Category Archives: Technology

Idaho, Technology, U.S.

Ancient Nuclear Powered Jet Engine found in Idaho Desert, Proof of Ancient Alien Visitors?

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Text: AAron Hutchins

Photos by: Alex Hutchins (click on the pics to make them bigger. More pics, including plaques that explain HTRE, in the Galleries section, click on the INL Nuclear Power Site)

Barely noticeable from the two lane highway, sitting literally in the middle of nowhere, a brick building with some strange caged objects next to it. Getting any closer doesn’t help you identify the metallic two story tall objects, behind locked fences with barbed wire on top. They seem extraterrestrial. Perhaps some ancient Alien visitors left behind their space vehicle?

HTRE-3

It’s like something out of X-Files. But this isn’t Area 51, in Nevada.  It’s not Roswell, New Mexico.  It’s eastern Idaho, and today is windy and cold.  As my son Alex said, “It’s Big Wind.”

As far as ‘ancient’ goes, well, some people might think 1950s is ancient.  That’s when the strange twisted metal craft first appeared. Extraterrestrial?  Many people in the 1950s thought the scientists of the day were out of this world with their crazy ideas, like nuclear powered jet aircraft.

Taking Exit 93 off Interstate 15, turn west towards Arco. Stay on Highway 26 for about 40 miles.  As you drive the lonely 40 miles you’ll pass the big “Welcome to the INL” sign. Then you’ll come to an intersection, make a left, just follow the arrows to Arco. You’ll see building complexes to your right, that’s part of the main Idaho National Laboratory complex.

INL Entrance

At that point pay attention to your left. You should see a lone building in the distance, EBR-1, the world’s first nuclear reactor. That’s where the strange alien vehicle looking things are. There should be a left turn lane coming up, with signs for EBR-1.  Make the turn, then another left turn lane, again follow the sign for EBR-1.

It’s a desolate place, my son and I were the only ones there that windy, cold day.  We passed a couple of parked cars on the roadside, with no one in them, out in the middle of nowhere, mmm.

EBR-1

There they are, like something left behind, and forgotten, by some advanced species, in the middle of the vast, windy East Idaho desert, HTRE-1, 2 & 3.  The three huge Heat Transfer Reactor Experiments units making up world’s first nuclear powered turbine engine. Intentionally twisted metal, big pipes, gigantic turbos, and two little jet engine exhaust at the back. Don’t think these guys are safe, they’re radiation warning signs all over.  Many of the openings and fittings are sealed off.  Even the giant weld seams on the reactor have been recently coated with a white colored material.

Nuclear powered jet engines and the lead-lined train that pulled them.

Some people would say that only an evil scientist would come up with such a thing. Maybe they’re right? General Electric spent one billion taxpayer dollars on the project, before it was canceled by President Kennedy in 1961. And that’s 1950s dollars, whew!

There are several informational plaques that give the visitor more understandable, and more interesting, info than what I found on the internet. Like “Operation Wiener Roast”. They actually burned a nuclear turbine engine to see if dangerous levels of radiation would be spread if a nuclear powered aircraft crashed.

Operation Wiener Roast

Testing of the reactor turbine was successful, but an actual aircraft was never developed. The program was conducted in Idaho, in Test Area North, of what is now called the INL.  The project was managed by the U.S. Air Force and the Atomic Energy Commission.  There’s lots more information on the signs, you need to go there to look for yourself.

One things for sure, this archeological find proves that the U.S. government spent taxpayer dollars on some really far out stuff in the 1950s.

Radiation signs next to jet engines.

Lead-lined train in the Arco desert in Eastern Idaho. Photo by Alexander Hutchins.

GHOSTLY NUKE TRAIN ROLLIN’ ‘CROSS IDAHO DESERT

Fukushima, Technology

U.S. sending World’s largest Concrete Sprayers to Japan

Claimed to be the largest concrete spraying trucks in the world, they will be on their way to Japan, after upgrades in California and South Carolina.

The two trucks are made in Germany, for spraying concrete for skyscrapers.

Kelly Blickle, a spokeswoman at Putzmeister America Inc., says similar types of trucks were also used on Chernobyl in 1986.

Officially the trucks will be spraying water, but if necessary, can spray concrete to entomb the reactors.

Fukushima, Technology

Power Blackouts will hurt Japanese Industry more than thought

A Japanese industry analyst, interviewed on NHK, said most of Japan’s industries will be hurt more than thought by rolling blackouts.

For several days NHK has been running reports on different industries that would be affected by power outages. Some of those industries, like bread factories, would have to shut down for longer than the planned 3 hour blackout. This is because of the process for making bread. The bread factory official said they would end up being shut down for 6 hours.

Most factories need to control heat processes for a long period of time, and they can’t do that with power outages.  It’s also interesting to see that most factories in Japan do not have any back up power source. Most of Japan’s industries are totally dependent on nuclear power.

The analyst said on NHK, that Japan’s industry must be prepared to move factories to other parts of Japan, or even to other countries.  In the future Japan’s industries must be built so that they can operate independently of any single power source.

Business/Economics, Fukushima, Technology

Effects of parts shortage in Japan will hit United States hard in April, the Dominoes are falling

“This is the biggest impact ever in the history of the automobile industry.”-Koji Endo, Advanced Research Japan

Parts, from electronics, to mechanical parts for cars, to paint pigments, are shipped by slow boat. That means that the U.S., Europe and other parts of Asia have NOT begun to feel the true impact of the Japanese shut down.

Warehouses in Japan are almost out of the parts they had on hand at the time of the March 11 earthquake/tsunami, and the ongoing nuclear power plant disaster.  Since then, Japanese factories have had trouble after trouble trying to get their factories restarted.

The United States, Europe and the rest of Asia can expect the full impact of Japan’s shut down to begin in April.

Many factories in Japan are without power to operate. Some factories have lost employees to the disaster.

This disaster in Japan reveals the weakness of a truly global economy.  If one part of the chain breaks, it’s in trouble. It should be viewed more like dominoes, if one domino falls, others will be brought down with it. Japan has become the trigger domino, because it has basically become the parts supplier to the world.

Here’s why this is so bad for the worldwide auto industry: About 3,000 parts can go into one car. Those parts come from dozens of factories, and most are in Japan. But it gets worse, some of the “parts” are made up of many tiny parts. And, you guessed it, those tiny parts also come from dozens of other factories. It’s a friggin’ logistical nightmare, it’s a wounder the auto industry didn’t collapse because of parts supply issue sooner!

It’s not just cars. Get ready to see shortages of computers, video game systems, printer ink and even batteries. So much for a global economy! Can you say idiot in Japanese? It’s Baka!

Fukushima, Technology

Panasonic shipping batteries INTO Japan

Japanese company, Panasonic, is rushing to get batteries shipped into Japan.

Batteries for electronic items have run short after Japanese bought up all they could after the March 11 disasters.

Panasonic makes batteries in Japan, but even with increasing their production, they can’t meet domestic demand.  Usually batteries are shipped by boat, because of their weight, but Panasonic is using airfreight.

Current battery shipments are coming from Indonesia and Thailand. The April shipments will be coming from Belgium and Poland.

Fukushima, Technology

Local governments in Japan lost all documentation in Tsunami, computers no help

The coastal towns along the north east coast of Honshu, lost all official documentation regarding their cities, and residents.

Not only “hard copies”, but everything stored on computers. All computers were destroyed by Mother Earth. Basically you would’ve had to store everything of importance inside a old fashioned bank safe.

So much for high tech.

Fukushima, Technology

Retail stores cutting back on power, shoppers in the dark

In Japan, in order to cut back on the usage of electricity, many retail stores are cutting back on operating hours, and on lighting.

Japanese consumers have less time to shop, and in some stores, are shopping in the dark.  Stores are keeping most of their lights turned off.

Consumers say they don’t mind, especially because they know it’s due to the triple whammy of disasters that have struck their country.

Fukushima, International, Technology

Radiation NOT an IMMEDIATE Threat? What do they mean?

The Japanese government has told people not to eat the vegetables, and not to drink the water, because of radiation contamination.  At the same time they say “There is no immediate threat.”

What they mean by that is, that the levels, and types, of radiation contamination is such that you will not notice any bad effects “immediately”.  However, if you continue to eat, drink, or expose yourself to even the lowest levels of contamination, over time you will suffer bad effects.

For example: Iodine-131 is a short life span radioactive isotope. It collects on your thyroid glands (just like iodide), and if it builds up will cause cancer. Even low levels of iodine-131 will build up on your thyroid if you keep eating, drinking, or exposing yourself to the contamination.  This is why the Japanese government is telling people to stop eating the vegetables, and stop drinking the water, even though there is no “immediate” threat.

In other words, it’s still bad, bad, bad!

Fukushima, Technology

Tokyo Electric says power outages will continue into summer

TEPCo said that Japan needs to prepare for rolling blackouts well into summer 2011.

The power shortage is a direct result of the nuclear disaster.

TEPCo is warning Japanese industries to make plans for the power shortage, such as reducing production.