Eugene weekly., March 17, 2011, Page 8, Image 8

NEWS BRIEFS
The Benton County report noted that
dams in the Willamette river basin were not
designed to withstand such big earthquakes
and their failure could cause massive
flooding. The report said the probability of
such a failure is “less than once in 1,000
years and perhaps substantially less.
However, the consequences of failure are so
high that careful evaluation is certainly
warranted.”
But the OSU reactor safety report does
not appear to consider the risk of dam
failure cited in the Benton County report.
OSU states: “There are no lakes or dams
near the OSTR and, therefore, seismically
induced flooding due to dam failure or
seiches is not a risk.”
The OSU reactor is about 40 years old,
but it is only a 1-megawatt facility
compared to the 500 mw reactors in
Japan.
The Benton County report judged the
risk of an operational nuclear accident at
the Corvallis reactor “negligible, due to
the passive safety design” that is less
vulnerable to power failures.
Terrorism, not earthquakes, could be
the worst threat to the facility. The Benton
County report stated: “The possibility,
however remote, of deliberate terrorist
actions cannot be disregarded for this
facility and appropriate security measures
and
emergency
planning
are
recommended.” — Alan Pittman
PARTICLE
PARTY
When you’re a physicist in town for a
linear collider conference, what do you do
for fun? You hold a physics slam, DUH! At
least that’s what members of the American
Linear Collider Physics Group decided to
do.
Next Tuesday, six physicists will have
12 minutes each to clearly explain a topic
in particle physics — with panache. After
the presentations, audience members will
vote for the most clear and entertaining
presenter.
Leah Hesla of the Fermi National
Accelerator Laboratory thinks that some of
the audience members will develop a
newfound appreciation for physics because
of the straightforward style of the talks.
“The reason I think that many people are
turned off by physics is that they don’t
understand it in the first place,” she says.
“With understanding comes enjoyment.”
The physicists, or “slammers” as Hesla
calls them, are attending the conference
from around the U.S., Germany, Japan,
Switzerland and the U.K. They will throw
down at 7 pm Tuesday, March 22, in
Columbia 150 at UO.
Because the audience members grade
the scientists, this could also be therapeutic
for Eugeneans still reeling from high
natural local organic
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8 MARCH 17, 2011
EUGENE WEEKLY
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