PadreSJDec 6, 2022

In August 2011, Los Alamos techs posed 8 plutonium rods on a work table to take a few photos.

Had these rods rolled into each other there would have been an instant criticality event. (Think "Demon Core")

Worst still, a supervisor who saw the display ordered the techs to safe the rods, ignoring the protocol to evacuate EVERYBODY (b/c even a hand could moderate the neutrons & cause criticality).

It caused a 4-year, billion-dollar shutdown.

...

Smart people + overfamiliarity = stupid things.

Show threadj.scherrerDec 7, 2022
@PadreSJ idk what's more terrifying, those rods or that sharpie
Show threadKoschDec 8, 2022
@cuddlefish @PadreSJ …that sharpie..😳
Show threadCharles J Gervasi ⚡🛡️🥥Dec 8, 2022
@Kosch @cuddlefish @PadreSJ Is there something dangerous about the Sharpie, or is it just an odd juxtaposition of something common with something rare and dangerous?
Show threadPadreSJ

@cgervasi @Kosch @cuddlefish

I think people are pointing out that the sharpie (which was probably placed to show relative size of the rods) could possibly have acted as a moderator.

Dec 8, 2022 at 10:03pmWeb
Show threadj.scherrerDec 9, 2022
@Kosch @cgervasi @PadreSJ also the fact that the plutonium is probably worth at least several 10s of millions of $$$, and the sharpie looks like it was buried underground for 10 years