Mayport Nas To Be Nuclear-capable

Depot

<div class="IPBDescription">Will take 5 to 7 years</div> After keeping the Jacksonville area in suspense for months regarding the possible de-commisioning of the J.F.Kennedy, the U.S. Navy announced yesterday that Mayport NAS would be nuclear-capable in 5 to 7 years. Great for the economy, but rather unsettling (to me) at the same time.

In view of the current state of terrorism world-wide, are the current nuclear naval bases really that safe? <!--emo&???--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/confused-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='confused-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->

Handman

I would say a naval base going nuclear is not that bad, even in these times of "uncertainty." Nuclear power plants are more likely to be a target as they are not so heavily guarded. I'd only worry about the naval base going nuclear if we were in a conventional war.

theclam

It's incredibly hard for a terrorist to bomb a nuclear powerplant. The plants are designed to take a 747 collision without damage. We're really paranoid about nukes. I don't think it will be a problem.

Renegade

<!--QuoteBegin-theclam+Mar 11 2005, 09:49 AM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (theclam @ Mar 11 2005, 09:49 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> It's incredibly hard for a terrorist to bomb a nuclear powerplant. The plants are designed to take a 747 collision without damage. We're really paranoid about nukes. I don't think it will be a problem. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Of course, a mild explosive charge detonated <i>next to</i> the reactor might be something to worry about.

Slightly off topic: A friend of mine just got back from 4 years at Hanford. He told me that if we really knew just how delicate nuclear reactors were, we'd faint.

Grendel

British Nuclear Fuels gave a new container for transporting nuclear materials to the boys at Hereford for testing (the SAS). They looked at it and went into a huddle. They sent one of the guys off to buy some stuff from the hardware store.

30 minutes later, after a short bit of MacGuyverism by the lads, plus some rubber tubing and a canister of propane, they had managed to crack apart a container that had previously managed to get through all of the other safety tests, including crashing it into a train at 100mph and dropping it onto concrete from a hundred feet in the air.