February 28th, 2009
Nuclear decommissioning is an expensive business. It is estimated that the decommissioning of existing sites in the UK will cost in the region of 70 billion GBP, but this is not taking the timescale of such operations into account. As the process happens in stages, the true cost is hard to determine.
In the UK the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) is the body responsible for sourcing contractors to carry out nuclear site cleanup. It aims to provide cost effective decommissioning of existing sites and implementation of long term management of sites while they are being dismantled. It is not just power plants that require decommissioning; although concern about the safety of such nuclear establishments are at the forefront of public concern, there are also a number of other industries that require the same treatment when it comes to shutting down.
Particle accelerators, such as the much publicised Large Hadron Collider (LHC), uranium mines and isotope production plants all require the services of a safe decommissioning contractor. The official stance on the process is to return the buildings and the site itself to a safe and decontaminated state so that it can be dismantled or reused with no risk of nuclear contamination.
Due to the increase in demand for energy, the mid 1900s saw the introduction of nuclear power facilities; and it is these facilities that are coming to the end of a lifetime of service. The need for economic and safe treatment of such plants has reached a crescendo as the new generation of reactors are ready to take their place. There could be as many as 10 new-style reactors required to meet the energy needs in the UK and although the new designs mean that less fuel will be used and will last longer, there is a chance that existing decommissioning and waste storage techniques will not be adequate.
The crux lies in the fact that the new rods have a higher burn-up rate, which in turn creates a much more radioactive substance when it comes to disposal. The increased radioactivity of the uranium generates more heat, which becomes a problem during storage after use in a reactor. Being able to consider a flexible approach to the storage of nuclear waste requires an open minded appreciation of the route the development of nuclear power facilities could take. Keeping the estimated and real costs of decommissioning down becomes more difficult if the fuel is more radioactive. In addition, if more repositories are required to enable the safe storage of super heated rods, the costs are going to increase in the reclamation of sites post-nuclear use.
According to NDA, the radioactivity of the new type of uranium rod from the proposed reactors will be twice the level of our existing radioactive waste today. Although the disposal of the waste and the decommissioning of the sites will not be carried out until 2080, leaving the problem for the next 70 years is not an option. Far too often the industry is accused of leaving the safe handling of nuclear waste, fuel and facilities for future generations to work out, and at a time when we are currently paying a high price for safe nuclear decommissioning, we should appreciate the implications this may have on the future decommissioning contractors.
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February 8th, 2009
In one of this most important publications , Einstein has described the process of stimulated emission of radiation. This means that a photon hitting some atom may not only supply energy to this atom in an absorption process, but also send an already excited atom back to a state with lower energy. In the lattter case, an additional photon is emitted. A crucial aspect is Einstein’s insight that the additional photon should move in the same direction as the incoming photon. We thus have a process of light amplification: we get two photons out of one, or transform some light beam into a more energetic one. Furthermore, Einstein has realized that a net gain of optical power in some ensemble of atoms can occur only if there is a so-called population inversion: the upper energy level must be more strongly populated than the lower one, so that the effect of stimulated emission can exceed the one by absorption of atoms in the lower state. This state is often achieved by “optical pumping” e.g. of a laser crystal – an invention attributed to Alfred Kastler.
For a laser, one more thing is required: a “resonator”, in which a light beam can circulate, and an amplifying medium can at least compensate for the power losses in each round trip. This principle was first demonstrated with microwaves, and by the ground-breaking work of Schawlow, Townes and Maiman around 1960 it could also be applied to light.
As the work between 1917 and 1960 has certainly brought more than only the clarification of some minor details, it would be rather far-fetched to call Einstein the inventor of the laser. However, he has indeed realized the most important physical basis of the laser – the process of stimulated emission. This, by the way, was done not by observing physical phenomena, but via theoretical reasoning. After that, there was still a far way to the laser.
there is a similarity to the story of the nuclear bomb. According to the equation E=mc2, a huge amount of energy should be released when just a few grams of matter are converted to energy. Without doubt, this is a very important finding. Nevertheless, it is still another thing to identify a way to do this conversion. Such a way was found via the discovery of nuclear fission by the team of Lise Meitner, Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann in 1938, and the realization of the possibility of a nuclear chain reaction soon after. In this sense, Einstein is related to the atomic bomb perhaps more via his famous letter to president Roosevelt than by the mentioned equation. And Max Planck could present an equation , but no letter, and is not considered to be the father of the laser, but at most a father of the photon, which was later named so by Gilbert N. Lewis.
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January 2nd, 2009
The Navy SEALs were commissioned by President Kennedy. It was his foresight to start a force that could engage in unconventional warfare. Since then there has been no looking back. The Navy SEALs of today are highly proficient and skilled in various tactics of warfare. Here are some of the missions the SEALs started from the initial years till date.
It was during the year 1962 on January 1st at 1300 hours that two Navy SEAL teams – team one and team two were deployed to the Pacific and Atlantic fleets respectively. They were commissioned to these two separate areas in order to engage in unconventional warfare also known as UW.
In the year 1963 shortly after the establishment of the Navy SEALs the Vietnam War started. The Navy SEAL team one was sent to Danang province in Vietnam to serve below the directives of the CIA command of the Chief of Station. This was the very first time that the first war detachment of Vietnam from elements of the Navy SEAL team was deployed. Later on during 1964 the Navy SEALs became a part of the CINC or the commander in chief of the theater forces of Vietnam.
It was during the year 1987 that the original Navy SEAL Team SIX came to be called as DEVGRU also called DEVelopment GRoUp. On 16th April 1987 at the Naval Amphibious Base Coronado at San Diego, the Naval Special Warfare Command was commissioned here. The objective of this command was to make preparatory actions for all the special naval warfare forces to implement all the designated missions and also to create new strategic warfare tactics and operations.
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November 29th, 2008
For some reason many bodybuilders join the military. Is it for the money, the patriotism for their country, or is it just a job that keeps you in shape? These are just a few of the reasons but the real question is why would would you want to do such a thing? The military is NOT a place to be wandering around in. You have to have a motive to be there or you`re going to regret ever signing up. During training, you sometimes go days without sleep, food, and even water. You`re almost guaranteed to overtrain sometime, not only during basic, but during the extreme lifestyle you`ll be living fighting in a war. Talk about being in catabolic mode. This is the exact opposite of what us bodybuilders need to be doing.
When you`re in the military, you no longer exist as an individual. You belong to whatever branch of service you`re in and are basically consider a number. Bodybuilding is the exact opposite. In this sport, almost everything you do is by yourself and most of us don`t depend on other people like you do in the service. Most Bodybuilders are also very nice people. We may look mean but most of us act very humbly around others.
People from all areas of life join the military. Some do it as an escape from their troubled lives, some because of their financial status, and many other reasons. What some don`t realize is what the military is all about. People are dying simutaneously in Iraq and you are risking your lives if you join. You also have to consider the fact you`re going to be away from your family and friends and will be around new people that you probably won`t even like. I`m not trying to keep you from joining but I don`t want you guys to make the same stupid mistake I did. We are more than slaves to the government. We are slaves to ourselves and that is how it should be. Now don`t get me wrong. If you`ve joined for your country I have nothing but respect and I salute you.
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November 1st, 2008
There are many lenders who provide a military loan which makes the loan very easily procurable and fast to get. There are different types of tenures available for a military loan and the money obtained through this kind of finance can be utilized in any manner which the borrower thinks best, for example, investment in any asset such as a home, car, education for children, hospital expenses or even for consolidating other debts. These loans are attractive with their lower rate of interest, the ease in which they can be procured and the flexibilities offered in terms of repayments. As was mentioned earlier, it is very simple to get a military loan. One can go to the internet to get adequate information by searching through the search engines. With proper research, one can find these loans provided at low rate of interest. Once the right lender has been zeroed in and the next step is to fill the application forms online. The lenders will then go through the filled application and send in a response. After approval, a check will be mailed and the money will be deposited into the person’s bank account for the purpose they would want to use it for. Just as simple. There are several ways in which the money can be made to reach the borrower other than sending in a check by mail. Some other methods will be to wire transfer the money or to get the money directly transferred into the bank account. The mode in which the money needs to be received should be specified at the time of filling in the applications. Another option for a person posted abroad on duty would be to get the check in a family member’s name. An example of this is a military spouse loan that enables the spouse of the serviceman or woman to get the loan. The military loans come with easy payment terms that enable the borrower to choose the tenure of the loan as per their convenience. Penalties for delayed payments or non-payments are avoided by allowing the lender to get the monthly payments directly from the borrower’s account where the salary is being deposited. Also, most military loans come with no penalties for prepayment that provides the option of closing the loan earlier thereby saving on the interests.
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October 3rd, 2008
In order to do this effectively during battle, the military reserve is literally held back in a defensive position, just in case the enemy forces break through the front line. If the enemy makes a mistake or exposes a vulnerable area in their strategy, the military reserve can then be immediately committed to the battle. In some cases, the reserve may provide relief for the troops who are already engaged in fighting – like a second shift line. A military reserve force is quite different, as it can be either composed of part-time military personnel or civilians, all of whom are available to be called upon to fight if there is need for defense against invasion or in order to mobilize against war. Unlike the military reserve, the military reserve force is not counted as part of a country’s permanent body of armed forces.
Since military reserve forces are not actively engaged in battle on a regular basis, other countries legislate that mandatory service in their military can be counted as time spent as a member of the military reserve force. Israel and the Republic of China have a compulsory number of years that each individual must spend as a member of the military reserve force, in addition to completing one’s national service. There is a secondary type of military reserve force that functions slightly differently than the regular reserve forces, and this is known as the Home Guard. The Home Guard – such as the United States National Guard – is a military reserve force that is technically a militia, and can only be called upon to activate in the event of an invasion. The difference is that a Home Guard is composed strictly of civilians who have volunteered for the service, without part-time military personnel involved.
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September 13th, 2008
Nuclear power plants are very clean-burning and their efficiency is rather staggering. Nuclear power is generated at 80% efficiency, meaning that the energy produced by the fission reactions is almost equal to the energy put into producing the fission reactions in the first place. There is not a lot of waste material generated by nuclear fission although, due to the fact that there is no such thing as creating energy without also creating some measure of waste, there is some. The concerns of people such as environmentalists with regards to using nuclear power as an alternative energy source center around this waste, which is radioactive gases which have to be contained. The radiation from these gases lasts for an extraordinarily long time, so it can never be released once contained and stored. However, the volume of this waste gas produced by the nuclear power plants is small in comparison to how much NOx (nitrous oxide that is, air pollution) is caused by one day’s worth of rush-hour traffic in Los Angeles.
The splitting of an atom releases energy in the forms of both heat and light. Atomic power plants control the fission reactions so that they don’t result in the devastating explosions that are brought forth in atomic and hydrogen bombs. There is no chance of an atomic power plant exploding like a nuclear bomb, as the specialized conditions and the pure Plutonium used to unleash an atomic bomb’s vicious force simply don’t exist inside a nuclear power plant. The risk of a meltdown is very low. Although this latter event has happened a couple of times, when one considers that there are over 430 nuclear reactors spread out across 33 nations, and that nuclear reactors have been in use since the early 1950s, these are rare occurrences, and the events of that nature which have taken place were the fault of outdated materials which should have been properly kept up. Indeed, if nuclear energy could become a more widely accepted form of alternative energy, there would be little question of their upkeep being maintained. Currently, six states in America generate more than half of all their electrical energy needs through nuclear power, and the media are not filled with gruesome horror stories of the power plants constantly having problems.
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September 13th, 2008
US Navy SEALs are well known for being elite. US Nay SEALs have long being known for having to pass training requirements which would be considered literally impossible for any normal human being. Having to swim 50 meters under water is among many of the requirements that the US Nay SEALs ask of their soldiers. The peak physical of conditions of soldiers is not all they have going for them; they also have a unique loyalty to each other which can be best described by a recent event in Iraq. A grenade was thrown into a building with 3 soldiers, one of those soldiers, knowing he would not have enough time to remove the grenade from the building, jumped upon the grenade resulting in his own death in an attempt to save the other soldiers in the same building. Such admirable behavior and their success in small people, large impact missions help to create the ethos which surrounds the US Navy SEALs and make them worthy of so much respect.
One of the US Navy SEALs core competencies is being particularly skilled in close combat situations, which makes their input in Iraq particularly import when covert attacks with close by civilians form a large part of the duties which are needed. As a result of that US Navy SEALs have also been training other parts of the military in Iraq, making their role very important indeed.
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August 25th, 2008
If you are a non-union, unskilled, blue collar worker who dropped out of high school, but has good native intelligence (passes a very challenging aptitude test) and a good work ethic, the military pay and benefits are better than you can get on the outside. If you are a highly educated, technically skilled worker with some experience, the military doesn’t even come close to paying what you are worth on the outside. Most people do not fall in either extreme. There are also many other reasons to serve besides pay and benefits. And pay and benefits cannot make-up for the potential of major injury or loss of life, if you do not wish to give up some of your freedoms and offer your life for your country.
Every year the Army Times publishes a putative pay and benefits comparison for various jobs in the military, and their assumed civilian job equivalent. This might be a good article to look at for some insight to your question. Benefits are assumed at a high level, even if the military member never uses that benefit. Thus I am assumed to have a benefit advantage of being able to use military health care, the commissary, and the Post Exchange, to the tune of about $10,000 in savings a year (which the Army Times would add to my annual salary to inflate that number). However, I live too far away from a post to take advantage of these “benefits.” The cost of gas to get to post would far outweigh any reduced price savings I would get. So my actual pay and benefits is lower than the “typical” pay an benefits the Army Times claims. When I lived in DC my salary did not go nearly as far as it does when I live in the middle of nowhere Alabama. A young PFC working in the Pentagon will find it hard to make ends meet, but the civilian secretary doing a similar job, with locality pay, will make far more. That same PFC at Fort Benning Georgia can live very well. It is probably better than the local business secretaries.
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August 2nd, 2008
To receive an authentic military service medal issued by the United States Navy, a Sailor might want to visit the local uniform shop that is located on the Naval Air Station or Naval Base where they are stationed. The uniform shop carries all type of military awards, medals and uniform items and is sure to have everything that a Sailor might need to ensure that they have medals for formal ceremonies. When Sailors are presented an award for good conduct for a period of four years, they did not have to go shopping for the medal because the commanding officer where they are stationed had one in stock and presented the medal along with a certificate that was signed by an Admiral or high ranking officer of a command that was in a higher echelon in the chain of command.
There are many stellar events that occurred for some people to earn a service medal and some of them gave their life or limb to earn this type of recognition. The Purple Heart requires a person to be wounded in action during a conflict and some of these people have a hard time shopping for medals because they are no longer able to walk freely without the use of a crane or a prosthetic device. Anyone can shop for service medals through an internet connection and find service medals that are no longer stocked. These medals will probably be in limited supply because there are very few people left living that fought during World War I and might need a medal for personal reasons. Families are another matter entirely when it comes to keeping plenty of medals on hand because they are proud of the achievements of a son or a daughter who served their Country well.
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