For Kodak, nuclear reactor and weapons-grade uranium proved useful

Kodak had a nuclear reactor

An Eastman Kodak facility had a small nuclear reactor and 3 ½ pounds of weapons-grade uranium for more than 30 years. (Associated Press / May 14, 2012)

Kodak has the bomb.

 … OK, not really. But according to a report from the Rochester, N.Y., Democrat and Chronicle, an Eastman Kodak facility had a small nuclear reactor and 3 ½ pounds of weapons-grade uranium for more than 30 years.

Kodak. The company that makes cameras and printers.

“It’s such an odd situation because private companies just don’t have this material,” Miles Pomper, a senior research associate at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies in Washington, D.C., told the Democrat and Chronicle.

No kidding. A spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission told the Los Angeles Times that the company had enriched 1,582 grams of uranium-235 up to 93.4%, a level considered weapons-grade. Good thing Kodak isn't in Iran; that’s the kind of thing Israel’s been threatening to go to war over.

The company was using the reactor to check its chemicals and perform radiography tests, the commission said, and had upgraded to its in-house system after using one at Cornell University, according to the Democrat and Chronicle. It was reportedly guarded and monitored carefully.

Kodak, not known as one of the world’s nuclear powers, filed for bankruptcy protection in January and has been shedding some of its holdings.

Lest this story conjure up memories of the anxiety over “loose nukes” after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Kodak ditched the uranium in 2007 with the coordination of the U.S. government, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Neil Sheehan, a commission spokesman, told The Times that he doesn't know how many private companies have weapons-grade uranium but that Kodak’s situation was rare. “This was a unique type of device they were using at Kodak,” he said.

Only one other like it existed, and it belonged to the U.S. Department of Energyand was decommissioned in the 1990s.

According to government data, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission oversees 31 research reactors in the U.S. Most of them are at universities, but Aerotest in San Ramon, Calif., Dow Chemical Co. in Midland, Mich., and GE-Hitachi in Sunol, Calif., have each had operating licenses to run research reactors for more than 40 years.


 

Views: 57

Comment

You need to be a member of 12160 Social Network to add comments!

Join 12160 Social Network

"Destroying the New World Order"

TOP CONTENT THIS WEEK

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THE SITE!

mobile page

12160.info/m

12160 Administrators

 

Latest Activity

tjdavis posted a blog post
15 hours ago
Doc Vega posted a blog post

Is America on the brink of a Dire Emergency

 You might know if you have remained informed that America has been under asymmetric warfare for…See More
Saturday
tjdavis favorited Burbia's video
Thursday
tjdavis posted videos
Thursday
rlionhearted_3 commented on Sandy's photo
Nov 11
cheeki kea posted a photo
Nov 11
cheeki kea favorited tjdavis's blog post Propaganda,Cognitive Warfare Europes Self Destruction
Nov 11
cheeki kea commented on tjdavis's photo
Thumbnail

Sustenance

"Bacon health to the nation for one and all and stealth for operations elsewhere in the war. Yip a…"
Nov 11
Doc Vega posted a blog post

The Consequence of Loneliness: Another Missing Person Case

Chapter I“Unit 7, Unit 7. Do you read? This is dispatch!”“This is Unit 7, over!” Deputy Patterson…See More
Nov 10
Cora is now a member of 12160 Social Network
Nov 10
tjdavis's 3 blog posts were featured
Nov 10
Doc Vega's 6 blog posts were featured
Nov 10
Sandy posted a photo
Nov 9
Doc Vega posted blog posts
Nov 9
tjdavis posted a video

Devo - Fresh

"Fresh" is from Devo's 2010 album, Something For Everybody. Video producer – Brian Carr/David VotteroVideo director – Gerald Casale & Davy Forcehttps://www.C...
Nov 8
Doc Vega commented on tjdavis's blog post Drones Used In Gaza Surveilling US Cities
"Remember that song by Alan Parsons "Eye in the Sky"?"
Nov 8
Snakedaddy favorited tjdavis's video
Nov 8
Doc Vega posted a blog post
Nov 7
tjdavis posted blog posts
Nov 7
Cora favorited Doc Vega's blog post They Won’t Stop
Nov 6

© 2025   Created by truth.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

content and site copyright 12160.info 2007-2019 - all rights reserved. unless otherwise noted