A look back at Chernobyl disaster, in lieu of Japan\’s disaster..

Benjamin SchollnickNo Comments

We all know that Japan is in the middle of recovering from a disaster…  And has more issues that they are still dealing with, mainly the Nuclear Power plant issues…
But, what do we know about Nuclear Reactors?  And what about the last great nuclear disaster?  The Chernobyl disaster? (The Chernobyl link is a great review of all the human and mechanical causes of the Chernobyl disaster.)
The issue in Japan, appears to be related to the Plant\’s power requirements. Even when not actively generating power, nuclear power reactors require cooling, typically provided by coolant flow, to remove decay heat. Pressurized water reactors use water flow at high pressure to remove waste heat. Following an emergency shutdown (scram), the core still generates a significant amount of residual heat, which is initially about seven percent of the total thermal output of the plant. If not removed by coolant systems, the heat could lead to core damage. Even following an emergency shutdown, reactor cooling is still required to keep the temperature in the reactor core low enough to avoid fuel damage.
To place this into perspective, Chernobyl required a water flow of 28 metric tons (~7,400 Gallons) per hour to be able to cool the reactor safely. To generate that much water flow, Chernobyl required 5.5 MegaWatts to run one of the main water pumps.
The Japanese issue(s) appear to be completely related to the failure of Cooling system power, or a Coolant related leak… There have been reports of additional coolant being delivered to the plants, which suggest a leak…
Compare this to Chernobyl…

  • The roof of the reactor building and turbine hall at Chernobyl were constructed of a combustible material (bitumen)
  • The Chernobyl power generation tests were being run at a unsafe power level (far lower than was specified)

The Chernobyl reactor had several unknown design defects:

  • The reactor was very unstable at low power levels, and prone to sudden increases in energy production.  Often to a dangerous level.
  • The control rod system had a significant flaw.  The rods fit into a shaft that ended with Hollow channels that were filled with water.  As the rods were inserted, the coolant would be displaced, and thus the reactor power output would be momentarily increased.
While at this time, we do not know the exact issues and the final fate of the small number of Japanese nuclear plants that have been damaged…  We need to realize that the issues at the Japanese plants offers a chance to review the causes, and to solve these problems in the future.

Apple is going to love this: Probably the best customer unboxing video ever.

Benjamin SchollnickNo Comments

You may have heard about the release of the iPad 2 yesterday and despite the catastrophe in Japan and (the far less significant) twitter announcement, Apple\’s iPad update is still garnering a lot of attention online.Over the last 24 hours, a number of unboxing videos have been posted to YouTube…
via Apple is going to love this: Probably the best customer unboxing video ever..

Technical Difficulties: Consolitis- Destructoid

Benjamin SchollnickNo Comments

Now, let it be known that I have absolutely nothing against video game consoles. Last generation I owned a PC, a PS2, and an XBOX, and loved all of those. The term comes from the fact that, originally, the dumbing down of games came from hardware limitations. However, now the streamlining comes from publishers attempting to please a wider array of people. Consoles are just another victim of the phenomena today.
Chaos Theory is my third favorite game of all time. It\’s just too damn good. One thing I especially liked was how the most hardcore players could attempt to get past the levels without even touching guards. Less hardcore players could resort to interrogating a few people and then knocking them unconscious. If you like immersion in your games, Chaos Theory was pretty realistic. Sure, you could pull out your silenced pistol and kill every guard, but it wasn\’t what you would normally do. When listening to guards in the other room you could hear them chat about many things. You could hear them chat about their family, you could hear them chat about life, about their stories, a whole lot of things. They didn\’t even hate you – they were just guys who didn\’t want to necessarily kill anybody, people who wanted to get through with their day alive. Guards you felt sorry for murdering. That wasn\’t the only appeal of the game, of course – the difficulty in the game was scaled just right. But it wasn\’t easy, especially if you wanted to avoid firearms. You had to carefully think about each situation you were in to survive the mission. It was a game by the hardcore for the hardcore.

Then, Conviction came along.
Destructoid discusses the dumbing down of games, to meet both technical specs, and to reach the \”Mass Market\”.
Take a look here, at Technical Difficulties: Consolitis

Motorola Xoom Receiving An Update: Rooted? Must Roll Back To Stock

Benjamin SchollnickNo Comments

The Motorola Xoom is currently receiving a staggered update preparing the Honeycomb tablet for Flash 10.2. Now let\’s make sure it\’s clear, it\’s not getting Flash 10.2 it\’s getting it prepared for Flash 10.2, whatever that means. It\’s welcomed though as it didn\’t take but a couple weeks for this…
via Motorola Xoom Receiving An Update: Rooted? Must Roll Back To Stock.

Lock up your Macintosh. Uses FUS to secure your system.

Benjamin SchollnickNo Comments

So, you want the ability to have your system login automatically, so that a program can start…  But want to ensure that no one tampers with your system.
Use the Activate Login Screen application below.
[download id=\”7711\”]
This application calls:
/System/Library/CoreServices/Menu\\ Extras/User.menu/Contents/Resources/CGSession -suspend
Which tells the Fast User switching system to suspend your GUI session, and to take you back to the login screen.  All of your applications will still be running, but no one can tamper with them until they login with your credentials.
Add the application to your Login items panel (System Preferences –> Accounts –> Login Items)…  And you will be safer…