Biological warfare political weapons
Biological Warfare
Updated on November 21, 2001
October 12, 2001:
Gorbachev, who was the architect of the famous Perestroika, and the beginning of the disarmament of the former Soviet Union. Nevertheless, at that time, he wanted to keep the possibility of retaliation that he wanted to be deterrent, by maintaining a moderate research effort, regarding the development, production and storage of chemical and biological weapons. As shown in a program broadcast by Arte on October 11, laboratories started to tinker with viruses and bacteria. Bacteria of the plague (which can spread through the air) were manufactured by tons and stored, being considered as possible charges, adaptable on Russian missiles. The Russians also designed variants of anthrax (anthrax) resistant to antibiotics. Viruses as dangerous as those of Lhassa or Ebola were also manipulated, always with the aim of resulting in more resistant strains, to heat, to ultraviolet, "aerolizable" (which could settle on fog droplets), with a palette of properties all the more atrocious than the others. "Composite" viruses, heat-resistant. Let's be realistic: on their side, in secret or more visibly, the Americans did exactly the same. But today, the situation has changed. The Muslim fundamentalists, opting for a potentially terrifying terrorism, whose effectiveness was demonstrated on September 11, form a third pole. The originality is the non-localization of the enemy. The whole world is currently holding its breath, wondering what the next episode will be. In passing, the evidence is the highly damaging character of planetary inter-ethnic conflicts. War can no longer even claim the argument of scientific and technical development. Today, the conditions are such that the planet could face a totally uncontrollable regression. The risk no longer comes from the excessive size of the nuclear arsenal, but from one side, the complete social chaos that could result from a generalized civil war on a planetary scale, and from the other side, the potentially uncontrollable nature of the use of biological weapons. Regarding this, we will produce here a document dated January 8, 1991. It is a letter received by Spaniards, a few days before the outbreak of the assault by the coalition (mainly the Americans) against Saddam Hussein's troops, following his invasion of Kuwait. Only parts of the document will be reproduced. Among the readers, a certain number will certainly understand to which "file" this document belongs (which, we hasten to say, was present on several French websites for several years). The letter begins with an evocation of a meeting between the authors of this document and the leaders of the most important countries of the planet:
.............After a meeting with each of the two presidents of the United States and the USSR, they understood that the nuclear danger that hovered over your planet could continue to increase until a point of rupture and that this situation had become imminent. You then witnessed a surprising change. No one would have imagined that such solid structures could experience such deep changes. The essential thing is that these two great powers managed to significantly reduce their deadly arsenal. The United States have committed themselves not to take any further steps in their aggressive escalation towards other countries without obtaining the approval of the president and the Secretary-General of the United Nations.........
......This collaboration was negotiated through the mediation of Michael Gorbachev and George Bush. Since 15:06 on April 18, when contact was made with the president of the last mentioned country, we have had no other contact with these two representatives...
....We know the anxiety that has seized all countries following the measures taken by the President of Iraq, Saddam Hussein, during the invasion of Kuwait. Our own analysis of this situation is too complex to be exposed in this simple letter. We will simply summarize it for our Spanish friends. Everyone knows that the center of gravity of the problem, the source of the current tension, is located in the heart of a small country very rich in oil. Never has another country on the planet been the cause of such an important stake and conflict. If it had been possible for some to study the psychological structure of the dictator, it would have provided them with some elements of judgment. Initially, the motivations that led Saddam Hussein to annex Kuwait were various (including the desire to increase the territory of Iraq, imagining that the United States would not come to the aid of this state). Later, the reasons that dictated his behavior underwent a radical change to the point that his mental structure has become completely different. He has now decided to calm his mind by convincing himself that he acted because of the dramatic injustice suffered by all Arab countries, especially that related to the invasion of Palestinian territories by Israel. Thus, we perceive the complexity of the mental structure of a man who is not animated by any true religious faith and yet has fallen into a fanatical belief and a fatalism instilled by Islamic belief, risking losing his empire. He thus surrenders to events based on a problematic hope in his military triumph, under the protection of a God whom he himself does not believe in. He actually believes in a kind of idealized consciousness of the Muslim ethnicity. It seems as if he is intoxicated and carried away by the convictions of men of God, convinced of being able to transform fervent wishes into realities. This mental structure is not rare among followers of the Sunni religion, including intellectuals. Influenced by the fanaticism of their brothers, they thus experience an atheistic drift, although they vigorously deny it, and adopt a fatalistic attitude regarding the consequences of their actions. Saddam Hussein became the leader of a powerful nation thanks to the military aid provided by the Soviet Union, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Canada, Belgium and other countries, such as Spain. For 52 years, no single man has ever been so surrounded by the fanaticism of such a large number of the deprived (We estimated the number of men who have become supporters of Saddam Hussein at 1.320 billion, so great is his prestige among the poor). What is our position regarding this conflict, apart from the opinion of each person, which, as it should, must be considered deeply respectable? Who is right? NO ONE AND EVERYONE. But this deserves some nuances. Let us set aside the conduct of this man, whom we can consider as unbalanced. If you, Westerners, remain inactive in the face of this invasion, invoking a very commendable pacifist doctrine, you will then face a much greater danger than the one we have just averted. Indeed, the fusion-fission-fusion weapon projects in Iraq are very advanced and the weapon will be ready within a period ranging from 1.6 to 2.2 years. It would take 2.8 to 3 years for this weapon to be delivered to Egypt (from then on, the assassination of the current leader would have changed the situation). This nuclearization of a Muslim collective could then spread, within the next three years, to countries such as Libya, Syria and Algeria, with an aggravation of the fanaticism of their rulers and the establishment of a dictator at their head. Conversely, if a conflict is sanctioned by the victory of the Western coalition, they will perpetuate the injustice towards a more miserable and more isolated southern bloc than ever. This accentuation of the planetary imbalance would place you more than ever under the tutelage of the United States. It is also pointless to prolong the embargo, since it would take about two years for it to have an effect. Who can maintain such a military force for so long? Any solution proves desperately bad. What could then be the outcome of the events?...
...Tomorrow, the two representatives of these two countries will meet in Geneva. However, we cannot predict the final decision of Saddam Hussein. ...
...Tomorrow, January 9, we will know what the real political conclusion of this meeting was. Unfortunately, Iraq is stubbornly determined to fight against the UN coalition, while we know that the real superiority lies on the side where the Americans are. We can tell you that the probability that this situation will evolve towards a war action is 98.2%. But there remains an incalculable probability that Saddam Hussein will change his mind at the last moment, given that his belief in being able to win remains quite vague. We urge you, in the face of this "vague belief," to refer to the contradictions inherent in the collective Islamic soul. We can, however, communicate to you with great precision the decisions already made by the North American high command. This is why we have delayed sending this letter. ...
*...ESTIMATED PROBABILITIES OF ACTIONS (P, n. %) In the current war, only the United States, the USSR, the United Kingdom, France, and Israel will benefit from the support of a decisive weapon system, whose existence is known to Canada and China. We will reveal its name. It is called ISC (Informative Satellite Coefficient) (measurements provided by observation satellites). Only the first two countries are able to use it effectively. We can only indicate some essential points of the secret note WEE-32, elaborated by the general staff gathered around President G. Bush, addressed on 12/23/90 to General Schwarzkopf, and which only the United Kingdom received a copy. The day J will be set between January 16 and 24, 1991 (there is a 68% probability of the opening of hostilities before the 19th). Although we are sure that we have not detected any underground nuclear test in Iraqi territory, the Westerners fear that the Iraqis may have developed a fusion missile head. This would target Tel-Aviv. First action site: the missile bases of Ar-Ramadi (there is a 0.5% probability that these missiles are equipped with nuclear warheads). In any case, these silos contain heads equipped with VX and GD agents. The second is ortho-1-2-1-trimethylpropylmethylphosphofluorhydrate (or the neurotoxic gas Soman), with grave consequences for those who inhale it. The lethal dose is estimated at one hundredth of a gram. The first heads will reach the cities of Tel-Aviv and Haifa with a probability of 77%. This is why the destruction of the Ar Ramadi, As Samawa, Kerbela and Ad Diwanilla silos is part of the priorities. These sites also include mobile platforms whose exact location can be tracked by ISC and through guided missiles using the XM-3 system with thermal images and the secret OLRR-1 equipment, directed by laser. The operations will begin with the sending of missiles. The targets to be destroyed are the nuclear research centers located in the north of the country, especially the one located in Mosul, at great depth, the already mentioned mobile launch bases and the air bases, especially those in the Rutba and Basra areas. To escape these attacks, Iraqi planes will have to remain in the air. During the sixty hours following, the planes that remain on the ground will be destroyed with a probability of 80%. The probability that the ground-to-ground missiles will not be launched within the first four hours is 54%. As these massive destructions increase, an ultimatum will then be issued. If no response is received, a second night attack will be launched, involving stealth planes, which are undetectable, and planes equipped with countermeasures to avoid their radio-location. A mass missile barrage will target the border defenses of Syria, Saudi Arabia and the tank concentrations. The duration of this attack, which is 93% probable, will then be 6 to 13 days. The ISC will then demonstrate its effectiveness on the battlefield. Iraq, which has no means of satellite observation, will launch its few missiles mounted on fast mobile ramps blindly. It will use a random system ASS. On the Western coalition side, four spy satellites will provide images with a resolution of 4 cm. Nocturnal observations from satellites will be carried out in the visible spectrum, thanks to an electronic-optical amplification system, more effective than infrared. The multiple decoys used by the Iraqis to try to outwit the observations made from satellites will remain ineffective, due to magnetic field measurement systems, despite the considerable distance separating these satellites from the objects they observe. *
*... There is a very real risk, carefully hidden by the chancelleries of the Western countries. About 62 suicide commandos are distributed in the United States, in England, Israel, Italy, Canada, and to a lesser extent in other countries. These commandos have been ordered to contaminate the drinking water distribution networks with viruses treated in laboratories using genetic engineering techniques. Although the probability of success of such an operation is only 27%, WE URGE YOU TO MAKE WATER RESERVES BEFORE JANUARY 19. You must temporarily avoid consuming liquids or foods of foreign origin. Boiled water cooking will not be effective if the collection point is outside. In any case, do not worry too much. The probability for you, Spaniards, is only 1.5%. In any case, it is advisable to follow our recommendations. *
*... We know that the Iraqi president has chosen two options to protect himself if necessary. The first would be to take refuge in Iran on January 13, from which he could continue to follow the operations (he signed a secret protocol dated November 19, according to which he could find refuge in a country that was previously his enemy). The second option would be to flee to Libya. He has a private plane with a large range, which would be continuously followed in flight by a refueling plane. This last option would force him to take refuge necessarily in Iran, since on the Western side, there is a carefully established plan for intercepting any aircraft attempting to leave Iraq. However, the consequences of the Iraqi defeat (it is estimated with a probability of 85% that a ceasefire should occur before 13 days) are regrettable. The frustration of the large Arab masses could have unpredictable consequences. *
..........................................................................................................................Sender's signature
I have written two books related to these mysterious document receptions, of unknown origin. When I published the first one in 1992, I already had this document, but I did not dare to mention it, as the information it evoked seemed incredible, staggering. Ten years later, this text takes on a singular resonance. I believe that no one today could doubt that Arab countries and terrorist groups are capable of carrying out attacks by spreading biological and viral agents. Shortly after the September 11 attack, the FBI was able to highlight the fact that Mohamed Atta, one of the terrorists, had inquired about the conditions for renting airplanes allowing, in the United States, to spread fertilizers over large areas. The reaction was also to immediately control the rental of such aircraft, commonly used on large American agricultural holdings. But there are many other means that can be used to disperse a deadly agent. Some might reproach me for "giving ideas to terrorists." But it is not at all necessary for them. They are intelligent people, perfectly aware of the sciences and technologies. A contaminating agent can simply be poured into a water supply channel. It is evident that these channels could not be protected in a way that would interest hundreds of kilometers. In the case of a biological agent, the phenomenon of proliferation is essential, related to temperature and climatic conditions. Some attacks may be easier to carry out during the warm season, than in winter.
Regarding spreading a bacterial, viral, or toxin agent, a chemical or radioactive agent, terrorists dressed as police could seize a helicopter. Then, after stopping in a nearby place to fix their load: two large plastic containers fixed on the side skis, they could without raising any suspicion, fly at low altitude over a large urban concentration, spreading their cargo of death, the rotor's blast ensuring very effective dispersion. By zigzagging between buildings, at very low altitude, possibly at night, or in rainy weather (...) this helicopter, even if the flight was immediately reported, could not be easily destroyed by fighter planes. It would have to be opposed by a combat helicopter, the only one capable of quickly neutralizing it (it would be prudent to have one nearby in different urban concentrations).
No one is able to predict what will happen now. To reassure or worry the population makes absolutely no sense. The infiltration by "sleeping" commandos has already been carried out. Yesterday, Jean-Pierre Chevènement, former interior minister, estimated the number of extremist networks present in our country, possibly ready to act, at "a few hundred". The complete relaxation of the borders, the absence of customs controls (considered unnecessary, since the disappearance of customs barriers) has resulted in an arsenal of incalculable value currently stored on our soil. Regarding the bacillus of anthrax, also known as "anthrax", some clarifications:
Let us briefly return to the elements of the above letter. Several important points are noted. First, the irrationality of the character Saddam Hussein. It is not impossible, as it was already suggested at the time of the events, that the dictator was somehow pushed to the mistake by the Americans themselves, an oral message having been transmitted saying that "if Iraq became master of the Kuwaiti oil fields, in the measure that the westerners could benefit as before from the oil exports from the Middle East, at the same prices, this act would simply be perceived by the westerners as a settlement between Arab countries". It is not impossible that Hussein was foolish enough to fall into the trap set. Otherwise, without this act of invasion, how to justify an American and Western intervention in Iraq, whose real goal would have been to dismantle all Iraqi industrial activities, making it impossible or at least much more problematic for Iraq to acquire nuclear and thermonuclear weapons. This reckless act having been committed, the counterattack became legitimate, with the blessing of the member countries of the UN. In case of retreat behind its borders, Iraq would not have avoided a thorough inspection of its territory, justified by the invasion. The counterattack having been launched, the CNN chain arrogated the exclusivity of the coverage of the events. One then remembers these pseudo-reports announcing "that the situation was still confusing and that the American strikes continued". In fact, Hussein's troops had been routed as soon as contact was established. The secret Western weapon mentioned in the letter later became the "GPS". It is very likely that the Iraqi strategists had said to themselves "that the Americans would get lost in the desert". Not only did they not get lost, but their targets were constantly indicated by a satellite coverage that Iraq did not have. Beyond the fact that the armaments were not comparable, two belligerents were opposed, one of whom was constantly informed of the movements of the other, while the latter remained practically blind (radars, communication systems disabled by cruise missiles from the first hour of the engagement). General Schwarzkopf chopped up 100,000 Iraqi soldiers at minimal losses. But when he considered marching towards Baghdad, an order to stop arrived immediately from Washington. Indeed, Saddam Hussein remained a barrier against Iranian fundamentalism, which had caused a ten-year war and the death of a million men, including a hundred thousand children sent by the Ayatollahs to the minefields to open the way for the troops. By the way, I believe that in all human history, there is no case where children have been systematically used and sacrificed (as "demining tools"). The risk of Iraq joining the nuclear club was perfectly real. I personally knew very well the CEA engineer who was in charge of selling French nuclear technology to the Iraqis, despite the protests of the Israelis, who knew very well where all this would lead. But French stupidity is a safe value (remember that France gave political asylum to Ayatollah Khomeini, in Naufle-le-Château, until the death of the Shah of Iran). The French CEA therefore built the first elements of a reactor that was to be installed in Iraq and whose name was "Osirak", because the project was led by an Egyptian physicist, trained in France. He was later assassinated in France by Mossad agents. When the first elements of the reactor were on board, ready to be loaded onto a cargo ship, the Mossad destroyed them. Concerned about honoring their contract, the French then produced new components, which this time could be delivered to their destination. Iraq then built its first nuclear power plant, intended to lead to "plutonium-producing" installations capable of providing the plutonium for future bombs. To protect the reactor from aerial attacks, the Iraqis placed around it a forest of vertical metal rails to prevent any missile from approaching. But they had forgotten to protect the upper part of the installation. The Mossad then bribed a French technician who agreed to place near the reactor a suitcase containing a radio transmitter, which served as a radio beacon guiding bombs dropped by Israeli Mirages, which, after performing their low-level approach, gave their bombs a ballistic trajectory.
The reactor was destroyed, but Saddam Hussein, taking the lesson, decided to now do... as the Israelis, that is, to bury everything. Hussein did not at all hide the military purpose he pursued through these nuclear installations. One day, before his invasion of Kuwait, he was seen brandishing in front of television cameras "condensers", explosive devices allowing the compression of a plutonium charge in a fission bomb. The underground nuclear installations explain why the Americans have, under their planes, anti-bunker bombs, two tons, with a very high penetration power (30 meters!).
What to do today, in the face of an unpredictable possibility of a biological or chemical attack? Stockpile bottled water, which would be a short-term solution. If you have a well, have it cleaned and put back into operation. In case of danger, it would be better to consume phosphates rather than a deadly viral agent. Connect a possible well to a filtration system. Finally, have water decontamination systems. We saw in the above letter that boiling this water would not be sufficient for the agents used, genetically modified to become thermoresistant. A pressure cooker allows the boiling temperature to be raised, but not by much: 110 degrees instead of 100. There is a whole range of systems designed to decontaminate water, including quite simple and inexpensive systems, with ultraviolet, but we do not know their effectiveness against the agents that could be used. It should not be forgotten that it is not enough to decontaminate the water, it is also necessary to be able to decontaminate the kitchen utensils if necessary, which requires an autoclave. It would be wise to consider decontamination systems that can function with solar energy. A study is ongoing and you will be kept informed of our conclusions.
October 17, 2001.
I heard on television that people were wondering if Iraq could be involved in matters relating to the beginnings of biological attacks. I noticed that there had been mentions of alerts in ... Australia, a country that seems, at first glance, quite far from the problems related to the Middle East. But the reader will notice the sentence, extracted from the letter )+(
*...About 62 suicide commandos are distributed in the United States, in England, Israel, Italy, Canada, Australia and to a lesser extent in other countries. *
Simple remark.
For some days now, we have thought about different possibilities of fighting, individually or in small collectives, or even in larger collectives, against the consequences of biological attacks. These prospects are, of course, terrifying, but is not the purpose of terrorism, by definition, to try to terrify the population? One can recall certain things. Around the 1950s, the Anglo-Saxons wanted to test the possible effects of an attack by biological or chemical weapons, using a small island in the north of Ireland for this purpose. Total success. It is simply impossible to set foot on it for half a century. Its decontamination is technically impossible. Indeed, unlike radioactive contamination, biological contamination is undetectable.
How to decontaminate water? We have seen that genetic manipulations could potentially (and it is very likely the case) make viruses "thermoresistant", which could not be killed by boiling them at the temperature of boiling water. One can obviously think of using a pressure cooker, but the temperature reached does not go much higher than 110 degrees. As an autoclave, it remains limited.
By the way, if people had knowledge in bacteriology and virology, we would like to know at what temperature they consider the structures of biological origin would not be able to resist. To do this, send an email to:
| sciences | jp-petit.com |
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There would then be a first possibility, that the company SEB could quickly implement and which, in passing, would solve her problems of layoffs and employment, I suppose. Pressure cookers are not water sterilizers. They only allow faster cooking. If someone had asked the technicians of the SEB house a few months ago:
- Would it be possible, with your steel pressure cooker technology, to raise the internal temperature to, say, two hundred and fifty degrees?
- In these conditions, all biomolecules would be broken and the food would be completely inedible! - Yes, but if the idea was to sterilize water? - It is simpler to buy water free of all impurities. It is sold. I don't see what the market could be....
A pressure cooker is a steel container. Some models offer good heat retention. I imagine that the tanks are made by stamping, their thickness needing to be several millimeters. It would not be inherently difficult to modify the manufacturing process to result in similar systems, thicker, thus resistant to higher pressure and temperature. It is recalled that such devices would allow both the production of sterile water, preserving its minerals, and the sterilization of the indispensable kitchen utensils.
We are considering other sterilization systems. The use of solar energy could prove appropriate, under the conditions of a fully developed crisis (oil shortage, nuclear reactors and thermal power plants rendered inoperable). It should be noted that the only protection system considered to protect nuclear reactors from a suicide plane attack (they were only designed to withstand the impact of light civilian planes weighing less than 9 tons) would consist of posting armed soldiers with missile launchers at the sites, ready to fire at the plane before impact. The sun delivers a significant amount of energy, on sunny days and at our latitudes. It is close to a kilowatt per square meter, unless I'm mistaken. A solar mirror would allow heating water locally to high temperatures, and the energy would also ensure its circulation in a sterilization system, individual or collective. What is interesting is to specify how a mirror of one or even several square meters could be designed. The idea is to go back to the "Fresnel mirror." He invented what are called Fresnel lenses, which are used in lighthouses and, at reduced weight, are equivalent to monoblock lenses of one or two meters in diameter. Fresnel lenses can be found in plastic, very thin, in the form of self-adhesive stickers that can be placed on the back window of a vehicle to increase the driver's field of vision. All of this is well known. Similarly, it would be feasible to produce, on the same principle, thin plastic Fresnel mirrors that the user could then stick on a plywood board or any flat, adjustable, and sufficiently rigid support. A formula allows focusing solar energy along a segment. See drawings. It is then sufficient to place a black, heat-absorbing tube, through which the fluid to be heated and sterilized would circulate. The challenge remains to ensure continuous alignment of the mirror. This can be done manually or automatically. A photosensitive cell and a small motor, itself powered by a solar sensor, would suffice. In limited installations, the entire mirror can be oriented. Years ago, I had already considered using entire sections of rooftops to capture this energy. In these conditions, the focal segment should be arranged as indicated and moved continuously to be in the best position to capture maximum solar energy.
I don't know how we will get out of this crisis. One can hope that it will have several consequences. The first one: to make all countries and all ethnicities realize that selfishness and indifference to others' problems do not pay, and that it can become extremely dangerous and harmful. The second one: that technological level does not solve all problems of a country, especially those related to its defense. The third would be to encourage industrialists to finally develop these "soft energies" which could also benefit the entire planet.
1° November 2001
My friend R. Raynal, a biologist, gave me some information about the resistance of bacteria to temperature. According to him, bacterial spores are destroyed in a humid environment after being heated to 120 degrees for ten minutes. The improved pressure cooker formula could therefore prove interesting. Toxins, simple molecules, would be more difficult to destroy.
I then received a message from someone named Serge Aquatella. I thought it might be interesting to pass on this information:
...It happens that my company markets water treatment equipment. In my opinion, it is very economical and feasible to do your own water decontamination at home by adding an reverse osmosis system under the sink. A quality osmosis unit coupled with a UV-C cartridge is perfectly capable of removing all chemical and bacterial pollutants, including the smallest viruses. History: since 1878 (Downes and Blunt) and 1891 (Schenk), it has been known that ultraviolet waves of sunlight have a disinfecting effect and contribute to preventing the proliferation of infections. Indeed, science has shown that the invisible part of sunlight below 320nm has the effect of eliminating microorganisms such as bacteria, mold, yeast, and viruses. For a cost of less than 10,000, a osmosis + UV system is easy to install yourself. My website: www.arpsiprotection.fr
There remains a worrying question: how to design a system that is both effective and affordable to disinfect mail? The media have reported on an effective but very expensive system.
21 November 2001: These anthrax alert stories seem to have somewhat calmed down. But that does not mean it is good to completely forget about the problem of a potential biological war. In fact, no one knows what it could look like, because it is unprecedented. We only know that during the First World War, when "gases" were abundantly used and left legions of people with burned lungs, their use remained problematic and dependent on the whims of the weather. A change in wind was enough to send the cloud you hoped to send to the enemy's side right into your face.
The biological weapon is much more dangerous. The viruses emitted can mutate spontaneously. The weapon can spread on its own, creating areas impossible to decontaminate (like this island where the British tried to test the effect of anthrax on sheep populations during the war 1939-1945, and which remains extremely dangerous, or impossible to visit, because the earthworms have carried these damned spores into the depths of the earth by swallowing them, where disinfectants cannot reach them). In any case, a biological pollution poses more problems than a nuclear pollution, which can be detected using a simple Geiger counter. When the counter becomes silent, you can go in (as half a century later on the Bikini atoll). There is no way to know if an area is biologically decontaminated, except by analyzing each clod of earth in a ruinously expensive way.
Regarding the "reprocessing" of nuclear waste.
By the way, a small clarification. After discussions with my surroundings, I realize that the general public has only a very vague idea of nuclear pollution. In France, we have a "Nuclear Waste Reprocessing Center". How does it work? First, you have to get it into your head that there is no physical way to degrade nuclear waste, as you can, for example, degrade chemical waste through chemical treatments or thermolysis (decomposition by heating). Nuclear waste is a radioactive isotope. These are atoms that, as waste from the operation of a nuclear reactor, are unstable. They tend to decompose, producing neutrons, gammas, helium nuclei (alpha radiation), all of which are harmful to living cells and carcinogenic. Their "half-life" is the characteristic time needed for this decomposition to occur. Nuclear reactors produce waste with very varied half-lives. If we consider waste with half-lives longer than, say, a century, it is an eternity for us. This means that we will have to store these things somewhere, making sure that what they emit does not hit human beings. At La Hague, "reprocessing" nuclear waste means packaging. It would be more appropriate to call this place a Nuclear Waste Packaging Center.
These wastes come in a very wide variety of forms. They can be small objects, like these pills the size of an aspirin tablet that constitute the "fuel elements" of reactors. Therefore, it will be necessary to extract these pills from the tubes that contain them and to encapsulate them in cement or resin. When dismantling a reactor, a large number of structures, metallic or otherwise, of all shapes, which have become enriched in "artificial radioactive elements," which were born because they had been bombarded by the fuel elements. It will then be necessary to compact these objects, making them into sort of "César sculptures" (the famous inventor of compressed cars). All of this will be encased in an appropriate coating, resin or cement, which is easier to handle. By "processing" these objects, we only make these structures less bulky and more compact. Consequently, the heat emissions become more concentrated. When the elements to be "reprocessed" arrive at La Hague, they are transported in special wagons, immersed in water coupled with a cooling system: the wagons are equipped with radiators, clearly visible. The "reprocessed" elements are then stored at La Hague in two ways. Either we consider that they can be housed in parks, maintaining an appropriate distance between the elements. Or the heat emissions and radiation are significant enough to require their immersion and storage in pools. Water then plays a dual role. It allows the evacuation of heat and acts as a shield against radiation. This shield is indeed quite effective. I can cite a personal anecdote corresponding to a visit to the Nuclear Center of Cadarache at a time when the pool reactor ("Pégase" was its name, I believe) was still visible. A pool reactor has the same basic elements as a "normal" reactor. But instead of stopping the radiation with graphite bricks, these elements are simply immersed. In the case of Pégase, if my memory serves me right, the elements were only under a dozen meters of water. It was extremely spectacular because the nuclear reactions produced a blue light. Moreover, the particles emitted have a speed higher than that of light in water. It is known that dividing 300,000 km/s by the refractive index gives the speed of light in the medium. Since the refractive index of water is 1.5, light propagates at 200,000 km/s. The particles emitted by nuclear reactions, which go at speeds higher than that, create beautiful luminous structures, similar to "shock waves" (Cerenkov effect). The visitor could then witness the "guts" of the reactor. The layer of water was sufficient to ensure that the emerging radiation was at a sufficiently low level. But one could think that if one were to dive into this beautiful pool (warm water, by the way) and take a little swim to get a closer look, the damage would certainly be much more significant. One could thus witness nuclear death with the naked eye. This parenthesis is not useless, given that these files fall within the general context of terrorism. It is known that the French government has set up missile batteries to protect not only the reactors, but other sensitive sites such as these storage pools of La Hague, in anticipation of the impact of a commercial plane on such installations. Final remark: what is done with these "reprocessed" elements afterwards? Either they are kept on site, or people who are sufficiently cooperative are found to take them in their homes, possibly for a fee. This is the fate of poor countries or, in the United States, the Sioux Indians confined in the Bad Lands (the "bad lands" of South Dakota). Some even think that the French might eventually carry out illegal storage in mines within French territory. But that is another problem.
Back to this story of biological warfare. We have done some research. There are available equipment called autoclaves, in which water and objects to be decontaminated can indeed be heated to a sufficient temperature (at least 130 degrees) under a pressure of ten bars. The minimum price is around 10,000 F. When we have more precise documentation on this issue, we will report it on the site. It is ... a solution. We must try to think about such things, given that we have absolutely no idea what our future will be made of.
These autoclaves are available at quite high prices, given that the specific demand remains low. For now...
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