- Joined
- Mar 12, 2009
- Messages
- 13,160
- Points
- 0
Earthquake nearly caused nuclear catastrophe in Chile
By David Edwards and Daniel Tencer
Tuesday, April 13th, 2010 -- 11:44 am
The world may have narrowly averted a serious nuclear accident in February when US scientists managed to get a deposit of enriched uranium out of Chile in the midst of a massive earthquake, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow told viewers Tuesday night.
Maddow reported on revelations in a Time magazine article that US officials were secretly engaged in removing from the country 40 pounds of enriched uranium -- the material needed for nuclear weapons and nuclear power generation -- when the 8.8-magnitude quake struck.
The earthquake occurred barely 12 hours after US and Chilean scientists had secured the uranium in special containers lined with eight inches of lead and steel. Had the uranium been unsecured at the time of the quake, there would have been a real risk of a nuclear incident. Forty pounds of uranium is enough to take "part of a large city," Maddow reported.
With the quake having destroyed the port where the uranium would be loaded onto two US ships, the scientists scrambled overnight to find an alternative route to get the uranium out of Chile, finally settling on another port, 50 miles away from the original.
The scientists moved the uranium in a "dark-of-night convoy through ravaged countryside with no electricity," Maddow reported. At the port, another close call ensued when one of the cranes loading the uranium onto a US ship malfunctioned and sent the uranium swinging overhead, before it was brought under control.
By David Edwards and Daniel Tencer
Tuesday, April 13th, 2010 -- 11:44 am
The world may have narrowly averted a serious nuclear accident in February when US scientists managed to get a deposit of enriched uranium out of Chile in the midst of a massive earthquake, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow told viewers Tuesday night.
Maddow reported on revelations in a Time magazine article that US officials were secretly engaged in removing from the country 40 pounds of enriched uranium -- the material needed for nuclear weapons and nuclear power generation -- when the 8.8-magnitude quake struck.
The earthquake occurred barely 12 hours after US and Chilean scientists had secured the uranium in special containers lined with eight inches of lead and steel. Had the uranium been unsecured at the time of the quake, there would have been a real risk of a nuclear incident. Forty pounds of uranium is enough to take "part of a large city," Maddow reported.
With the quake having destroyed the port where the uranium would be loaded onto two US ships, the scientists scrambled overnight to find an alternative route to get the uranium out of Chile, finally settling on another port, 50 miles away from the original.
The scientists moved the uranium in a "dark-of-night convoy through ravaged countryside with no electricity," Maddow reported. At the port, another close call ensued when one of the cranes loading the uranium onto a US ship malfunctioned and sent the uranium swinging overhead, before it was brought under control.
