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1/7/2013  Obama's picks for defense, CIA signal new security era
Obama's nominations of former Sen. Chuck Hagel as defense secretary and White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan to lead the CIA signal second-term course adjustments at institutions that have been dominated by their lethal assignments during more than a decade of war. - President Obama is assembling a national-security team designed for an era of downsized but enduring conflict, a team that will be asked to preside over the return of exhausted American troops and wield power through the targeted use of sanctions, Special Operations forces and drone strikes. Obama's nominations of former Sen. Chuck Hagel as defense secretary and White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan to lead the CIA signal second-term course adjustments at institutions that have been dominated by their lethal assignments during more than a decade of war. Those adjustments could include returning the CIA's focus to its core mission of gathering intelligence, even though it is expected to maintain its fleet of armed drones for years. The Pentagon faces an even more aggressive restructuring to balance budget cuts against threats, including China's ascendant military and emerging al-Qaida affiliates in North Africa and the Middle East. The nominations also set the stage for confirmation fights driven not only by criticism of Hagel and Brennan but by the foreign-policy approach they represent. Hagel, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, shares Obama's aversion to military intervention. White House officials described him as ideally suited to managing the drawdown of U.S. forces in Afghanistan and the shrinking Pentagon budget. But he has attracted fierce criticism from groups that question his support for Israel. (The Washington Post)
posted: 1/25/13                   0       8
#1 



10/30/2012  Sandy curtails nuclear plants, oldest under alert
Hurricane Sandy slowed or shut a half-dozen U.S. nuclear power plants, while the nation's oldest facility declared a rare "alert" after the record storm surge pushed flood waters high enough to endanger a key cooling system. Exelon Corp's 43-year-old Oyster Creek plant in New Jersey remains on "alert" status, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) said early Tuesday. It is only the third time this year that the second-lowest of four emergency action levels was triggered. "Oyster Creek is still in an alert but may be getting out of it as long as water levels continue to drop," NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan told Reuters. The alert came after water levels at the plant rose more than 6.5 feet above normal, potentially affecting the "water intake structure" that pumps cooling water through the plant. (Reuters)
posted: 11/12/12                   0       23
#2 



9/17/2012  Iran's newest nuclear facility struck by 'saboteurs' -- Saboteurs have struck Iran's newest and most sensitive nuclear facility by blowing up its power supply cables, the head of the country's atomic energy programme disclosed.
This announcement offered a rare glimpse of a long-running campaign to sabotage Iran's critical nuclear installations, believed to be a key priority of Western and Israeli intelligence agencies. The Fordow plant, located inside a bunker dug into a mountainside, became the latest target on Aug 17 when an explosion severed its electricity cables, running from the nearby city of Qom. Fereydoun Abbasi, the head of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organisation, disclosed the incident during a speech in Vienna to the 155 members of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). He noted that IAEA inspectors visited Fordow the day after the explosion and insinuated that they might have been responsible. (London Telegraph)
posted: 12/26/12                   0       14
#3 
keywords: Barack Obama, Central Intelligence Agency, Fereydoun Abbasi, George W Bush, Intelligence, International Atomic Energy Agency, International Institute For Strategic Studies, Internet, Iran, Iranian Atomic Energy Organisation, Israel, Mark Fitzpatrick, Nuclear Power Plants, Nuclear Weapons, Olympics, Stuxnet, Tehran, Terrorists, Uranium, Vienna Add New Keyword To Link



1/5/2012  Iran: a quickly evolving geopolitical imbroglio
As the days go by, the situation with Iran just gets increasingly complex and worrisome given the egregious saber rattling coming from both the West and Iran alike. As I outlined in my article entitled “Positioning for war with Iran?”, it has become clear that the West is either arming surrounding neighbors as a deterrent, preparation for an unprovoked strike, or perhaps even to goad Iran into attacking Western interest first, thus justifying brutal retaliation. My fledgling series about the global growth of NATO and the Western empire also covers aspects of this greater trend and how these issues constantly evolve and how so many seemingly disconnected events are in fact inseparably linked. While these issues may seem disconnected for some, I think it is quite important to point out that in fact they couldn’t be more closely related in that they are both symptoms of the cancerous war profiteering industry that is not only robbing the American people blind in the name of freedom but also eliminating our civil liberties and slaughtering innocent people around the globe. (End The Lie)
posted: 1/29/12                   0       18
#4 



11/8/2011  Mali's mining sector, a rich but unexploited potential
Gold: Mali: Africa’s third largest gold producer with large scale exploration ongoing Mali has been famous for its gold since the days of the great Malian empire and the pilgrimage to Mecca of the Emperor Kankou Moussa in 1324, on his caravan he carried more than 8 tonnes of gold! Mali has therefore been traditionally a mining country for over half a millennium. - Exploration is currently being carried out by several companies with clear indications of deposits of uranium in Mali. Uranium potential is located in the Falea area which covers 150 km² of the Falea- North Guinea basin, a Neoproterozoic sedimentary basin marked by significant radiometric anomalies. Uranium potential in Falea is thought to be 5000 tonnes. The Kidal Project, in the north eastern part of Mali, with an area of 19,930 km2, the project covers a large crystalline geological province known as L'Adrar Des Iforas. Uranium potential in the Samit deposit, Gao region alone is thought to be 200 tonnes. Diamonds: Mali has potential to develop its diamond exploration: in the Kayes administrative region (Mining region 1), thirty (30) kimberlitic pipes have been discovered of which eight are show traces of diamonds. Some eight small diamonds have been picked in the Sikasso administrative region (southern Mali). - Iron Ore, Bauxite and Manganese: significant resources present in Mali but still unexploited - Mali’s Petroleum potential already attracting significant interest from investors Mali’s Petroleums potential has been documented since the 1970’s where sporadic seismic and drilling revealed probable indications of oil. With the increasing price of global oil and gas resources, Mali has stepped up its promotion and research for oil exploration, production and potential exports. Mali could also provide a strategic transport route for Sub-Saharan oil and gas exports through to the Western world and there is the possibility of connecting the Taoudeni basin to European market through Algeria. (Journées Minières et Pétrolières du Mali)
posted: 1/19/13                   0       6
#5 
keywords: Africa, Algeria, Banankoro, Bauxite, Big Oil, Bitumen Schist, Copper, Diamonds, Diatomite, European Union, Gold, Gounkoto, Gypsum, Iron, Kalana, Kankou Moussa, Kaolin, Kobada, Kodieran, Kofi, Komana, Lead, Lignite, Lithium, Loulo, Magnetism, Mali, Mali Authority For The Promotion Of Oil Exploration, Manganese, Marble, Morila, Nampala, Natural Gas, Pegmatite, Quartz, Rock Salt, Sadiola, Sahara Desert, Syama, Tabakoto, Uranium, Yatela, Zinc Add New Keyword To Link



3/25/2011  Fukushima Reactor No. 3 suffers likely core breach, now leaking water at 10,000 times normal radiation levels
The Fukushima situation took a turn for the worse today as two nuclear repair workers stepped into some water at Reactor No. 3 and suffered severe radiation burns requiring immediate hospitalization. The water, it turns out, measures 10,000 times normal radiation levels, and it appears to be leaking from the core of Reactor No. 3. If confirmed, this can only mean one thing: A containment breach that now risks the spewing of enormous quantities of radiation into the environment, easily dwarfing the releases from Chernobyl in 1986. Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan had some somber words for the world press, saying "The situation today at the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant is still very grave and serious. We must remain vigilant. We are not in a position where we can be optimistic. We must treat every development with the utmost care." (http://apnews.myway.com/article/201...) "Even if there has been encouraging news such as getting some power back to the site, the installation remains in an extremely precarious and very serious situation that has not yet been stabilized" said Thomas Houdre from France's nuclear safety agency (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print...). (Natural News)
posted: 4/4/11                   0       9
#6 



3/23/2011  Neutron beam observed 13 times at crippled Fukushima nuke plant
Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Wednesday it has observed a neutron beam, a kind of radioactive ray, 13 times on the premises of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant after it was crippled by the massive March 11 quake-tsunami disaster. TEPCO, the operator of the nuclear plant, said the neutron beam measured about 1.5 kilometers southwest of the plant's No. 1 and 2 reactors over three days from March 13 and is equivalent to 0.01 to 0.02 microsieverts per hour and that this is not a dangerous level. The utility firm said it will measure uranium and plutonium, which could emit a neutron beam, as well. (Kyodo News)
posted: 4/1/11                   0       13
#7 



3/19/2011  The moment nuclear plant chief WEPT as Japanese finally admit that radiation leak is serious enough to kill people
* Officials admit they may have to bury reactors under concrete - as happened at Chernobyl * Government says it was overwhelmed by the scale of twin disasters * Japanese upgrade accident from level four to five - the same as Three Mile Island * We will rebuild from scratch says Japanese prime minister * Particles spewed from wrecked Fukushima power station arrive in California * Military trucks tackle reactors with tons of water for second day - The boss of the company behind the devastated Japanese nuclear reactor today broke down in tears - as his country finally acknowledged the radiation spewing from the over-heating reactors and fuel rods was enough to kill some citizens Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency admitted that the disaster was a level 5, which is classified as a crisis causing 'several radiation deaths' by the UN International Atomic Energy. Officials said the rating was raised after they realised the full extent of the radiation leaking from the plant. They also said that 3 per cent of the fuel in three of the reactors at the Fukushima plant had been severely damaged, suggesting those reactor cores have partially melted down. After Tokyo Electric Power Company Managing Director Akio Komiri cried as he left a conference to brief journalists on the situation at Fukushima, a senior Japanese minister also admitted that the country was overwhelmed by the scale of the tsunami and nuclear crisis. (UK Daily Mail)
posted: 4/19/11                   0       10
#8 
keywords: Airports, Akio Komiri, Australia, Busan, California, Chernobyl, China, Earthquakes, European Union, France, Fukushima, Hideohiko Nishiyama, Hydrogen, International Atomic Energy Agency, Japan, Japanese Nuclear And Industrial Safety Agency, Koriyama, Kuala Lumpur, Lars-erik De Geer, Malaysia, Malaysian Atomic Energy Licensing Board, Military, Murray Jennex, Naoto Kan, Nuclear Power Plants, Pennsylvania, Plutonium, San Diego State University, South Korea, Swedish Defence Research Institute, Teruaki Kobayashi, Three Mile Island, Tokyo Electric Power CO, Tsunamis, UN International Atomic Energy, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United Nations, Uranium, Water, Yukio Edano, Yukiya Amano Add New Keyword To Link



3/18/2011  Six Ways Fukushima is Not Chernobyl
The crisis at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi has already been dubbed the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl, and the situation there continues to worsen. But along with references to the "ch-word," as one nonproliferation expert put it [1], experts have been quick to provide reasons why the Daiichi crisis will not be "the next Chernobyl." Experts have noted several key differences in the design of the reactors in question, as well as in the government's reaction to the crisis: 1. Chernobyl's reactor had no containment structure. The RBMK reactor at Chernobyl "was regarded as the workhorse of Soviet atomic energy, thrifty and reliable -- and safe enough to be built without an expensive containment building that would prevent the release of radiation in the event of a serious accident," The Guardian's Adam Higginbotham noted [2]. As a result, when a reactor exploded on April 26, 1986, the radioactive material inside went straight into the atmosphere [3]. Fukushima's reactors [4] are surrounded by steel-and-concrete containment structures [5]. However, as the New York Times reported Tuesday, the General Electric Mark 1 reactors at Fukushima have "a comparatively smaller and less expensive containment structure [6]" that has drawn criticism from American regulators. In a 1972 memo [7], a safety official suggested that the design presented serious risks and should be discontinued. One primary concern, the Times reported, was that in an incident of cooling failure -- the kind Fukushima's reactors are now undergoing -- the containment structures might burst, releasing the radioactive material they are supposed to keep in check. (ProPublica)
posted: 4/4/11                   0       9
#9 
keywords: Adam Higginbotham, Berlarus, Cancer, Carbon Dioxide, Chernobyl, Colin Brown, Earthquakes, European Commission, Fukushima, Institution Of Mechanical Engineers, Japan, John Beddington, Lois Beckett, London Guardian, Los Angeles Times, Nieman Journalism Lab, Nikolai Titenok, Nitrogen, Nuclear Power Plants, Pripyat, Russia, Shan Nair, Sweden, The New York Times, Tsunamis, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United Nations, Uranium, Vladimir Pravik, Water Add New Keyword To Link



12/21/2009  Uranium Is So Last Century -- Enter Thorium, the New Green Nuke
The thick hardbound volume was sitting on a shelf in a colleague’s office when Kirk Sorensen spotted it. A rookie NASA engineer at the Marshall Space Flight Center, Sorensen was researching nuclear-powered propulsion, and the book’s title — Fluid Fuel Reactors — jumped out at him. He picked it up and thumbed through it. Hours later, he was still reading, enchanted by the ideas but struggling with the arcane writing. “I took it home that night, but I didn’t understand all the nuclear terminology,” Sorensen says. He pored over it in the coming months, ultimately deciding that he held in his hands the key to the world’s energy future. Published in 1958 under the auspices of the Atomic Energy Commission as part of its Atoms for Peace program, Fluid Fuel Reactors is a book only an engineer could love: a dense, 978-page account of research conducted at Oak Ridge National Lab, most of it under former director Alvin Weinberg. What caught Sorensen’s eye was the description of Weinberg’s experiments producing nuclear power with an element called thorium. At the time, in 2000, Sorensen was just 25, engaged to be married and thrilled to be employed at his first serious job as a real aerospace engineer. A devout Mormon with a linebacker’s build and a marine’s crew cut, Sorensen made an unlikely iconoclast. But the book inspired him to pursue an intense study of nuclear energy over the next few years, during which he became convinced that thorium could solve the nuclear power industry’s most intractable problems. After it has been used as fuel for power plants, the element leaves behind minuscule amounts of waste. And that waste needs to be stored for only a few hundred years, not a few hundred thousand like other nuclear byproducts. Because it’s so plentiful in nature, it’s virtually inexhaustible. It’s also one of only a few substances that acts as a thermal breeder, in theory creating enough new fuel as it breaks down to sustain a high-temperature chain reaction indefinitely. And it would be virtually impossible for the byproducts of a thorium reactor to be used by terrorists or anyone else to make nuclear weapons. (Wired)
posted: 1/15/12                   0       4
#10 
keywords: Alabama, Alternative Energy, Alvin Weinberg, Atomic Energy Commission, Barack Obama, Beijing, Carbon Dioxide, Chernobyl, China, Climate Change, Dubai, Exelon, Harry Reid, Huntsville, Hyman Rickover, India, James Hansen, John Rowe, Kirk Sorensen, Kurchatov Institute, Los Alamos, Marshall Space Flight Center, Mormons, Moscow, National Aeronautics And Space Administration, Nuclear Power Plants, Oak Ridge National Lab, Orrin Hatch, Pu-239, Russia, Steven Chu, Terrorists, Thorium, U-235, U-238, US Department Of Energy, US Energy Information Administration, United States, University Of Tennessee, Uranium, Virginia Add New Keyword To Link



2/18/2009  Viewing cable 09STATE15113, REQUEST FOR INFORMATION:CRITICAL FOREIGN DEPENDENCIES (CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE AND KEY RESOURCES LOCATED ABROAD)
15. (S//NF) Following is the 2008 Critical Foreign Dependencies Initiative (CFDI) list (CI/KR organized by region): [BEGIN TEXT OF LIST] AFRICA Congo (Kinshasa): Cobalt (Mine and Plant) Gabon: Manganese - Battery grade, natural; battery grade, synthetic; chemical grade; ferro; metallurgical grade Guinea: Bauxite (Mine) South Africa: BAE Land System OMC, Benoni, South Africa Brown David Gear Industries LTD, Benoni, South Africa Bushveld Complex (chromite mine) Ferrochromium Manganese - Battery grade, natural; battery grade, synthetic; chemical grade; ferro; metallurgical grade Palladium Mine and Plant Platinum Mines Rhodium EAST ASIA AND THE PACIFIC Australia: Southern Cross undersea cable landing, Brookvale, Australia Southern Cross undersea cable landing, Sydney, Australia Manganese - Battery grade, natural; battery grade, synthetic; chemical grade; ferro; metallurgical grade Nickel Mines Maybe Faulding Mulgrave Victoria, Australia: Manufacturing facility for Midazolam injection. Mayne Pharma (fill/finish), Melbourne, Australia: Sole suppliers of Crotalid Polyvalent Antivenin (CroFab). China: C2C Cable Network undersea cable landing, Chom Hom Kok, Hong Kong C2C Cable Network undersea cable landing Shanghai, China China-US undersea cable landing, Chongming, China China-US undersea cable landing Shantou, China EAC undersea cable landing Tseung Kwan O, Hong Kong FLAG/REACH North Asia Loop undersea cable landing Tong Fuk, Hong Kong Hydroelectric Dam Turbines and Generators Fluorspar (Mine) Germanium Mine Graphite Mine Rare Earth Minerals/Elements Tin Mine and Plant Tungsten - Mine and Plant Polypropylene Filter Material for N-95 Masks Shanghai Port Guangzhou Port Hong Kong Port Ningbo Port Tianjin Port .... (US Department of State)
posted: 12/6/10                   0       3
#11 
keywords: Africa, Ajigaura, Algeria, Allied Signal, Alstrom, Amherstburg, Antwerp, Argentina, Asia, Atlantic Ocean, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bae Systems, Bagsvaerd, Barcelona, Barnhart Island, Basel, Batangas, Baxter, Baykal, Belarus, Belgium, Benoni, Bermuda, Berna Biotech, Berne, Beverwijk, Big Oil, Biken, Blaabjerg, Brazil, British Columbia, Brookvale, Brown David Gear Industries, Bude, C2c Cable Network, Calcium, Camuri, Canada, Catia LA Mar, Cavite, Cedex, Changi, Chiba, Chikura, Chile, China, Chom Hom Kok, Chongming, Chorley, Chromite, Cobalt, Congo, Copenhagen, Crotalid Polyvalent Antivenin, Csl Behring, Denmark, Djibouti, Druzhba Oil Pipeline, Dublin, Durma, Edinburgh, Egypt, Ermaksan, European Union, Evreux, Fangshan, Faulding, Fiji, Florouracil, Foot And Mouth Disease, Fortaleza, France, Frankfurt, Fukuoka, Gabon, General Electric, Genzyme, Georgia, Germany, Gibraltar, Glaxosmithkline, Globenet, Guangzhou, Guinea, Haifa, Halifax, Hejreskovvej, Highbridge, Hillary Clinton, Hitachi, Hoffman-laroche, Hong Kong, Hydro Quebec, Hydroelectric Dams, Hydrofluoric Acid, Immune Globulin Intravenous, India, Indonesia, Insulin, Iodine, Ipswich, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kanonji City, Kansas City, Kaohsiung, Karnataka, Katwijk, Kazakhstan, Kempersai, Kita-kyushu, Kobe, Kuwait, Kvistgard, Lancashire, Lannion, Lessines, Loanhead, Lothian, Luebeck, Lyon, Malacca, Malaysia, Manganese, Manitoba, Manonga, Marburg, Maruyama, Melbourne, Methotrexate, Mexico, Miguel Aleman, Morocco, Mulgrave, Nadym, Nagoya, Natural Gas, Netherlands, New York, New Zealand, Nickel, Ningbo, Nodren, Norway, Nova Scotia, Novo Nordisk, Novorossiysk, Nuclear Power Plants, Octapharma, Okinawa, Oman, Ontario, Orissa, Pacific Ocean, Panama, Panama Canal, Parma, Peru, Philippines, Plerin, Plutonium, Poland, Polio, Pottington, Punta Gorda, Pusan, Qatar, Quebec, Rabies, Rio De Janeiro, Rixensart, Roma, Rotterdam, Russia, Sanofi-aventis, Saudi Arabia, Scotland, Semoy, Shanghai, Shantou, Shima, Shindu-ri, Siemens, Singapore, Skewjack, Smallpox, South Africa, South Korea, Southport, Spain, St Valery, Statens Serum Institut, Strait Of Hormuz, Suez Canal, Suva, Sweden, Switzerland, Sydney, Sylt, Taiwan, Takapuna, Tamaulipas, Tamiflu, Tanshui, Texas, Tianjin, Tijuana, Titanium, Tobago, Tong Fuk, Toronto, Toucheng, Toyohashi, Transcanada, Trinidad, Turkey, Tyco Telecommunications, Typhoid, US Department Of State, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Uranium, Vaccines, Venezuela, Victoria, Vienna, Wada, Waterford, Wavre, Weslaco, Whenuapai, Whitesands Bay, Wiki Leaks, Yemen, Yokohama, Zinc Add New Keyword To Link



1/1/2003  Security and Prosperity Toward A New Canada-United States Partnership in North America: Profile of the North American Security and Propserity Initiative (NASPI)
Canadian business leaders believe that the time has come for the next big step forward in the Canada - United States relationship. The Canada - United States Free Trade Agreement marked a fundamental change in the management of our trading relationship. Economic integration is now irreversible, but in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, it also has become clear that North American economic and physical security are indivisible. Our two countries have no choice but to take a more comprehensive approach to managing our relationship. The North American Security and Prosperity Initiative (NASPI)* launched in January 2003 by the Canadian Council of Chief Executives calls for action on five fronts: • Reinventing borders by eliminating as many as possible of the barriers to the movement of people and goods across the internal border and by shifting the emphasis to protection of the approaches to North America; • Maximizing economic efficiencies, primarily through harmonization or mutual recognition across a wide range of regulatory regimes; • Negotiation of a comprehensive resource security pact, covering agriculture and forest products as well as energy, metals and minerals, based on the two core principles of open markets and regulatory compatibility; • Rebuilding Canada's military capability both to defend our own territory and to do our share in ensuring continental and global security; and • Creating a new institutional framework based not on the European model but on cooperation with mutual respect for sovereignty, perhaps using joint commission models to foster co- ordination and to prevent and resolve conflicts. (Canadian Council of Chief Executives)
posted: 12/2/10                   0       4
#12 



9/3/2002  Japanese Executives Resign Over Falsified Atom Plant Records
Top executives of Japan's largest electric power utility announced their resignations today after the government accused the company of falsifying repair reports at several of its nuclear plants for more than 15 years. The resignations came just days after Japanese regulators opened an investigation of the country's nuclear power producers. The scandal is the latest in a series involving corporate malfeasance and lax government oversight and is one of the gravest because the utility, the Tokyo Electric Power Company, is a pillar of the business sector. The findings may also slow the development of a new fuel -- called mixed-oxide fuel, or MOX -- that the government and several utilities have been promoting. Tokyo Electric Power had been testing the material at its installations, but government inspections, which began today, will force the company to halt the tests as it shuts down five reactors temporarily. In announcing his and other departures, the Tokyo Electric Power's president, Nobuya Minami, conceded that his employees had hidden evidence and falsified 29 reports that included records of cracks in eight of the company's reactors. Nuclear regulators and the company said the cracks did not pose an immediate safety threat. (New York Times)
posted: 3/15/11                   0       3
#13 
keywords: Akira Kawate, Federation Of Electric Power Companies Of Japan, Fukushima, General Electric, Japan, Japan Association Of Corporate Executives, Japan's Nuclear And Industrial Safety Agency, Japan's Nuclear Power Research Institute, Junichiro Koizumi, Kiyoshi Sakurai, Kyodo News, Nobuya Minami, Nuclear Power Plants, Plutonium, Tokyo Electric Power CO, United Kingdom, Uranium Add New Keyword To Link



1/1/1933  Heavy Water
is water containing a higher-than-normal proportion of the hydrogen isotope deuterium, either as deuterium oxide, D2O or ²H2O, or as deuterium protium oxide, HDO or ¹H²HO.[1] Physically and chemically, it resembles water, H2O; in water, the deuterium-to-hydrogen ratio is about 156ppm, (see Vienna Standard Mean Ocean Water). Heavy water is water that was highly enriched in deuterium, up to as much as 100% D2O. The isotopic substitution with deuterium alters the bond energy of the water's hydrogen-oxygen bond, altering the physical, chemical, and, especially, the biological properties of the pure, or highly-enriched, substance to a degree greater than is found in most isotope-substituted chemical compounds. Pure heavy water is not radioactive. It is about 11% denser than water, but otherwise, is physically very similar to water. Heavy water exhibits dose and species-dependent chemical toxicity. The adult human body naturally contains deuterium equivalent to that in five grams of heavy water, which is thought to be harmless. Comparable laboratory doses are used as non-radioactive tracers in human and animal metabolic experimentation. However, larger concentrations of heavy water are toxic in eukaryotic organisms, when heavy water replaces about 25% to 50% of the body's water. At these levels, the substance interferes with cellular mitotic apparatus, preventing cell-division. Single-celled prokaryotic organisms such as bacteria, which do not have a mitotic apparatus, may survive and grow slowly in heavy water. However, eukaryotic organisms as simple as single-celled protozoa, and including all higher (multi-cellular) organisms, if given only heavy water, soon stop dividing and growing. For example, plant seeds will not germinate in heavy water. Mammals given heavy water fall ill from lack of needed blood-cell and intestinal-cell replacement, and die when about 50% of their body-water has been replaced with heavy water. Relatively pure heavy water was produced in 1933, soon after the discovery of deuterium, the stable heavy isotope of hydrogen. With the discovery of nuclear fission in late 1938, and the need for a neutron moderator that captured few neutrons, heavy water became an important component of early nuclear energy programs during World War II (1939–1945). Partly because of Nazi Germany's (1933–1945) technological reliance upon scarce heavy water for nuclear reactor research, they failed to produce a functioning nuclear reactor for the duration of the war. Since then, heavy water is an essential component in the design of some nuclear reactors, either for generating electric power or for producing nuclear-weapons isotopes, such as plutonium-239. Most contemporary enriched-uranium nuclear reactors use normal "light water" (H2O) for neutron moderation. (Wikipedia)
posted: 12/2/10                   0       3
#14 




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