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operations in a prescribed manner over a relatively containment ponds for 3-5 more years before the short time, such as a few hours or perhaps a day or two. nuclear reactions reach a point where the rods can be In spite of my MIT education (BSME, 1978), until moved to specially designed air-cooled storage banks. recently I, too, was under the spell of this comforting As mentioned previously, nuclear power plants are delusion which is far from the truth. only required to store enough fuel reserves on site to You see, the trillions of chain reactions going on _ keep their back-up diesel generators running for one inside a nuclear reactor's core continuously produce week. The NRC has always operated on the assumption such incredible amounts of energy that a single nuclear __ that extended grid "blackouts" will not last for more than power plant can generate more electricity than is a few days. The government has promised that, in the required to power a good-sized city. Unfortunately, event of a major catastrophe such as a hurricane Katrina, these reactions do not simply "cease fire" at the flip of a diesel trucks will show up like clockwork at all troubled switch. In general, it takes over 5-7 days to slowdowna nuclear facilities until local grid-supplied electrical reactor core's nuclear chain reactions to the point where — power services are re-established. Unfortunately, the core may be removed from the reactor. After governments and regulators do not consider the removal, the fuel rods are quite "hot" in terms of both possibility that the next extreme GMD which Mother temperature and radioactivity. For the next 3-5 years, | Nature unleashes upon Earth will quite likely disrupt these fuel rods must be immersed under many feet of grid services over much of the industrialised world for a continuously cooled water in order to shield the _ period of years, not just days. The chances that the surrounding area from a high level of radioactivity as world's nuclear reactors will receive weekly deliveries of well as to prevent catastrophic diesel fuel under such chaotic meltdown from occurring. circumstances are almost zero! According to nuclear whistleblower Arnie Gundersen, What i Electromagnetic Pulse Attacks former Senior Vice President at Is generally referred Electromagnetic pulses with Nuclear Engineering to as an EMP strike is the (EMPs) and solar superstorms Services Corporation, after q are two different, but related, slowing down the chain result of the deliberate categories that are often reactions inside the reactors’ detonation of a nuclear described as high-impact, low- device at high altitude... frequency (HILF) events. HILF events don't happen very often, but if and when they do they if coolant flow were suspended have the potential to severely for just 38 hours. Arnie affect many millions of people. explained that, essentially, all modern nuclear reactors — Think of an EMP as a super-powerful radiowave capable are designed with banks of "fuel rods", which contain — of inducing damaging voltage spikes in electrical wires highly radioactive materials, combined with banks o and electronic devices across vast geographical areas. "control rods", which mesh between the fuel rods like (Note that the geomagnetic effects of solar storms are the interwoven fingers of your right and left hands. It is also described as "natural EMP".) cores at Fukushima for a full eight months, the fuel rods would start melting down again the degree of interweave that moderates and controls What is generally referred to as an EMP strike is the the rate of nuclear chain reactions. He further explained __result of the deliberate detonation of a nuclear device at that in the event of a significant loss of reactor control, _ high altitude, roughly defined as somewhere between 24 reactors are designed for a "fail-safe" process to occur, and 240 miles (~38.6 and 386.4 kilometres) above the where the control rods automatically fall into the fully — surface of the Earth. meshed position with respect to the fuel rods, resulting uclear detonations of this type have the potential to in maximal slowing of the core's nuclear reactions and _— cause serious damage to electronics and electrical beginning the process of shutting down the reactor."! power grids along their line of sight, covering huge Typically, this action rapidly reduces the power _ distances in the order of a circular area 1,500 miles produced by these chain reactions by a factor of 20:1 (to (2,415 km) in diameter, which would correspond to an 5.0 per cent of full power), but that still leaves millions area stretching roughly from Quebec City in Canada of horsepower worth of waste heat that must be down to Dallas, Texas. removed if the reactor core is not to overheat and fail The concern is that some rogue state or terrorist catastrophically. After a day of leaving the control rods _—_ organisation might build their own nuclear device from in the fully interwoven position, this reaction slows to scratch or buy one illegally, procure a Scud missile on 1.0 per cent, and after a week it will be about 0.1 per — the black market and launch their nuclear device from a cent of full power. Once the reactions in the fuel rods __ large fishing boat or freighter somewhere off the coast slow to the point where the rods may be removed from of the United States, causing grid collapse and the reactor, the spent fuel rods must be cooled inside — widespread damage to electronic devices across roughly What is generally referred to as an EMP strike is the NEXUS 25 result of the deliberate detonation of a nuclear device at high altitude... FEBRUARY - MARCH 2012 www.nexusmagazine.com