How far away are you?

[Bearman202]

How far away from a nuclear reactor are you? Do you know? I know I'm less than 30 miles from a major nuclear plant. That's not enough.

I can't remember where I read it, but I did read an article about the spent fuel rods. They're kept in a pool of water, and that water has to be pumped through the pool to keep them cooled off enough to keep from melting down. If they melt down, they destroy the building they're in and proceed to spread radioactive material for a hundred miles around them. The problem is that the pumps that feed the pool is run by electricity. Yes, they have backup generators, and store enough fuel on-site for a week or two.

Now, in an EMP event, what happens? Do the generators go away along with everything else? Are there plans in place to deal with the spent rods along with the fuel currently in the plant? I don't know. That's the problem. I have been planning on sheltering in place for a while, or bugging out to friend's places that are both within ten miles of where I live now. I realize now that won't be enough. In an EMP event, there's a good chance that the nuke plant will proceed to melt down within a day or two. Even if the generators do work, they provide for a week or two, then what? Short answer: I'm toast.

Then I started thinking more about it, and I realized that the local BSU, (Big State University) has a research reactor. No, it's not as big, and yes, it stores spent fuel rods. That's within about six miles of where I am now. What other nuke sources are out there that I have no idea about? Fooey.

[rice paddy daddy]

Our place is about 40 air miles from Kings Bay Naval Base, the only east coast port for Trident nuclear submarines. There are enough ICBM's there to destroy the world, several times over.
I'm sure that the base is high on Russia's target list. Let's hope Obama doesn't start WWIII with his inept foriegn policy.

[ibetiny]

psychotropic correction therapy

Hey Bearman202,
Have you ever looked at the names of the students doing research at the reactor? It would be interesting to know how many are guests of the United States, and how many are from countries not exactly friendly to us. (more Chinese names than any other, Yu, Yang.... I haven't decided if this makes me feel better or not. lol)
I know they aren't all bad eggs, but they aren't all good either! If an Army captain can go rouge, then what about some hormonal 20 year old just dumped by his girlfriend with the devil whispering in his ear 5 times a day? How about releasing a list of those same students on psychotropic correction therapy?
I'm going to go to bed now, hope you all sleep well. LOL
(Don't worry, Big Sis will stop all the bad guy's at the airport.)

[Benn Gleck]

WOW! Bearman thanks for bringing this up, I'd never given the storage of spent fuel rods much thought

I'd just did a quick search and found a map of nuclear reactors in the U.S..

Illinois is loaded with them but Kentucky and West Virginia have none. Western states are GTG.

[Matt In Oklahoma]

Western states are GTG.

Not so fast there cowboy:) No matter you where you are the NRC transports stuff right down the highway in little well armed convoys. How do you think fuel rods and other material get "loaded" into new reactors and where do you think the spent ones go and how do they get there? Not to mention the waste. Don't forget about all them isotopes in sights, compasses etc. hmmm where are they and how do they get them? Yep lots of stuff floating around here at any given time.

[Bearman202]

So basically we're saying that if the grid goes down, it's over. If it's not from the big electrical generating plants, it's from a research reactor, or from a semi passing on the local interstate. Or a twenty year old college student with a hangover hits the wrong button.... Once the fuel rods boil off the water, they start spreading radioactive material for miles, and miles, and miles. That's what happened at Chernobyl. Someone said that it will last for over 300 years. Is there a realistic approach to this, other than moving the middle of Montana? I've lived in the middle of Montana, and found out they call it "The land of the big sky" for a reason. i.e. there is NOTHING there, other than a lot of brown (in the summer) grass and snow up to your eyeballs in the winter. (I asked someone there, and they told me that one year it hit forty below zero, then they went on to add, "But it was a really DRY cold, so it only felt like 20 below." The difference is that at 20 below, if you spit it will freeze before it hits the ground. At forty below, it will freeze and crack before it hits the ground.)

Back to the topic. I would hate to think that all the money and effort spent on prepping is for nothing. If the grid goes down for an extended period of time, or some other disruption happens that prevents maintenance, what do we do?

[Christian for Israel]

around 800 miles, give or take.

[Christian for Israel]

Not so fast there cowboy:) No matter you where you are the NRC transports stuff right down the highway in little well armed convoys. How do you think fuel rods and other material get "loaded" into new reactors and where do you think the spent ones go and how do they get there? Not to mention the waste. Don't forget about all them isotopes in sights, compasses etc. hmmm where are they and how do they get them? Yep lots of stuff floating around here at any given time.

that's why i'm building my house underground.

[monkeybird]

Discovery Channel aired a very, very good story on what would happen if all the people suddenly disappeared. Well, you are right Bearman, with no one to monitor nuclear plants and other facilities, the unthinkable would happen. It's not just nuclear issues, without people monitoring all of the structures we have built, the world becomes a very dangerous place. The show "The World without People" is re-aired occasionally. It is so interesting to discover things like how our skyscrapers will fail. it's amazing - first the glazing on all the glass rots, the windows fall out, rain, snow and windows enter the building, the steel frame corrodes, the concrete crumbles and the entire building collapses.

Now to me that is interesting. It tell us that nothing built by man can last!

[Christian for Israel]

Now to me that is interesting. It tell us that nothing built by man can last!

of course not.

did i mention my underground house is in the desert 10 miles from the nearest neighbor and hundreds of miles from the nearest decent sized city?

[Klayton]

In the desert huh?

What are the carry laws in NV like?

[Christian for Israel]

open carry is legal and encouraged by the local law enforcement. CCW is shall issue and we're machinegun friendly. the sheriff's posse (militia) is active and very well armed and the mentality here is conservative, Christian and pro constitution.

[Bourbon]

Wow; I know where I am moving.
My state it the exact, and I do mean that, opposite of that.

[Christian for Israel]

we also have one of the only stable economies in the country as ours is based on gold mining (300 million ounces have been extracted to date, over $6 billion has been invested in regional infrastructure). work is plentiful and salaries are good, land is cheap (i bought my acre 10 miles from town for $600), building codes are few and most outlying areas are too far for inspectors to bother. climate is good ( winter lows average in the teens, summer highs average high 80's), people here are very preparedness oriented (stores have case sales and no one looks at you funny for buying hundreds of lbs of sugar or wheat). all in all, imo this is the best place to ride out the coming troubles.

[Christian for Israel]

here are some pics of the gold mine and general area: