Post by swamprat on Feb 6, 2012 19:37:27 GMT -6
'Mutant' spider fears at nuclear waste lab
By BELLA BATTLE
Published: 06th February 2012
SCIENTISTS are investigating a bizarre white cobweb found on nuclear waste - amid fears it could have been made by a 'MUTANT' SPIDER.
In a freakish echo of the Spider-Man comic strip, workers at a US nuclear waste facility discovered the growth on uranium last month.
The white 'string-like' material - never seen before on nuclear waste - was found among thousands of spent fuel assemblies submerged in deep pools.
Experts from Savannah River National Laboratory collected a small sample of the mystery material to run tests.
A report filed by the Defence Nuclear Facilities Safety Board concluded: "The growth, which resembles a spider web, has yet to be characterised, but may be biological in nature."
The report said the initial sample of the growth was too small to characterise, and that "further evaluation still needs to be completed".
But the bizarre growth will stoke fears that nuclear fuel can cause Frankenstein-style mutations.
Experts say that any creature inside in the pools of water - which are intended to protect workers - would have been exposed to the nuclear fuel.
This raises the prospect of a creature having morphed into a new species of 'extremophile' after being exposed to uranium.
Organisms with a natural resistance to radiation are said to be 'radioresistant,' and do exist.
Osman Kemal Kadirolu, a former professor of nuclear engineering at the University of Istanbul, said: "As we know life evolves in most unusual places.
Volcanoes in the mid-Atlantic are thriving with life where the water temperature is below 0C and pressure is more than 300 atm - or in hot salt water pools around geysers.
"The water in the spent fuel pools is maintained at a certain pH and temperature. If micro-organisms enter into the pool they may have a chance to live.
"The radiation field near a spent fuel assembly is very large and will definitely disturb the normal life cycle of the micro-organisms.
Will Callicott, a spokesman for Savannah River National Laboratory, said in an e-mail that officials hope to collect a larger sample for analysis.
He added: "Whatever it is, it doesn't appear to be causing any damage."
www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4110865/Mutant-spider-fears-at-nuclear-waste-lab.html
By BELLA BATTLE
Published: 06th February 2012
SCIENTISTS are investigating a bizarre white cobweb found on nuclear waste - amid fears it could have been made by a 'MUTANT' SPIDER.
In a freakish echo of the Spider-Man comic strip, workers at a US nuclear waste facility discovered the growth on uranium last month.
The white 'string-like' material - never seen before on nuclear waste - was found among thousands of spent fuel assemblies submerged in deep pools.
Experts from Savannah River National Laboratory collected a small sample of the mystery material to run tests.
A report filed by the Defence Nuclear Facilities Safety Board concluded: "The growth, which resembles a spider web, has yet to be characterised, but may be biological in nature."
The report said the initial sample of the growth was too small to characterise, and that "further evaluation still needs to be completed".
But the bizarre growth will stoke fears that nuclear fuel can cause Frankenstein-style mutations.
Experts say that any creature inside in the pools of water - which are intended to protect workers - would have been exposed to the nuclear fuel.
This raises the prospect of a creature having morphed into a new species of 'extremophile' after being exposed to uranium.
Organisms with a natural resistance to radiation are said to be 'radioresistant,' and do exist.
Osman Kemal Kadirolu, a former professor of nuclear engineering at the University of Istanbul, said: "As we know life evolves in most unusual places.
Volcanoes in the mid-Atlantic are thriving with life where the water temperature is below 0C and pressure is more than 300 atm - or in hot salt water pools around geysers.
"The water in the spent fuel pools is maintained at a certain pH and temperature. If micro-organisms enter into the pool they may have a chance to live.
"The radiation field near a spent fuel assembly is very large and will definitely disturb the normal life cycle of the micro-organisms.
Will Callicott, a spokesman for Savannah River National Laboratory, said in an e-mail that officials hope to collect a larger sample for analysis.
He added: "Whatever it is, it doesn't appear to be causing any damage."
www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4110865/Mutant-spider-fears-at-nuclear-waste-lab.html