Omaha's Nuclear Reactor

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thenewguy
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Omaha's Nuclear Reactor

Post by thenewguy »

I will try to post the article when I get to a computer, but the headline of the article is the same as I listed above. I thought it was about Ft. Calhoun, but it is about a reactor underneath the VA hospital. Apparently it is the only one under a hospital in the US, and is slated to be removed. They used it for research but stated "no significant discoveries were ever made." The article was quick to point out that not many knew about it (obviously) but it was shut down after 9/11 because of the obvious dangers it posed in a possible terror attack.
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nebugeater
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Re: Omaha's Nuclear Reactor

Post by nebugeater »

http://dataomaha.com/bigstory/news/omah ... ar-reactor" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A nuclear reactor operated by the VA Medical Center in Omaha from 1959 to 2001 is believed to be the only one of its kind in the country inside a hospital.

Either this year or next, all its pieces will be gone for good.
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bigredmed
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Re: Omaha's Nuclear Reactor

Post by bigredmed »

Not sure I would say no significant discoveries were made. It was an important source of diagnostic radioisotopes and a significant number of nuclear medicine projects were done there.
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Seth
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Re: Omaha's Nuclear Reactor

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I saw this very interesting story in the paper as well. I had to chuckle at the quote that "no significant discoveries were made, but a lot of papers were published!". As a grad student, I saw and contributed to my fair share of papers heavy on content, but light on insight.

Although I'm in a different branch of engineering, I think it really would have been exciting to be in in the nuclear field in the 50s and 60s. It was such a promising field at the time, back before we realized how dangerous it could be or the vast environmental contamination we were causing. At the very beginning, nuclear scientists were performing criticality experiments by stacking carbide bricks around spheres of plutonium! The air force was even working on developing nuclear-powered aircraft!
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RNcyanide
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Re: Omaha's Nuclear Reactor

Post by RNcyanide »

Seth wrote:I saw this very interesting story in the paper as well.  I had to chuckle at the quote that "no significant discoveries were made, but a lot of papers were published!".  As a grad student, I saw and contributed to my fair share of papers heavy on content, but light on insight.

Although I'm in a different branch of engineering, I think it really would have been exciting to be in in the nuclear field in the 50s and 60s.  It was such a promising field at the time, back before we realized how dangerous it could be or the vast environmental contamination we were causing.  At the very beginning, nuclear scientists were performing criticality experiments by stacking carbide bricks around spheres of plutonium!  The air force was even working on developing nuclear-powered aircraft!

And the criticality accidents from barely nudging one of those carbide bricks the wrong way were stunning. Great discoveries, heavy personal losses.
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Seth
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Re: Omaha's Nuclear Reactor

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RNcyanide wrote:And the criticality accidents from barely nudging one of those carbide bricks the wrong way were stunning. Great discoveries, heavy personal losses.
Yeah, they were both pretty miserable deaths too. Pretty much dissolving from the inside, but drawn out over the course of a month.
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jessep28
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Re: Omaha's Nuclear Reactor

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For example, look up the "demon core."
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RNcyanide
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Re: Omaha's Nuclear Reactor

Post by RNcyanide »

jessep28 wrote:For example, look up the "demon core."
Yup. That's it.
When fortune smiles on something as violent and ugly as revenge, it seems proof like no other that not only does God exist, you're doing his will.

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Seth
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Re: Omaha's Nuclear Reactor

Post by Seth »

Just ran across this today: http://www.orau.org/ptp/collection/atom ... 238Lab.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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