Sunday, December 04, 2005
Alaska MeltdownAn Alaska man has met fierce local resistance to his plan to install a 20-ton nuclear particle accelerator in his Anchorage home. Albert Swank wants to build a cyclotron to produce the radioactive tracer material which is injected into people prior to their receiving PET scans for cancer diagnosis. He said that his father died of cancer and he intended to set up a community medical resource to minimize the suffering of other cancer patients.
His neighbors, despite their proclaimed live-and-let-live attitude, are not impressed. They worry about his expected large consumption of electricity and the risk of radioactive leaks -- a complaint letter even compares the danger to that of the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor. A community council has submitted an urgent plea to the Anchorage Assembly. A proposed ordinance to ban cyclotrons in residential areas is scheduled for a public hearing at the end of December. State radiology experts who examined the plan concluded that it can be done safely, but rushed through regulations to require proper operation and disposal of materials. Swank said the FBI also sent investigators but he refused to let them in.
The used cyclotron, considered a "baby model" since it's only 6 feet tall and 6 feet wide, is being dismantled at its current home, Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. Swank says it will be shipped in January whether he has a permit or not. So it appears that next year we will have a new explanation for global warming, and this time it's not sport utility vehicles, coal burning or cow methane. And if you need to find Swank's house on 10th Avenue near Delaney Park Strip in Anchorage, just go to Google Earth and look for a big red glow on the map.
- posted by Woofwoof @ 6:19 AM
Comments:
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Strange way to heat your house, even in Alaska. But with the price of heating oil sky high, that might not be a bad idea.
# posted by 
: 04 December, 2005 09:01
: 04 December, 2005 09:01
See, now I know how those ladies feel when they show up at a party wearing the same dress, except I haven't put my dress on yet. Metaphorically. I can't condone naked blogging.
I was gonna do one on this . . . and I think I still will.
I was gonna do one on this . . . and I think I still will.
Connecticut,
What's a few isotopes between friends?
Anon,
I'd never say that to people who have guns. Or who have cyclotrons.
John,
We dogs blog naked. Except for the fur of course. I think a 94 deg difference would put me in thermal shock.
What's a few isotopes between friends?
Anon,
I'd never say that to people who have guns. Or who have cyclotrons.
John,
We dogs blog naked. Except for the fur of course. I think a 94 deg difference would put me in thermal shock.
I was shocked! I first heard about it while sitting in front of my linear accelerator (my TV). I plan to help get this cyclotron on line.
# posted by : 18 December, 2005 21:33
: 18 December, 2005 21:33
He is only a few blocks away. If I crank the voltage on my linear accerator we could have a shootout. My Sony Trinitron against his Scandiatronix MC16.
# posted by : 18 December, 2005 21:56
: 18 December, 2005 21:56
Anon,
I googled his name and found an article on his project in Wired. He doesn't seem to be half-nut as everyone makes him out to be.
It's OK if people don't like have a medical facility in their neighborhood, just like they can enact zoning laws to block a supermarket or a bakery. But comparing the baby cyclotron to Three Mile Isalnd is a bit much. It's a sad reflection of our education system.
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I googled his name and found an article on his project in Wired. He doesn't seem to be half-nut as everyone makes him out to be.
It's OK if people don't like have a medical facility in their neighborhood, just like they can enact zoning laws to block a supermarket or a bakery. But comparing the baby cyclotron to Three Mile Isalnd is a bit much. It's a sad reflection of our education system.
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