X-Message-Number: 20693
Date: Mon, 23 Dec 2002 12:22:18 -0600
Subject: Re: CryoNet #20653 Nuclear
From: Brian A Stewart <>

>The true problem is not the reactor, it is the nearby pool where hot
spent 
>fuel rods are storred until short term radio activity is reduced so that

>transportation becomes workable. A small van with two tons of high
explosive 
>would suffice to blow up that material. There is always the possibility
of an 

IIRC, aren't such pools generally built into the ground, at least here in
the United States?  In that case it would be necessary to get the van
into the pool, otherwise the explosion would simply pass over the surface
of the pool, only eliminating a small amount of water.  In addition, it
would be very difficult to get an unauthorized van onto the grounds of a
nuclear power plant, since they tend to be very heavily guarded.  Using
an aircraft to hit a target as "small" as a storage pool would also be
extremely difficult.  The aircraft used in the September 11 attacks had
difficulty hitting their targets (one reason I doubt that the White House
was a target that day).

I have my doubts about nuclear power, but concern over the possibility of
terrorist attacks isn't one of them.


Brian

Brian A. Stewart-- Madison, Wisconsin, U.S.A.
"To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we
are to stand by the President right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and
servile, but morally treasonable to the American public."
                            - Theodore Roosevelt

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