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Turning plutonium

Someone? Hey Ole, how quickly we forget... You got the taper attachment for your lathe from me a few years ago.

Rumor has it that the Arizona desert has some U.S. Gov't nuclear waste sites that have radioactive equipment in them, including 10EE's and about any other kind of machinery used in processing plutonium, uranium, etc.

-Dave
 
Hi, Dave!
Honestly, I had not forgotten who you were, but rather who had mentioned the bit about the Project. My lathe is still very much up and running, I have even turned taper threads with it!
 
Safety first! Wearing gloves while doing any turning operation can be life-threatening. Don't those guys have any safety regulations to conform to, or am I'm I missing something?
 
The machine is in an isolation chamber, plutonium is toxic as well as radioactive
 
Fascinating! Looking at that I almost feel like I've stumbled across something I'm not supposed to see. That "Moore T lathe" is presumably made by the legendary Moore Tool Co. Be nice if they'd showed more of it.
 
I would guess that they took it down, there was much more readily available technical information such as that back when this thread was started. With other counties edging toward nuclear weapon, there seems to be much less technical photos available regarding plutonium, a subject never talked about locally because of the near by Hanford nuclear reservations past plutonium production.
Onn the bet you didn't know, last summer workers cars were dusted with plutonium, was not discovered "bad sensors" for days, then they had to bury them...oops!
 
Onn the bet you didn't know, last summer workers cars were dusted with plutonium, was not discovered "bad sensors" for days, then they had to bury them...oops!

Interesting. I missed the news on that. I have always wanted to take the free Hanford tour. The scale of the facility - 45 nuclear reactors - and what was done is amazing. Guess "BYOPPE" may be advised.

In summary, contractors who were doing the clean up work tested personal cars and declared them clean and free of radiation (conflict of interest?). Independent testing subsequently found many of them were contaminated. Despite that, the contractor was not fined and got nearly all of their incentive pay.

https://www.tri-cityherald.com/news/local/hanford/article217827665.html

Watchdogs find radioactive contamination in cars Hanford had declared clean | The Seattle Times
Hanford contractor earns $10M despite contamination spread

More detail here:

Here’s What Happened When The Government Lost Control Of The Biggest Nuclear Cleanup In The US

The bungling is on going this year, ignoring worker exposures:

Contamination events force project shut down at Hanford nuclear site | king5.com

Anyone need a spreader bar for rigging? It's the 'hot' tool to have in your kit! Maybe one of those guys can help me replace my stolen Accumulating Cross Feed Dial.

https://www.tri-cityherald.com/news/local/hanford/article216336815.html
 








 
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