A newcomer to ENENEWS, let me refrain for the time being from calling it the T word, is talking a bunch of nonsense.
Plutonium is indeed a odd element. As you can see in the graph below, it changes size in odd ways with temperature. The last solid phase labelled as Epsilon, shows a drop in volume (aka size) as it turns to liquid. And then it continues to increase in volume as the liquid is heated up, as is normal.
The number of different phases in the solid form for plutonium is oddly high. But the getting smaller in volume as it turns to liquid is not unheard of.
There is another chemical called di-hydrous-oxide which also gets smaller as it turns to liquid. This chemical, shown as H2O, is also called "water"
https://str.llnl.gov/str/NovDec08/pdfs/11.08.5.pdf
PLUTONIUM
is arguably the most complex element known,
nd it is one of the least well understood. Before it liquefies,
plutonium exhibits six solid material phases that vary considerably
in density.--
I have stopped following this "non troll", it's writing are increasingly goofy. It says it is a cat person, must have cat scratch fever.
Sam at ENE says
My dog this morning after I read Ness's latest incredible
far out theroizings to him this morning had these simple
replies;
1. coriums will never be approached nor even be
dug out or cut out. no need to try to fashion a metal to
withstand 5000 degrees -impossible.
2. All this talk about cheese as a theoretical explanatory
principle is confusing. He likes swiss cheese. big holes
to climb into for astral travel. kind of reminds him of
worm holes. lots of passageways to view the universe
as he glides through the etheric realms.
3. His head is spinning from all this and foaming at the
mouth. Tells me he is no theorist but his nose is very
earthy and loves to smell.
4. I gave him some lithium infused water to calm him
down. and now for a walk outside.
And Fukushima keeps bringing us more and more gifts
as it is like a perpetual motion machine releasing ever
increasing amounts of deadly radiation and deadly to
get near any of it. What a mess. no wonder Ness has all
of us flying the witches broom into theoretical musings.
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I just calculated that 1000 kilograms of plutonium in a sphere has a radius of 23 centimeters or 46 cm in diameter – roughly. (I took density = 20 grams/cm^3)
To give people an idea. That would be quite some cutting, but in any cut and topology in any universe, the eye of the corium would be in one or in the other half but not in both. It might even disappear for a while, who knows…
About 10 kilograms of the stuff would go (super) critical under these conditions and form an eye but not too fast, because 'the island of stability' has to be formed first. So 10 cuts are needed for one such corium. I don't know the total weight of the fuel though.
I like real cheese please.
Chris Mechels posted at 10:26 am on Wed, Jan 28, 2015.
For instance, in the well known Wen Ho Lee case, the REAL story, which the media never picked up on, was that some of the files Lee transferred were classified PARD (a less restrictive classification) when they should have been classified SECRET or TOP SECRET under the guidelines. Lee did not assign the classification. Why were the filed classified at the lower level, by LANL management? For ease of handling. It is burdensome to handle the higher levels. This problem should have led to the firing of some top management at LANL, but was ignored.
The same holds for the famous "missing discs" of that era, which "turned up" behind a copier. Those discs were also improperly classified at a lower level to make handling less burdensome. Again, an investigation could have led to firing of top managers, but was ignored. In this case LANL Counsel and Senator Domenici intervened to block the investigation.
The section I worked in at LANL routinely violated security, for ease of handling. I discussed this with my line management, and was ignored. Others had the same experience.
Classification at LANL has always been a problem, one that is swept under the rug. With the present management this is likely to continue.
Mr. Prince is right about the budget. He is wrong about the dysfunction, which is due to LANL management, not DOE
Joseph Hempfling posted at 7:41 am on Wed, Jan 28, 2015.