OT: Well, Thank God They Won...

Submitted by JamesBondHerpesMeds on September 22nd, 2022 at 12:12 PM

The lede is not buried here:

The woman allegedly posted on social media that, if the Utes lost Saturday's game, she would "detonate the nuclear reactor that is located in the University of Utah causing a mass destruction," according to a police affidavit obtained by KSL. Police said in the affidavit that the woman had information about the reactor and had attended classes in the same building it is located.

 

Question for our MGoNERS -- did anyone call in any threats on the Phoenix Project reactor? And, more importantly, was it attached to any sports-related outcome?

Hab

September 22nd, 2022 at 4:43 PM ^

I call bullshit.  But if I'm wrong--and I'm happy to be--you're a better man than just about every other servicemember I know, who joined to look out for their friends, for the women, for the paycheck, and to blow shit up.  I thanked one of them for his service once and he promptly told me not to thank him; Uncle Sam thanked him twice per month.

Joined: 01/02/2015

MGoPoints: 39666

MAN-AT-ARMS

September 22nd, 2022 at 12:24 PM ^

It says she was booked and released. So does this mean authorities are admitting she was never really a threat if they just let her walk freely afterwards?  If so, does their case lose some strength considering even the authorities didn’t taker her seriously?

Joined: 12/21/2018

MGoPoints: 3160

Kapitan Howard

September 22nd, 2022 at 1:53 PM ^

Apparently it was a 100kW training reactor for students and her access to it amounted to that she knew it existed and took some classes in the same building it's in. Plus, it's not like there's a big red button on the side that says "press here to blow up." She obviously wasn't a serious threat, but the strength of her case is more of a legal issue that I cannot speak to.

Joined: 07/30/2009

MGoPoints: 6558

XM - Mt 1822

September 22nd, 2022 at 2:24 PM ^

book and release, aka, 'no bail' or 'release on personal recognizance' is the new thing in parts of the criminal justice world.  it is not a comment on the case, is generally based on the severity of the charges (apparently threatening to detonate a nuke facility is a non-serious offense?). and depending on the jurisdiction, not much short of first degree murder and/or a parole hold will keep someone locked up.  i make no comment on the wisdom or lack thereof to this approach.  i'm just the proverbial mail man, i didn't write the letter, so to speak. 

KH, that was funny

Joined: 12/21/2011

MGoPoints: 103058

andrewG

September 22nd, 2022 at 2:02 PM ^

They shutdown the Phoenix reactor my freshman year, sadly. Never heard of any threats called in, definitely heard some other stories though. Oscillations are really interesting in nuclear reactors. Usually they decay away really quickly, but with careful adjustments, you can keep them going, but it's difficult. Kinda like trying to balance on a bike that isn't moving. One professor apparently kept them going for something like 30 hours. It was alleged that his efforts may have been aided by a choice substance or two.

Joined: 10/20/2010

MGoPoints: 5257

ZooWolverine

September 23rd, 2022 at 12:08 PM ^

My high school physics teacher (in Michigan) was a Buckeye. He was a great and entertaining teacher, but he had a deep hatred for Michigan (or, at least, he enjoyed playing up his hatred with us since there were a lot of Wolverine fans in the class).

The only nice thing I ever heard him say about Michigan was how amazing the Phoenix reactor was. Apparently you could look down into the reactor pool, and the blue color was one of the most amazing things he'd ever seen. (His explanation, if my memory serves correctly, is that electrons can actually get through the pool more quickly than photons--because the photons keep colliding with the things (neutrons?) in the very dense pool, whereas the electrons can move more freely. Feel free to tell me I'm an idiot if that explanation is not remotely correct.)

Joined: 02/27/2009

MGoPoints: 3719

IYAOYAS

September 22nd, 2022 at 3:34 PM ^

I believe that was the Public Interest Research Group in Michigan (PIRGiM) who somehow made their way onto the registration form to obtain “voluntary” donations. Voluntary in quotes because their staff could be quite strident in the registration line, which was already an imposing task  

They were removed from the registration process through petition by a group known as SCRAP. 

It was all quite a hubbub back in the mid ‘80s. 

Joined: 09/13/2018

MGoPoints: 3485