Plutonium 238

Good news!  Oak Ridge National Laboratory has begun manufacturing a new supply of Plutonium 238.

Below, a pellet of Pu-238 glowing orange from internal heating due to alpha decay.
"Plutonium pellet" by Department of Energy (via Wikipedia)

The role of delayed neutrons in controlling a nuclear reactor

It's been a while since I did a nerdy nuke post.  I've had a subject in mind, and been thinking a bit about how to describe some of that nerdy stuff in an understandable way...  I guess it's time to give that a shot.

Today's post is about delayed neutrons, and how they allow a reactor to be operated without power taking off exponentially within microseconds.  I brushed over delayed neutrons in another post, but this will be just a little more in depth discussion of the how and why.

A few thoughts on Energy Independence

Years and years ago, I lived in the Mojave Desert.  I was stuck buying electricity from one of the most expensive utilities in the United States: Southern California Edison.  The only affordable way to cool your house in the summer months was by using an evaporative cooler.  People who cooled with air conditioners were either wealthy or had old homes, built before electrical prices went sky-high.

Ballet

We went to see the Moscow Ballet perform the Nutcracker a few days ago over in Spokane.  It was pretty nice because we were 3 rows from the stage.  We were so close that we could see the performer's faces, something that I've never experienced in all the concerts and plays I've ever attended.

Emergency Power - Portable Generators and Power Inverters.

After that last post about the wind storm, it got me thinking about alternate sources of electrical power.  There are two readily available ways to get emergency AC (alternating current) power.  You can use a power inverter, or you can use a generator.  

So we had a little windstorm...

On November 17th a windstorm blew across Washington, Northern Idaho, and Montana.  Central Washington lost power lines due to high winds snapping power poles.  The rest of the region lost power lines due to trees falling on them.

The trees were hard on other things, like dwellings, vehicles, and pedestrians :(

Entertainment.

We were blessed to be able to see a couple of really good shows recently.  First we went to the Ringling Brothers Circus, something we have done every year since 2004.  For just the second time we got to meet the Ringmaster.  This year it is Andre McClain.

A pre-show picture I took from the entryway to the arena.

Recently we went to the Riverdance 20 year tour.  They requested that the audience take no photo or video of the performance.  Being a semi-solid citizen, I respected their wishes.  In lieu of that, here's a Youtube video of a show from 2002.  It hasn't changed, except for the cast.  The music is as awesome as the dancing.  It's difficult to get the music out of my head after seeing the show.


Next up will be the Moscow Ballet performing the Nutcracker.  We are trying to start exposing our daughter to a little culture, and really it's a wonderful performance to see first-hand.  The only other time I saw this ballet was in the 1980's when the Joffrey performed it.

Nature in action

I happened to catch a couple of pictures out in the back yard of stuff I don't see very often.  One is a Pileated Woodpecker.  I've only seen them a few times, although the Audubon Society says this is part of their normal range.

A good photographer would have taken a shot like the one below (Audubon Society shot)

Also I got to see a couple of young bucks practicing their fighting.  Fortunately I had the presence of mind to get my phone out and take a couple of pictures.  It was pretty slow and gentle, not a massive cracking of antlers.  I've seen pygmy goats hit harder :)

A little fall color

Just a few shots of our tiny patch of aspen trees.

The "pine tree" at left is actually a Tamarack (Larch family), beginning to yellow up.

Rodeo

We went to the Pro-West Rodeo Finals this past weekend and had a great time.  It's also pretty inexpensive, compared to some of the entertainment alternatives.  $10/per seat in the grandstand.  Got a few decent shots with my phone...