Far Fetched True Tool Stories

[Bicyclegarage]

I have been lurcking on the fourm for a few weeks now and commented on a few posts .I was thinking about This fourm at work last night and rembered a story that happened a few years ago and thought it would make for an interesting thread.So post your far feched true tool story.

I work for the railroad .I was working day shift about 10 years ago. The senior guy on the shift was called into the bosses office over the radio when we were all out in the yard working trains .It sounded a little wierd but not out of the norm. Later at lunch he comes in and starts to explain why. West os Salt lake theit is a hazardus wast dump owned by Energy Solutions were they store low level radioactive wast.We shipp alot of cars out to them .Some containers some gons.all are covered and properly wraped .so what is in them for sure we have no Idea .That day he was to ****** a goverment inspector that had to inspect a car that related the following story. At you nuke power plants they can only use tools for a set period of time then they have to be disposed of .They only buy Snap-on. Mack, Proto and the likes.Well some of the low paid workers at the wast dump saw the tools they were disposing off and decided to a call a buddy and started throwing the tools over the fence .their friends would take them to the pawn shop and they were supposed to split the proffits .The buddy decided he would keep the money upsetting his friends who were stealing the tools so they called the cops. Getting all of them arrested.When they went to their house to investigate they found a large Snap-On tool chest full off tools that their kid was playing on with High levels of radiation.

 

[Stuey]

Summary: guys at nuclear waste dump stole Snap-on and other periodically disposed of tools, passed them to friends outside a fence, friends pawned then and pocketed the change, everyone got arrested. At one house was a Snap-on chest full of tools and there were high levels of radiation.

Doesn't really sound plausible to me. If the tools absorbed measurable levels of radioactivity, then the workers wouldn't be allowed to handle them without proper protection. And if so, there's no way they would be allowed to just walk off with the tools.

State agencies have such stringent regulations regarding chemical and contaminated item disposal. I can't imagine how rigid the regs and policies must be at federal nuclear facilities. I just can't see any way for this story to be true.

 

[Bicyclegarage]

I cant prove it. But The story goes they thought they could just was it off. I dont see how they could get off with a box but small stuff?

 

[Stuey]

I just don't see how it's possible. Working at a nuclear waste dump, they probably have to undergo initial safety training and then refresher training once a year or so.

Aside from how difficult it would be to walk off with nuclear or contaminated waste, workers would know of the dangers of coming into contact with such items.

Equivalent would be someone at biohazard accumulation and disposal center taking a blood-soaked $20 bill out of the pile. Even if they could, there is a high enough risk of bodily harm that they wouldn't.

 

[kythri]

If the cops were involved, there's a police report that would confirm.

What city, what agency? Should be easy enough to corroborate with that agency.

Heck, a story such as this should have hit the newspaper as well, and honestly, given the "ZOMGZ PANIC!" media these days, it should have been picked up by the national news.

 

[Roots]

Doesn't really sound plausible to me. If the tools absorbed measurable levels of radioactivity, then the workers wouldn't be allowed to handle them without proper protection. And if so, there's no way they would be allowed to just walk off with the tools.

State agencies have such stringent regulations regarding chemical and contaminated item disposal. I can't imagine how rigid the regs and policies must be at federal nuclear facilities. I just can't see any way for this story to be true.

I think that's a bit far fetched as well. There's far too much security, motion sensors, cameras, alarms, and heavily armed response teams that can shoot to kill guarding the exterior fences of nuclear power plants. That's completely skipping the complex procedures in place to use radioactively hot tools and such.

I could potentially see them being stolen from an EnergySolutions disposal/processing center, as they're a third party agency which certainly doesn't have the security apparatus in place as nuclear power plants. It would have been a shocking incident though, that would have made industry bulletins and after a quick precursory glance, I'm not seeing it.

I cant prove it. But The story goes they thought they could just was it off. I dont see how they could get off with a box but small stuff?

People exposed to radiation in nuclear facilities are scanned before exiting controlled areas, let alone gaining access to other controlled areas.

 

[trboxman]

Is this the tool fairy tale thread?

 

[zjrog]

I heard a variation of this about heavy equipment being buried at the Nevada Test Site... And a cement mixer that didn't get buried.

 

[kythri]

Didn't the sacrifice-zone motor pool at Chernobyl experience a similar issue? People sneaking in and stealing parts/scrap and selling it on the black market?

 

[Outlawmws]

A friend (sheet metal trade) used to work periodically in Nuke plants. Every time he came out he and all his tools were scanned for any radioactivity. Tools were confiscated and treated like any other low level radioactive waste. (yes they did pay him to go buy new tools)

Based on this, I find it HIGHLY unlikely that the story is true. If it were, it would have got into the news in a fairly big way. The few times any radioactive waste does go missing or surfaces where it's not supposed to be, it's always made front page in my experience.

 

[dieselmike]

I believe it. Its hard out there, everyone is trying to make a few extra bucks.

 

[Wakefield]

My suspicion is that if they are disposing of tools after a certain amount of time in the radiation zone is that it is preventive and that the tools are not very radioactive-maybe if you slept with one under your pillow every night it would be like having one cigarette every day..
There was a story I heard,don't know if it is true that a large part of the U.S. silver reserve got used in an experiment that caused it to become slightly more radioactive than normal silver and that that had something to do with the pulling of the silver dimes and quarters (90% content) that happened after/during 1964. The half-life time or something of the extra radiation supposedly allowed the silver to be declared safe again later. Don't know if I believe that.

 

[honcho]

There's a very true and tragic story of a radioactive source being taken from a closed medical clinic and contaminating / killing people in Brazil. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goiânia_accident for more information.

Lots of things get thrown in low level radioactive waste and depending on the level of contamination, there are different levels of security. Don't know about the truth of the contaminated tools, but I'm not sure I'd want to buy scrap anything from around Fukushima, Japan for a long time!

 

[MN Falcon]

Not totally far fetched. The company exists and does exactly what the OP says:

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/energysolutions.html

I could see some low paid people seeing the dollar signs and trying to do it. When I first started working at the UofMN I was made aware of a janitor in my area that broke into one of the addiction research labs and took off with some cocaine they had. Only problem is that the lab gets pure stuff and him and his buddies used it as street stuff and ODed. In fact this article list his death in '91 along with some other deaths/thefts. And we are supposed to be highly regulated.

http://brainerddispatch.com/stories/123099/new_1230990006.shtml

 

[Outlawmws]

Not totally far fetched. The company exists and does exactly what the OP says:

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/energysolutions.html

I could see some low paid people seeing the dollar signs and trying to do it. When I first started working at the UofMN I was made aware of a janitor in my area that broke into one of the addiction research labs and took off with some cocaine they had. Only problem is that the lab gets pure stuff and him and his buddies used it as street stuff and ODed. In fact this article list his death in '91 along with some other deaths/thefts. And we are supposed to be highly regulated.

http://brainerddispatch.com/stories/123099/new_1230990006.shtml

The article shows the waste company exists, no one disputed that. it does nothing to support the gist of the story

As far as comparing medical to nuclear regulation; apples and oranges would be close in comparison. As regulated as you think the medical industry is, there is no comparison.

 

[riceburner]

If it happened in Salt Lake City, then I would say it is most likely true.

 

[The Dutchman]

Maybe Bicyclegarage's story is true; maybe not.

Anyway, here's my weird tool story. A while ago I was at a Chrysler dealer. One day I found myself scrunched under the dash of a car, checking out an electrical problem. I had a continuity tester cradled in my hands. It had a real sharp probe. At one point I brought my hands up to my chest and tried to lurch myself further under the dash. The probe end of the tester jammed right up into my right nostril and punctured the little blood vessels in there! I pulled a handkerchief out of my back pocket and stuffed it in my nostril and began to climb out of the car. As I stood up, the service manager walked by, stopped, and said, "What the HELL are YOU trying to prove!?" I mumbled something about, "Long story, you wouldn't understand anyway", and pulled the hanky out.

The blood, which had backed up in my nostril cavity, started to pour out, since I guess those capillaries don't clot easily. It DIDN'T STOP and I got the crazy idea I was gonna bleed to death right there. After sticking some cotton balls I had soaked in ice water up my nostril, the blood finally stopped. The boss seemed more worried about the few drops of blood that had landed on the driver's seat than anything else. That didn't keep him from getting one heck of a charge out of my stupid little accident, though.

Pretty soon the whole shop knew what had happened and it would be YEARS before I lived it down. Every couple days I'd hear something like, "Hey, Carl--I need some excitement today. Can you show me how to shove a continuity tester up my nostril?", or some variation thereof.

Well, a few years later I quit the Chrysler garage and wound up at a Volvo dealer, where, to my knowledge, none of the guys knew anyone from the Chrysler place.

One day our parts runner was over at the Chrysler dealership picking something up, and when he got back he came over to me and said, "Dude, do you know some parts guy named Marty over at Chrysler?" I nodded and he replied, "He told me to ask you if you've shoved any continuity testers up your nostril recently. What's up with that?!" So now everyone at Volvo and the Mopar place knew what a klutz I was!

Arrrrrrrrrrrrrgh!

I work at a different garage now, but it never ends. Recently I stood up real fast under a pick up truck and got 7 stitches in my forehead. Now it's, "Don't head **** me, Dude!", or, "Feelin' RAMMY today, buddy?!"

 

[Kev442]

There was a story I heard,don't know if it is true that a large part of the U.S. silver reserve got used in an experiment that caused it to become slightly more radioactive than normal silver and that that had something to do with the pulling of the silver dimes and quarters (90% content) that happened after/during 1964. The half-life time or something of the extra radiation supposedly allowed the silver to be declared safe again later. Don't know if I believe that.

I fuzzily recall the government sucked up all the silver for contact switches in everything from nuke bombs to super computers to atom smashers to submarines. Too many problems from copper contacts in critical conditions.

 

[purplezr2]

Not totally far fetched. The company exists and does exactly what the OP says:

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/energysolutions.html


http://brainerddispatch.com/stories/123099/new_1230990006.shtml

Local newspaper from back home, how interesting.

 

[gmwelder86]

THe director of my apprenticeship ran a project on a nuke plant, all tools stayed in the plant reguardless of time. If it went in it didnt come out. Everything from hand tools to welders to rigging equipment. It was bid in the job to stay their. Easier to do that than to deal with the hazmat to get rid of it.

 

[Bicyclegarage]

Energy solutions Is a low levelwast dump. basicly the garbage from nuke plants . No fuel rods .security isnt as high as you would think.could be tru he could have made it it up.The cars the stuff is shipped in isnt watched.So you decide. Now lets here some more tool stories

 

[Hiball]

We send Gons full of Radioactive Dirt out West, I bet it goes to the same place.

 

[Chadro]

Didn't the sacrifice-zone motor pool at Chernobyl experience a similar issue? People sneaking in and stealing parts/scrap and selling it on the black market?

Wouldn't surprise me. Have you ever seen the photos of all the military hardware the Soviets simply abandoned there?

 

[kythri]

Wouldn't surprise me. Have you ever seen the photos of all the military hardware the Soviets simply abandoned there?

Oh, I've seen them, and they abandoned that stuff for good reason.

I saw a neat "motorcycle photo tour" some Russian or Ukrainian gal did a few years back of the city surrounding the reactor. Eerie but neat stuff.

 

[cundifc]

I heard a second hand story from a friend that works for a certain west coast power authority that has Nuc power plants an often times they will do what they call
Shut downs on the plants and do regular maintance and things like that on the reactor and related parts. They buy all brand new tools for each specific shut down. Check them in and check them out. He said they bought 10 new miller welders to use on one shut down. After the job was done they were to load the welders in a container to be disposed of properly. Apparently not all the welders made it into the containers and a few folks no longer are employed.

 

[G_P]

The areas around Chernobyl are constantly being stripped for scrap metal. The city of Pripyat has had almost all of its cast Iron radiators torn out and hauled off.

There are acres and acres of abandoned vehicles and aircraft there that are radioactive yet people still sneak in to steal parts off of them to keep their own vehilces running.