First Energy Davis Besse nuclear: cracks in the containment vessel to go with corrosion in the head

[PamW]

45. I'm not responsible for their delusions

The civilian power reactor system exists to facilitate weapons production.
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I'm know that is a "fixed point" for the anti-nukes, but it is just not true.

I'm not responsible for their delusions. People are entitled to their opinions; but they are not entitled to their own FACTS.

The fact of the matter is that the US nuclear weapons program BY LAW is self-sufficient from the commercial nuclear power program. EVERY BIT of plutonium that is in US nuclear weapons came from either the reactors at the Government-owned Hanford complex, or the Government-owned Savannah River complex.

Every bit of highly enriched Uranium (HEU) came from Government-owned facilities at Oak Ridge, TN, or Paducah, KY, or Portsmouth, OH. These facilities are also used to provide slightly enriched fuel for commercial reactors. However, that is the commercial nuclear power program feeding off the nuclear weapons program, and not the other way around.

Congress actually requires in the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 that the nuclear weapons program has to be self-sufficient, and only rely on Government-owned facilities.

The other special material needed in addition to Plutonium and HEU is Tritium. For decades, ALL the Tritium in US nuclear weapons came from the production reactors at Savannah River. However, in 1988; the last of these reactors was shut down.

For many years, the US had no source of new Tritium and relied on what it had on hand. However, that was not a long-term solution since Tritium is radioactive with a 12 year half-life and decays to Helium-3 with time. Therefore, the USA had to either build a new production reactor, or find some other way to make Tritium.

It was President Clinton that made the decision to resolve that problem. President Clinton decided NOT to spend money to build a new reactor, because the Government already owned some reactors. The TVA - Tennessee Valley Authority is a Government entity, and in addition to dams, it also owns some power reactors like Browns Ferry. President Clinton decided that one of these reactors could be used to produce the needed Tritium. Only since 2003 has Watts Bar been making Tritium for nuclear weapons.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watts_Bar_Nuclear_Generating_Station

Watts Bar fulfills the mandate of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 because it is owned by the federal Government via the TVA. NO commercial power reactors owned by private corporations are allowed to make Tritium for nuclear weapons.

As I've stated in the past, if you have a beef with the US Air Force, or you don't like the US Air Force for whatever reason, then protesting against, or economically damaging the US commercial airlines is NOT a sensible way of opposing the Air Force. Even if you drove all the airlines into the ground, the US Air Force would still be whole. Just because the US Air Force gets some of its planes from Boeing, and the commercial airlines get some of their planes from Boeing, doesn't mean that the commercial airlines exist to facilitate the US Air Force.

PamW