What's New Robert L. Park 18 May 2012

WHAT=92S NEW   Robert L. Park   Friday, 18 May 2012    Washington, DC=20

1. BOMBS: AN "OPEN-MIC BOMB" IS DETONATED ON THE HOUSE FLOOR.
At a nuclear safety summit in March, President Obama, unaware that a near=
by=20
microphone was live, told Russian President Dmitry Medvedev that he would=
=20
have =93more flexibility=94 in missile defense negotiations after the 201=
2=20
elections. The United States currently maintains an arsenal of 5,113=20
nuclear warheads, down from a peak of 31,225 in 1967, but it=92s still va=
stly=20
beyond any conceivable need, expensive to maintain and a target for=20
diversion by terrorists. Nevertheless, determined to sabotage any Obama=20=

initiative, House Republicans voted yesterday to block nuclear stockpile=20=

reduction.=20

2. FIRE RETARDANTS: CHICAGO TRIBUNE EXPOSES INDUSTRY SCAM.
Last week the Chicago Tribune published a riveting four-part=20
series, "Playing With Fire," about the widespread use of toxic flame-
retardant chemicals. It's not like it's a trade-off, where fire safety=20=

comes at the cost of increased chemical pollution; so-called "fire=20
retardants" do nothing to suppress the inferno when foam upholstery is=20=

ignited. Liberal senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) was so outraged by the Tribun=
e=20
expos=E9 that he demanded to know why the Consumer Product Safety Commiss=
ion=20
had not implemented the furniture-flammability rules it proposed in 2008.=
=20=20
Although I've been kept informed by my friend Arlene Blum, a UC Berkeley=20=

chemist who is the Executive Director of the Green Science Policy=20
Institute, I confess that this is the first time I=92ve mentioned the fla=
me=20
retardant scandal in WN.  In my defense, there is more bad science than I=
=20
can cover, but from now on I will include the fire retardant scandal.

3. HELIUM CRISIS: THE WORLD IS RUNNING OUT OF HELIUM.
Physicists, it must be acknowledged, have a certain reverence for "helium=
,"=20
the second element in the periodic table, without which the 20th century=20=

revolution in physics would never have taken place. There is no substitut=
e=20
and the supply is nonrenewable. Helium exists on Earth today only as a=20=

product of radioactive decay of heavy nuclei in the crust of our nascent=20=

planet.  It accumulated in the same underground geologic formations that=20=

trap natural gas (methane). At a maximum concentration of 2.7%, natural-g=
as=20
wells represent the only practical large-scale source of helium. North=20=

America has more helium than any other region of the world, but is also b=
y=20
far the biggest consumer.  When it's gone, it will be gone forever =96 un=
less=20
we succeed in generating power by deuterium fusion. In that case helium m=
ay=20
again be abundant, but that day is a long way off.  In 1925 a Federal=20
Helium Reserve was created in Amarillo, TX as a strategic supply of gas f=
or=20
airships. By the 1950s helium had become essential to electronics=20
development but huge amounts were being squandered by NASA on low priorit=
y=20
tasks such as purging the fuel tanks of shuttle rockets. However, most=20=

members of Congress remain unaware of its use for anything other than=20
inflating party balloons. Over the objections of the American Physical=20=

Society, which urged an increase in the helium reserve, the 1996 Helium=20=

Preservation Act ordered the Interior Department to liquidate the Federal=
=20
Helium Reserve by 2015. What then?
=09

THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND.
Opinions are the author's and not necessarily shared by the
University of Maryland, but they should be.
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