Word: plutonium
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...PLUTONIUM CONNECTION (PBS NOVA Series, March 9, 7:30 p.m. E.D.T.). It is no secret that ounces of plutonium-a byproduct of nuclear power reactors-could be used to produce a homemade atom bomb. To demonstrate that possibility NOVA commissioned a 20-year-old undergraduate chemistry student to try to design an A-bomb in five weeks, working alone and using only published information available to the general public. The result: a blueprint for a plutonium bomb with an estimated destructive capability of 100 to 1,000 tons of TNT. The student (portrayed by Actor John Holecek) describes the ease...
...atoms collide and merge into a heavier one. The reaction releases considerably more energy than fission. Starting the chain reaction that causes fission (Abomb) explosions and powers today's nuclear reactors is relatively easy; basically, all that is required is the bringing together of enough fissionable uranium or plutonium in the right shape. The neutrons emitted by these naturally radioactive elements then begin the self-sustaining chain reaction...
Meantime, the AEC launched its own probe of working conditions at the plant. The commission's records showed that since Kerr-McGee started its plutonium operations in 1970, 17 safety lapses-in which 73 employees were contaminated-had been reported. The union produced a list of 39 additional allegations of sloppiness in plutonium handling. Then in mid-December, two new cases involving five persons were reported to the AEC; Kerr-McGee quickly denounced them as "contrived." Yet the incidents were serious enough to force the company to shut the plant for more than two weeks...
...most startling finding by the AEC was that Silkwood's contamination "probably did not result from an accident or incident within the plant." There were plutonium traces on her skin though no accidental release had occurred in the plant. In addition, tests showed that Silkwood had "ingested" plutonium. Furthermore, two urine samples were proved to have been contaminated after they had been excreted; this showed that the samples had been doctored by someone. The evidence thus suggests that Silkwood had purposely contaminated herself and had probably smuggled a minute amount of plutonium home from the plant. Why? Perhaps...
...seems clear that Kerr-McGee has not been as diligent as necessary in protecting its workers from plutonium. The union has nonetheless been overzealous in its allegations of carelessness by the company. And both the AEC and its private contractors need to exercise increased vigilance in guarding the plutonium against theft or misuse by unstable or conspiratorial employees. As for the cause of Silkwood's death, that remains as mysterious as ever...