Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station Fire causes Cooling Pumps to shut down

With Australian government wanting to commit to nuclear power it is important to understand the risks involved are great.  The recent Fukushima meltdown was evidence of how nuclear energy can not adequately be safeguarded from natural disasters, or in Chernobyl from inadequate control.I recently heard Mr Ziggy Switkowski telling us how Australia needs nuclear energy and how safe it it.  I would like to give mr Switkowski a holiday to a wonderful resort just outside of Fukushima, Japan to relax and soak up the rays and ponder nuclear energy, but somehow i dont think he would except.Below is a report from Omaha Public Power Authority.  They have a nuclear reactor at risk of being flooded.  They have also had some small fires knocking out the cooling system for spent nuclear rods.  But nothing to worry about.  Nuclear power is safe ?? Safe nuclear power

Flood Rumor ControlFollowing are responses to flood-related rumors that OPPD has heard about.Rumor: Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station is at a Level 4 emergency or level 4 alert. This terminology is not accurate, and is not how emergencies at nuclear power plants are classified. Fort Calhoun Station (FCS) declared a Notification of Unusual Event (NOUE) on June 6. A NOUE is the least-serious of four emergency classifications established by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. FCS declared a NOUE because the Missouri River was projected to reach 1,004 feet above mean sea level. (It reached that height on June 9.) The FCS plant’s reactor has been in cold shut down for a planned refueling outage since April 9. It will remain in that condition until the river recedes. The reactor and spent-fuel pool are in a normal, stable condition and are both protected; there has been no release of radioactivity and none is expected. Rumor: A no-fly zone was set up around Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station because of a release of radiation, similar to what happened with the Fukushima reactors in Japan. There has been no release of radioactivity at Fort Calhoun Station due to the flooding and none is expected. The flight restrictions were set up by the FAA as a result of Missouri river flooding. OPPD’s extensive, preplanned actions to protect the FCS reactor and spent-fuel pool from the floodwaters have been effective. The reactor is housed in a watertight containment building, and is in a normal and safe “cold shutdown” condition, covered by more than 23 feet of purified reactor coolant water. In addition, OPPD has installed Aqua Dams® and other berms around such vital equipment and buildings at the FCS site. Rumor: Because of a fire at Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station on June 7, the plant’s spent-fuel pool was in danger of boiling and releasing radioactivity. There was no such imminent danger with the Fort Calhoun Station spent-fuel pool. Due to a fire in an electrical switchgear room at FCS on the morning of June 7, the plant temporarily lost power to a pump that cools the spent-fuel pool. The fire-suppression system in that switchgear room operated as designed, extinguishing the fire quickly. FCS plant operators switched the spent-fuel pool cooling system to an installed backup pump about 90 minutes after the loss of power. During the interruption of cooling, temperature of the pool increased a few degrees, but the pool was never in danger of boiling. Due to this situation, FCS declared an Alert at about 9:40 a.m. on June 7. An alert is the second-least-serious of four emergency classifications established by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. At about 1:15 p.m. on June 7, FCS operators declared they had taken all appropriate measures to safely return to the previously declared Notification of Unusual Event emergency classification. (See first item above.) Rumor: OPPD will run out of coal if railroads cannot reach the plants. Currently, trains are arriving at both of OPPD’s coal-fired power plants. OPPD and a private contractor have raised the tracks at Nebraska City Station to allow coal to continue to be delivered to the plant. OPPD has several months’ worth of coal already on plant sites. Rumor: A red flag tied to an overhead power line means OPPD has – or is about to – de-energize that line and cut power to the area. An orange ball or red flag on an overhead line serves as a warning to alert aircraft and operators of heavy equipment of an energized line. A red flag on a power pole means power has been disconnected at that pole.

The locksmith 2010 Movie

A guy trying to live the straight life meets a seriously bent woman in this independent comedy. After a stretch in prison, Mike (Anslem Richardson) wants nothing more than to put his life back on track. He’s enrolled in a work release program, has a steady job as a locksmith Annerely, and is trying to convince his girlfriend to give him another chance. However, what seems like an ordinary day on the job takes a dramatic left turn when he gets a call from potential customer Margo (Ana Reeder). Margo is a foul-mouthed and over-excited woman who is convinced her fiancà (C) Charles (Stephen Rannazzisi) has been unfaithful to her. Margo hires Mike to break her into Charles’s flat so she can find incriminating evidence against him; Mike develops a guilty conscience about being part of Margo’s scheme, so he contacts Charles and tells him what she’s been up to, which only makes a sticky situation worse. Written and directed by the sibling team Brad Barnes and Todd Barnes, Homewrecker received its world premiere at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

 

Drugs and Locksmiths

Drugs and Locksmiths

Locksmith cutting keys hard at work

Actually the headline should be more correct Drugs and Break and enters and how do the 2 correlate.

Well the reason why this is of interest is just from my observations from being in the Locksmith Business for over 20 years.

When I first started in the locksmith business as a young apprentice we were flat out busy doing a large number of jobs repairing doors and locks that had been broken into.  The majority of these jobs were the same M.O.  The houses/units mainly were broken into and the thief would mainly be looking for cash, or things they could turn into cash quickly.

At the time we all knew that the break and enters happening were being done by drug addicts that needed cash to buy drugs.  It was probably a rather small section of the community who needed a fix and it was one of the easiest ways to get some cash.

Not too far into my locksmith career the break and enters stopped over night.  It didn’t totally stop, but the large number of break-ins reduced.  You didn’t have to look too hard to work out why these break-ins stopped.  In fact you only had to walk 1 block from where our locksmith shop was located.

The dispensing chemist was open for business.  Law/regulation changes now allowed people with a drug addiction to get legal drugs.  Originally called the methadone program here in Australia.  So instead of having to steal money and do other illegal acts it was a regular visit to the chemist.

As much as I oppose the taking of drugs I cant argue that the governments implementation of programs to help addicted people get off the drugs or at least to prescribe to them legal drugs has been bad for society generally.  Probably a percentage of our society are going to take drugs weather we like it or not.  It seems to have worked out better at least in relation to home theft that drugs are available free for addicts.

 

 

Cops claim … WOMEN KIDNAP LOCKSMITH – Request $5-million ransom

Four persons, including two women, accused of kidnapping a man at knifepoint and then demanding $5m in ransom from his family, appeared in the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court yesterday.

They are Nickesha Whyte, Aldane Jackson, Trevorlyn Rowe and Andrew Dillon, otherwise called Dane Walters. All four are charged with conspiracy to kidnap, but Jackson is charged additionally with kidnapping, while Dillon is charged with illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition and extortion. Rowe is additionally charged with illegal possession of a weapon and extortion.

brandishing a gun

The allegations are that on January 13, the complainant, who operates a locksmith business, was approached by a male and a female who told him that they needed his services to open a car door. While walking to the car, however, another male, this one brandishing a gun, joined them and the complainant was ordered into a car.

It is alleged that the four blindfolded the accused and taped his mouth and then took him to a location where he was kept for about five days. During this time, the kidnappers, the court was told, contacted the complainant’s family and requested $5m in exchange for his release. That figure was, however, later decreased to $500,000 which the family agreed to pay.

A sting operation was set up and $200,000 in marked currency was reportedly paid over to one of the kidnappers. He was subsequently arrested and charged. Further investigations led to the arrest of the others.

The matter is to be mentioned in court again today. The accused persons were remanded.

Cutting Keys is easy for machines

you have probably been to the shopping centre and seen how  a key is cut.  An original key is placed in one side and a blank in the other.  A tracer is used to trace over the key and reproduces the image of the original key onto the blank key.  This works well most of the time but using computers to cut keys is really cool.

This is a computer and a milling machine used to copy a key digitally and store the information.  Then it is reproduced on to a blank key.   More info at Key cutting web site