nuclear | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net KitGuru.net - Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards Tue, 24 Jan 2017 12:50:54 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://www.kitguru.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/cropped-KITGURU-Light-Background-SQUARE2-32x32.png nuclear | KitGuru https://www.kitguru.net 32 32 Toshiba may be set to spin off chip business https://www.kitguru.net/professional/jon-martindale/toshiba-may-be-set-to-spin-off-chip-business/ https://www.kitguru.net/professional/jon-martindale/toshiba-may-be-set-to-spin-off-chip-business/#comments Tue, 24 Jan 2017 12:50:54 +0000 http://dev.kitguru.net/?p=318560 Toshiba may be planning to spin off its chip manufacturing business into its own entity. Rumours suggest that the move may also see Toshiba sell off a 20 per cent stake in the newly independent venture, which would generate around 200 billion yen (£1.4 billion). Toshiba has its fingers in a lot of pies, though …

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Toshiba may be planning to spin off its chip manufacturing business into its own entity. Rumours suggest that the move may also see Toshiba sell off a 20 per cent stake in the newly independent venture, which would generate around 200 billion yen (£1.4 billion).

Toshiba has its fingers in a lot of pies, though is most well known for its electronics. One of its lesser known ventures is in the creation of nuclear power plants, after its purchase of Westinghouse Electric LLC from the British government in 2006. That hasn't proved to be a profitable venture though and losses in 2016 are expected to see the company written down by several billion.

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Toshiba's stand last year at VMWorld. Source: ToshibaUK/Twitter

That is one of several cited reasons for Toshiba's plan to spin off its chip business, as per Reuters unnamed sources. They claim that Toshiba's CEO, Satoshi Tsunakawa announced the spin-off move in a meeting on Tuesday, but that it would be announced officially this coming Friday.

The chip business may just be one of many that Toshiba splinters away from the parent company, with other plans to sell some of those potentially independent firms too.

Toshiba's total business is currently worth more than £7 billion and employs close to 200,000 people.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: I can honestly say I had no idea Toshiba was in the nuclear energy business. Impressive, but very surprising.

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Ex-Defence Secretary: Trident replacement vulnerable to hackers https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/jon-martindale/ex-defence-secretary-trident-replacement-vulnerable-to-hackers/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/jon-martindale/ex-defence-secretary-trident-replacement-vulnerable-to-hackers/#comments Tue, 24 Nov 2015 10:45:59 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=276088 As the debate rages on whether the UK should spend upwards of £31 billion on a replacement for its current fleet of Trident-equipped nuclear submarines, ex-Defence Secretary Desmond Browne, has warned that any future solution would be vulnerable to attack by hackers, if certain “weak spots,” were not protected. It was imperative he said, that …

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As the debate rages on whether the UK should spend upwards of £31 billion on a replacement for its current fleet of Trident-equipped nuclear submarines, ex-Defence Secretary Desmond Browne, has warned that any future solution would be vulnerable to attack by hackers, if certain “weak spots,” were not protected. It was imperative he said, that ministers examined potential for digital attacks against such systems, as they had such destructive potential.

Currently planned to be replaced sometime in the early 2030s, the Trident-equipped submarines have been the topic of much debate. As well as costing tens of billions of pounds at a time where austerity measures and government cuts are frequently discussed, the viability of a nuclear deterrent in modern defence has been questioned.

When the main enemies of Britain are terrorist cells with no obvious host nation and therefore no fear of nuclear attack, does it really do anything?

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Current generation Trident-equipped submarine. Source: Wikimedia

Many ministers would argue that it does and that the importance in a nuclear deterrent cannot be overstated. Having it they say, makes many countries question pressing the UK's buttons. Defence secretary during the '90s Malcolm Rifkind highlighted this point in his defence of Trident, stating (via the BBC):

“The whole point of our nuclear weapons is not whether they would work – 100% guarantee – if they were ever required. You think they will do.”

Browne's argument however, is that without adequate cyber protection, even mobile nuclear installations like Trident would be largely useless. If nation sponsored hackers could effectively disable or even take control of British nuclear submarines, they would be redundant.

A vote will soon take place following discussions, to see whether a Trident replacement should be pursued. A number of Labour MPs, supporting leader Jeremy Corbyn, are expected to abstain, though some may still vote for it to go ahead.

Discuss on our Facebook page, HERE.

KitGuru Says: This seems like somewhat of a moot point. Of course an investment of this scale should heavily factor in digital security. Not doing so in the second decade of the 21st century would be a gross oversight. 

 

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How does a Battlestar survive a Cylon nuclear strike? https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/bill-smyth/how-does-a-battlestar-survive-a-cylon-nuclear-strike/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/generaltech/bill-smyth/how-does-a-battlestar-survive-a-cylon-nuclear-strike/#comments Thu, 24 Apr 2014 11:13:24 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=185585 We know. KitGuru should be 100% focused on delivering all the (tech) news and more in a hardcore, serious way. But, every now and then, we stumble across some information that's so intriguing that we feel the need to share. This is one of those times. Anyone who's followed science fiction over the years will …

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We know. KitGuru should be 100% focused on delivering all the (tech) news and more in a hardcore, serious way. But, every now and then, we stumble across some information that's so intriguing that we feel the need to share. This is one of those times.

Anyone who's followed science fiction over the years will have seen space battles of epic proportions.

While phasers, pulse canons and hand blasters sound dandy and we're all quite sure what they do, we don't really have a frame of reference.
Not like a good old fashioned nuclear detonation. Now THAT's something we can visualise quite easily.

Clearly they are devastating, but how do space ships like the Battlestar Galactica take a nuclear licking and keep on ticking?

One of our readers had that question in mind while watching the re-runs on Sky 2. They researched and found a surprisingly useful web site that does the physics for you.

In space, there's no ‘blast‘ from the detonation, because there is no atmosphere to carry the pressure. So let's not worry about that.

Next we have serious radiation, but the ship in question is flying through all sorts of X-Rays, Gamma Rays and the like all the time, so we can assume it's heavily shielded.

Which leaves the pure heat itself – which will dissipate quickly in space, cos space is cold, right?

nuke
If anything, a space Nuke is at least pretty

The answer lies in a really cool page that has been created from the work of a Winchell Chung. You can find the baseline info here, but the cool stuff is on this neat page.

Assume a spherical bomb, you can leave the shape info untouched, while ramping the yield up to 10 megatons by adding 2 zeros.

Next, choose Titanium for the ship's armour and – finally – press the ‘Fire Nuclear Missile' button.

If the 10 megaton Cylon warhead detonates right up next to the Battlestar, then heat alone will melt away 1 metre of titanium armour.
Impressive, but no where near enough for those nasty Cylons to claim victory with their heat-based weapons.

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..

KitGuru says: It seems strange to be talking about ‘Surviving a nuclear strike when you're standing less than 100m from the explosion, but for as long as man has been making weapons – other men have been creating defences. So, maybe, we will live in a time where war spills into space and a nuclear detonation is not fatal.

Fancy yourself as a star ship designer?  If you have an opinion on how much armour is needed, then head over to Facebook and let us know.

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Japan’s Fukushima plant is leaking radioactive water into the ocean https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/japans-fukushima-plant-is-leaking-radioactive-water-into-the-ocean/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/jon-martindale/japans-fukushima-plant-is-leaking-radioactive-water-into-the-ocean/#comments Tue, 06 Aug 2013 13:13:38 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=146164 It's been over two years since the Japanese Fukushima reactor was damaged in a freak earthquake and tsunami aftermath, but we're still feeling the effects today. According to a new report by the Nuclear Regulation Authority, there's now an environmental emergency surrounding the plant once again, as contaminated ground water has risen above a shore …

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It's been over two years since the Japanese Fukushima reactor was damaged in a freak earthquake and tsunami aftermath, but we're still feeling the effects today. According to a new report by the Nuclear Regulation Authority, there's now an environmental emergency surrounding the plant once again, as contaminated ground water has risen above a shore barrier and has begun leaking into the Pacific ocean.

TEPCO, the company responsible for the plant – and for dumping thousands of gallons of contaminated sea water into the Pacific last year – is said to have been struggling to prevent more water from entering the plant, which inadvertently becomes contaminated. It's also been criticised in the past for not going public about radioactive water leaks.

fukishima
The Fukushima disaster was the worst Nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986

To combat those early leaks, workers injected the ground with chemicals to help solidify it and prevent any water run off into the ocean. However, those barriers are only effective for 1.8 metres below the surface and they look to have been woefully ineffective.

Shinji Kinjo from the Nuclear Regulation Authority said that “new measures are needed to stop the water from flowing into the sea that way.” He also described the current situation as “an emergency.”

KitGuru Says: While so many dumb mistakes were made with the building of this plant and the handling of this disaster, it really makes it hard to get behind future nuclear efforts  when the fallout from a natural disaster is so severe. 

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Sandia Lab opens its doors on 12th September https://www.kitguru.net/channel/science/harrison/sandia-lab-opens-its-doors-on-12th-september/ https://www.kitguru.net/channel/science/harrison/sandia-lab-opens-its-doors-on-12th-september/#respond Thu, 06 Sep 2012 08:18:07 +0000 http://www.kitguru.net/?p=107322 Born from the radioactive dust of the Manhattan project, Sandia started life for real in 1948 as a focused laboratory whose prime area of interest was to support/create/develop the parts of nuclear weapons that were not nuclear. While other labs would focus on increasing the power of warheads etc, Sandia was looking at things like …

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Born from the radioactive dust of the Manhattan project, Sandia started life for real in 1948 as a focused laboratory whose prime area of interest was to support/create/develop the parts of nuclear weapons that were not nuclear. While other labs would focus on increasing the power of warheads etc, Sandia was looking at things like safety, reliability and future disposal. On 12th September, it will open the doors on its present research projects – but what will we find?

It was Robert Oppenheimer who first suggested that the non-nuclear parts of nuclear weapons should be dealt with by a separate organisation. In 1945, its forerunner, Z-Division, was born and by 1949 the name had changed to Sandia and it had its first permanent buildings. For almost 80 years, Sandia has been recruiting some of the world's smartest minds and, as its mission evolved, it has achieved some notable milestones.

During weapons testing, parts of the product under investigation could end up being spread across a huge area of the test site. Sandia scientists developed techniques to help track down the missing parts, and some of these techniques are still being used today by crash team investigators.

All of this work required huge compute power – and Sandia has pioneered a lot of clever projects in this area.

For example, in 1977, the US government decided that it needed to find ways for multiple research labs to share work and data – and the SLATEC open source library for Fortran was born – enabling scientists to draw upon more than 1,400 pre-written routines.

Sandia's love for powerful processing systems has meant that, several times, the world's most powerful computer has been sitting one of its labs. For example, in 1996, Sandia worked with Intel to create the world's first Teraflop computer – known as ASCI Red. It was so far in advance of anything else the world had ever seen, that it remained the fastest computer on the planet for more than 3 years. What was more remarkable, was that ASCI Red was built from components that were readily available in the market.

When you check Sandia's achievements, you get a real sense of ‘geeks gone wild' – pushing back the frontiers and seeing what's possible – purely from a research point of view. For example, when the Sandia chaps decided to do work with X-Rays, they naturally created the world's largest X-Ray generator, known as the Z-Machine. When fired, this device can – for a fraction of a second – generate more electricity that the rest of the planet combined. Not just ‘more', but 80x more. 290 trillion watts. Impressive stuff.

Here's a little list of other interesting stuff/innovation that Sandia has managed to deliver over the years:-

  • First successful tracking and impact-point prediction for an asteroid hitting the Earth
  • Injecting single-cell organisms into nano-structures to alter the design during building
  • Shoulder-length Kevlar gauntlets to protect soldiers while firing weapons in battle
  • Airbags to allow spacecraft to successfully crash land on other worlds
  • Super-microscopes that allow doctors to see, in detail, why human cells fail against some diseases while successfully fighting off others
  • Development of a process to allow for safe disassembly of the USA's nuclear stockpile

KitGuru was curious to know more about the Sandia open day event and what will be shown. Here's what we know.

Sandia President and Laboratories Director Paul Hommert will open up some of his organisation's latest work to the public at the Embassy Suites in Albuquerque on 12th September. There will be four main areas: Cybersecurity, Energy Security, Nano/Micro-Science and Water.

The Sandia web site's front pages include a lot of pro-USA rhetoric, but as an organisation it seems to do a good job of taking the ‘sideline discoveries' that happen along the way – and turning them into ‘something useful for mankind as a whole'.

The Z-Machine is insulated from the world by 2 million litres of special oil - as well as 2 million litres of water. Which is still not enough to prevent nearly everything outside glowing.

KitGuru says: It gives you an idea of where the world is, mentally, that a lab whose primary function for coming into existence was to provide essential support for the American nuclear weapons programme – but whose latest achievements include de-commissioning of warheads and a big push on water. More power to them.

Comment below or in the KitGuru forums.

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