BRADWELL nuclear power station, on Britain鈥檚 Essex coast, has been generating
electricity since 1962 and is licensed to operate until 2002. The station鈥檚
operator, the government-owned company Magnox Electric, is hoping for an
extension to 2012. Feedback was passing by recently, and dropped in to take a
tour.
It was impressive. Magnox Electric is most anxious to reassure us that what
happened at Chernobyl could not possibly happen in Britain. Maybe so, but
Feedback could not help noticing a few cracks in the PR veneer.
First, the coffee machine at the visitors鈥� centre delivered the wrong drink.
鈥淚t keeps doing that,鈥� admitted the harassed receptionist. Then, the tour guide
was feeling tired because the lift that carries people up to the top of the vast
reactor hall had been out of action all day. So everyone had to climb seven
floors of stone stairs past the 鈥淏urst Can Detector Room鈥�.
Advertisement
Every visitor is given a magnetic card that lets them through the main
security turnstile. When the card is swiped, a green light goes on. But the bulb
was a dud, so the visitors had to listen for a telltale click.
Visitors are allowed inside the main control room. Knowing what can happen
when a PC relies on Windows, Feedback was a little unnerved to see one of
Bradwell鈥檚 control centre computers using Windows 3.1. But we were assured that
this PC plays only a minor part in the control system.
Finally, everyone must leave the reactor hall through another locked
turnstile that checks for radiation. The guide, however, could not get out. Her
magnetic security card had somehow self-erased. So while the tour waited on one
side of the safety barrier, the guards had to turn off the alarm system to let
the guide through to join them.
Nobody seemed very bothered, though.
OH, THOSE mean old boffins!
Metro Publishing, publishers of Roger Highfield鈥檚 Can Reindeer Fly?
had the bright idea of launching this book of Christmas science at a London
shopping mall. All the scientists asked to the launch would visit Father
Christmas in his grotto, eat a mince pie or two and celebrate.
Unfortunately, children shopping with their parents in the mall spotted the
bearded one as the boffins queued up to visit him, and tried to join in the fun.
Nasty scenes of generational jostling looked imminent, so the grotto was hastily
closed to adults and children alike.
Now we will never know what Santa had in mind for Feedback鈥檚 present.
CONFUSED about digital TV and what it means? Then look no further than
Britain鈥檚 popular women鈥檚 weekly, Woman鈥檚 Own. The magazine carried a
leading article last month 鈥渢o take you through the maze and sweep away the
尘测迟丑蝉鈥�:
Question: First of all, what is digital?
Answer: Simply, what we鈥檝e got now is an analogue system, which means
pictures come to our TVs via a pattern of wavy lines. Digital pictures come in
via straight lines so there鈥檚 no distortion.
So now you know.
READERS of this magazine will have been delighted by the recent descriptions
of tardigrades, those odd little 鈥渨ater bears鈥� which can go into a state of
suspended animation for more than a century (This Week, 31 October, p 26, and
Letters, 14 November, p 60).
It occurs to Feedback that this makes them the perfect pet to give a loved
one at Christmas, unlike other animals which may not be looked after
properly.
The upkeep of tardigrades is minimal鈥攋ust give them a bit of damp moss
and they鈥檒l be fine鈥攁nd it is extremely difficult to be cruel to them,
since they can, for example, withstand being boiled, frozen, exposed to a vacuum
or to pressures of 6000 atmospheres.
And if you get bored with them, why, just pop them in a box where they can
dehydrate. A few weeks, months or years later you can rehydrate them and enjoy
observing them lumbering about again. Or you can leave them in the box and, when
the time is ripe, hand them down to your children.
AFTER a strong northeasterly gale, an injured kestrel was recently brought in
to a rehabilitation centre in Seahouses, Yorkshire. At first glance it seemed
like an ordinary entrant suffering from a broken wing and dehydration, but close
examination revealed a Danish coin grasped in its talons.
Had it brought the coin all the way from Scandinavia? If so, why? Graham
Bell, who runs the centre, thinks that the bird must have brought the coin as
payment for its board and lodging. As a service to other migrant birds out
there, he is now letting it be known that the centre also accepts travellers鈥�
cheques.
IF Britain鈥檚 supermarkets are anything to go by, Christmas is going to be a
movable feast this year. A special Christmas mincemeat tart Tony Holkham bought
last month in Sainsbury鈥檚 bore a festive 鈥淗appy Christmas鈥� label and carried the
advice 鈥淏est before 17 Nov鈥�.
Meanwhile, Chris Elliott reports that Tesco is selling an Advent calendar
marked 鈥淏est before 1st April 1999鈥�.
FINALLY, during an item about the recent Leonid meteor shower, the
鈥渋nformation banner鈥� on the satellite TV channel Sky News explained to viewers:
鈥淢eteors appear as bright as shooting stars.鈥�
They do indeed. Just as eggplants appear as purple as aubergines . . .