become quite dangerous if it is emitted by something you have swallowed. You have been warned! - masamunecyrus, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3I'm surprised that it's that little guarded, actually. I one time saw an 'over-size haul' gigantic military semi transporting something that was completely covered with a black tarp, and that with a camouflage tarp, with several radioactive symbols on it, as well as two humvees, one in front of the semi, one in the back of the semi, and several black SUVs around, including the lanes next to it.
I always assumed that that's how they transported radioactive material. What the heck were they transporting back then, though?
It's a shame I don't have photographic proof, but it happened several years ago, when I was 14. I didn't have a camera on me when I was that young. - spyd3rweb, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3DHS knocking on your door in ...3...2...1...
- rrife, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I actually work for a company that hauls many many many tons of radioactive materials and wastes (pic may actually be one of their trucks) and assuming the truck driver was doing his/her job and noticed the people taking pictures, then the license plate and description of the vehicle is supposed to be reported and investigated by local and some times federal agencies to ensure that it's not terrorists scoping out a potential target. I wrote a lot of the tracking software and see lots of reports where the truck drivers become "nervous" when a mini van full of kids drives along side the truck for too long and they usually request to have the local police pull the vehicle over or request/report that they've prepared to use a defensive tool (I assume this would be a gun of sorts, but it never gets written down that way) as a precaution.
Anyway, those UF6 canisters are pretty well protected from both damage and theft and are generally safe for hauling.....if you wanted to see something unsafe you should watch how they load & empty the canister. - geomon, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Give me a Geiger-Müller, a dosimeter (Nuclear-Chicago Model 2586 "Cutie Pie"), and a portable alpha meter and you bet I would.
- NSMike, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2It was likely a lead-lined seavan carrying radioactive waste. I worked at a nuke plant for a while and that's what we threw garbage into that couldn't leave the hot side of the plant (which is all garbage on the hot side, actually).
It's actually likely that this stuff isn't hot. Sure, it's radioactive, but it's not as dangerous as spent fuel coming from a reactor. Judging from the size of those canisters, that's not fuel for a nuke plant. Rod assemblies for a power generation reactor are much longer. Could be fuel for nuclear submarine, or an aircraft carrier. Don't know what it's doing in Wisconsin, though.
But typically, dangerous nuclear waste was not transported in this manner. It ended up in an unmarked lead-lined tractor trailer. You'd never know if you were driving next to it. - TheOtherShoe, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3Uranium hexafluoride is a very dense gas. Unenriched uranium ore is converted into uranium hexafluoride so that it can be enriched using a centrifuge.
- swanny89, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Perhaps the stuff you saw was weapons-grade and the stuff here is for medical, waste disposal, etc. that doesn't pose as much of a threat.
- PacoDEmu, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1All I want to know is what Rage show was he going to?
I didn't know they were playing anywhere recently. - ddn3d, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Alpine Valley, Wisconsin
- gyrfalcon, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Over the years, the Department of Energy has received numerous inquiries from the public and particularly from school-aged children, who were interested in understanding more about the Department's inventory of depleted uranium hexafluoride and ultimately, how the Government is going to address the disposition of this legacy material. The Department put together the following "fun facts," as a means of putting into perspective the characteristics of this material, in terms recognizable from everyday life. It is our hope that you will find these "fun facts," interesting and thought-provoking, in terms of understanding the challenge before the Department in managing this material and providing for its ultimate conversion and disposition.
Discovery of Uranium
Uranium was discovered in 1798 by Martin Klaproth, a German chemist, who isolated an oxide of uranium while analyzing pitchblende samples from the Joachimsal silver mines in the former Kingdom of Bohemia located in the present day Czech Republic.
Discovery of Uranium Fissionability
It took until 1938 to discover that uranium could be split to release energy, that is fission. This was accomplished by Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassman.
Discovery of Uranium Radioactivity
Henri Antoine Becquerel discovered that uranium was radioactive in 1896.
DUF6 Cylinder Weight Comparisons
A Ticonderoga-class cruiser is about equal in weight to 706 cylinders of depleted uranium hexafluoride (DUF6). It would take over 70 cruisers to weigh more than the Nation's inventory of DUF6! The Navy owns only 27 Ticonderoga-class cruisers.
DUF6 Cylinder Weight Comparisons
7,142 cylinders of DUF6 weighs as much as a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier. The entire inventory of 57,634 cylinders weighs more than all eight of the Navy's Nimitz-class aircraft carriers combined!
DUF6 Cylinders
Stacking 57,600 standard DUF6 cylinders end to end would make a tower 720,000 feet tall! That's over 136 miles high!
Energy from Uranium
One ton of natural uranium can produce more than 40 million kilowatt-hours of electricity. This is equivalent to burning 16,000 tons of coal or 80,000 barrels of oil.
Isolation of Uranium
Uranium was isolated in 1841 by French chemist Eug�ne P�ligot.
Naming of Uranium
Uranium was named after the planet Uranus, discovered only eight years earlier in 1791.
Natural Abundance of Uranium
Concentration - uranium ranks 48th among the most abundant elements found in natural crustal rock.
Nuclear Power and Carbon Emissions
Nuclear power plants helped avoid 90 percent of all carbon emissions averted in the U.S. energy sector between 1981 and 1994.
One Pound of Uranium
One pound of uranium will make a ball only 1.3 inches in diameter. Make an "OK" sign with your forefinger and thumb to see how big that ball would be.
Price of Uranium
The price of uranium was approximately $8.75 per pound at end of 1998.
U.S. Nuclear Power Plants
There are currently 105 operating U.S. nuclear power plants that produce over 20 percent of U.S. electricity.
Uranium Abundance
Uranium is 40 times more naturally abundant than silver.
Uranium Baseball
A major league baseball weighs about 5.25 ounces. A uranium baseball would weigh over 8.5 pounds!
Uranium Burning Point
Finely divided uranium burns readily in air at 150 to 175 degrees Celsius (300 to 350 degrees Fahrenheit).
Uranium Density
Uranium is very dense. At about 19 grams per cubic centimeter, it is 1.6 times more dense than lead. Density increases weight. For example, while a gallon of milk weighs about 8 pounds, a gallon container of uranium would weigh about 150 pounds.
Uranium Glass
Uranium has been used to color glass for almost 2 millennia. A uranium-colored glass object was found near Naples, Italy, and dated to about 79 A.D. Uranium oxide added to glass produces a yellow to greenish hue.
Uranium Isotope Proportions
Naturally occurring uranium is 99.2745 percent uranium-238, with uranium-235 (the energy producing isotope) making up about 0.720 percent, and uranium-234 filling in the remainder at less than 0.0055 percent.
Uranium Melting Point
Uranium boils at about 3,818 degrees Celsius (about 6,904 degrees Fahrenheit).
Uranium Nucleus
A uranium-238 atom has 92 protons and 146 neutrons in its nucleus.
Volume of DOE DUF6 Inventory
If converted to uranium metal, all of the uranium in the Nation's DUF6 inventory would cover a football field to a depth of about 15 feet. It would take water almost 290 feet high on the same field to weigh as much!
Volume of DOE DUF6 Inventory
The uranium in the Department's inventory of DUF6, if converted to metal, would make a cube about 30 meters (about 95 feet) on each side.
Weight of DOE DUF6 Inventory
The 704,000 metric tons of uranium hexafluoride in the Department's inventory is over 1.5 BILLION pounds! For comparison, the Great Pyramid of Egypt weighs more than 10 billion pounds.
Weight of DOE DUF6 Inventory
The 704,000 metric tons of DUF6 contains about 476,000 metric tons of uranium and 228,000 metric tons of fluorine. In English, that means over 1 Billion pounds of uranium and over 500 million pounds of fluorine!
Weight of Uranium
A gallon of milk weighs about 8 lbs. A chunk of uranium metal the size of a gallon milk jug weighs over 150 lbs!
World Uranium Production
World uranium production in 1996 was 35,199 metric tons or 78.8 million pounds.
Worldwide Nuclear Power Production
Worldwide, there are about 442 nuclear power plants that supply about 23 percent of the world's electricity. - Dustmuffins, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Radioactive toy from Porcupine Tree...
- coit, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1It is an overpack for an internal pressure cylinder that the UF6 is actually stored in.
- MuadDave, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1The Emergency Response Guidebok here: http://hazmat.dot.gov/pubs/erg/gydebook.htm is a great source for finding out what's in those tank cars and trailers that travel our highways and railways. It includes what to do if there's an accident. Scary stuff, indeed.
- SystemError, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I have seen radioactive material getting transported on I-80 in Nevada. That time they were in a closed shipping container.
- gamer31, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1the no reply button thing happened to me before, make sure you have your comment sorting set for date and not # of diggs.
- SavageBlackCat, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I'd be more worried about neuton or high energy gamma - K40 doesn't count.
:) - AlphaEta, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Americium-241 has the added benefit of emitting low energy gammas! Definitely don't eat your smoke detector.
- NSMike, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1If there were neutrons flying around in there, we'd be in trouble. Enough free neutrons starts fission, and since there's no control system apparent on this thing, that would be very bad.
- fixedcoma, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Yeah st22veo, but it reacts harshly with certain metals and water.!
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