So I started on this new story to try out sci fi this is my opening for the story!

Quote:We were awakened by the android from our so called “thousand year slumber” me and my crew were subjected to when we left earth. Our pods opened steam rising up from them like we used to see in the movies made two hundred years ago that inspired us to undertake these travels in the first place.

I, the captain of the ship had to inspect the ship personally and was greatly aided by this by the android that woke us up earlier and was not surprised by the fact that everything was still in pristine condition as the day we went to sleep in our pods. Without human skin fragments to make dust it was an easy job for the robotic vacuum cleaners to keep the ship clean. I noticed that the ship wasn't properly cleaned with water and soap by the humanly shaped android we call Bob instead of something like Xb-9522 the bureaucrats would have want us to call him which was one of his tasks. After the whole ship was inspected, the gardens for our organic food was still operational and had given us enough food to sustain ourselves for at least 5 years , I told Bob I wanted to go to my office and see the mission data reports the ship computers automatically lade and send back to our ancestral home of earth, in the hopes that global warming hadn't yet destroyed the planet and our colony and newer home of Mars and the moon of Jupiter called Europa. So the home fronts could track our progress and receive notice of our success or failure.

Personally,when we entered my office I was surprised when I entered my office, to find my old coffee cup, now overtaken by mold, still standing on my desk. Turning to the Bob asked him why it was still there. I got the simple reply that if I wanted him to wash the cup we, the humans, should not have turned off the water system before heading to bed. It could not get any water, while the water he could get was confined in the water processing room that was linked up with our pods to provide us some sustenance while in this coma like state.

We, as in humanity, can build a space ship that can travel countless light years on its own on autopilot, cannot yet build an android that has basic problem solving skills, I thought while I face palmed away explaining where he could have found water to clean everything. Of course I put him to that task as well aided by the robot vacuum cleaners so we would have a clean ship to land with in our project planet.

We had found this planet while looking trough a microscope on Europa, suitable for human life our scientist predicted. So within the year the first colonist were send ahead as a spearhead to open the way for the rest of humanity to move with us. All are proud to serve humanity on this mission, even Bob for most of the time.

If we consider the order of preference, the winner was Medieval RP (character). MTRP Brigidna was the second most voted option. At a much more distant third, it was MTRP Europe. But let's see the numbers to have a clearer picture of the survey:

• Medieval RP (character) was chosen as first option by 37.5%. MTRP Brigidna was chosen as first option by 25%. Other three options received 12% (that's, only chosen by one person).
  
• Medieval RP (nations) was chosen as second option by 37.5%. Unless you are too picky, it is safe to say that a Medieval RP is the most preferred scenario, as 62% of the people who answered the survey chose a Medieval RP (either character or nations) as first or second option. The second place was again for MTRP Brigidna with 25%, the same as Space RP (although nobody chose Space RP as first option).
  
• If we ignore silly Flo, another person voted for Medieval RP (character) as third option. MTRP Europe obtained two votes, giving it the third scenario overall. The rest chose scenarios which didn't receive votes as first or second scenarios.
  

Royal Family of Lomarre (1594-___)



His Royal Majesty Vittorio-Emanuele di Haggia, King of Lomarre, King of Trinitas-Principe, Duke of Trivenze, Duke of Cerberia.



Her Royal Highness Eugénie Joséphine Valois, Queen of Lomarre, Queen of Trinitas-Principe, Princess of Eskkya, Duchess of Trivenze, Duchess of Cerberia.

So I picked up The Sims 3 recently, as it was on pretty deep discount during Steam's latest winter sale. It may surprise everyone here (except Sal) to know I'm actually super into virtual dressup and lifestyle stuff -it's at least half the reason I play online games with clothing and character customization- so naturally I've had my eye off and on Electronic Arts' virtual dollhouse simulator for a while. So far I've put 24 hours into the game, as of writing this post, and 95% of that time has been spent in the create-a-Sim mode. I have no expansions or "stuff packs," and I don't know why; either I was really dumb, or EA was really dumb and didn't put them on sale either, and if it's the latter then...well...at least there's always mods.

I chose 3 over the newer and shiner 4 because 3 is on Steam and I bought it during a lazy perusal of the deepest parts of my wishlist. I also chose 3 over 4 because 4 is an objectively worse version of 3 with shiner graphics, smaller homes, more gamification, and even more content stripped out of the base game to be served a-la-carte in even more overpriced DLC and "stuff packs" that still somehow come out as less content than equivalent versions in 3. Yeah, four or five years on and I'm a little salty. As for the Sims 3 game itself, I've been having a blast and I've barely gone outside character creation, like I've said. I remember back in high school, I had a "Sims: Bustin' Out" sort of almost-spinoff game on the PS2 that was okay, but it was nothing compared to this. Customization options are huge and robust, even though I agree with an old friend that everyone seems to have big cheek bones and either rigid jaws or none at all.

Regardless of anything, as often as I wax lyrical to Sal about this game after having barely played it, it's pretty evident I'm having a blast. However, my feelings for this game are not why I'm here, so I'll get right down to it:


Can I add you to my Sims game?

I've been floating an idea around (inspired by the same old friend) to do a sims story about this community, where I would put people in my town and then write about their happenings while controlling them as little as possible - because controlling avatars of real people is weird and gross. Unfortunately, I know my ambition exceeds any time I'd have to do such a thing regularly with a new job coming soon and all my other projects that I will eventually get to, so I think I'll settle for just having you all in the town where Sal and I made a household, and maybe just report on the occasional story as it pertains to our play and interactions.

Yeah.

So anyway, if you're okay with a creepily authentic version of yourself in our Sims game, please let me know here or otherwise, because I won't do it if someone takes offense to the possibility of some guy on the internet they've never met creating detailed virtual dolls of their likeness for fun and lols and weird stuff possibly happening to them. I know that sits wrong with some people. Also, it's just a lot better for people to come up with their own personalities, as they know themselves better than I know them; it's a little odd, saying "this person has this personality" when I barely know them.


"What do you need from me, then?"

All I need is your written consent. Just post here or send me a PM saying "sounds good," "I don't mind," "You're amazing and I love you, please take my virtual body as your own," or whatever else suits your fancy. If you don't consent, then there's no need to say anything; I will only create Sims based on people who've expressly consented. I know, I'm pretty sane for a grown-ass man who plays with virtual dolls.

Also, a name is okay if you want a real name used, otherwise I'm using online handles and/or randomized name generations. I know some people's names already, but I'm not going to use them.

Your astrological sign helps, as well as your favorite food, music, and color. I know people use these for online security questions, so it's fine to not share them; I can make up that crap.

In addition, I'd prefer having some form of picture to use as a basis for your Sims model. This can be sent in a PM if you'd like to keep it secret, otherwise I'll default to these threads (btw, show us your new selves! I know you're not all babyfaces anymore!)

Lastly, I'd like 5 traits and a lifetime dream/wish/ambition. I'll spoiler a list of both down below, for the sake of convenience:

Eternity Minecraft - Server Codex

Quote:This Codex will contain tutorials on plugins and features of the server, recommendations for client side mods, resource packs, shaders, and quick lists for plugin commands.

I will be updating this page as plugins are added and removed.  Additionally if anything else is recommended, I'll add new pages.  Some information might change how its worded.  Most things are directly copied from Seperallis' original posts, but now they are in an easy to access spot.

Mestras Recommended Features Wrote:These are optional, but I recommend them especially the resource pack.

Show ContentMods:

• Forge - Required to run Forge mods.
  
• Optifine - A minecraft optimization mod, allows for higher performance and support for advanced textures.
  
• liteloader - A lightweight mod loader.  Required to run liteloader plugins.
  
• TabbyChat 2 - A liteloader plugin, tabby chat changes the chat GUI giving you the ability to create tabs for different channels.  This will make chat more like a traditional MMO.
  
• Chunkborders - A liteloader mod; this will show the boundaries of chunks, and locate chunk centers.  This is useful for the Factions mod.
  
• Spawn Detector - A liteloader mod; this mod allows you to see where mobs will spawn by displaying a transparent x on blocks.  Yellow where mobs can spawn during the night but not the day, and a red x where they can spawn at any time.  This is very useful for lighting your builds while minimizing mob spawn.
  
• WorldEditCUI - A liteloader mod; this is more for Admins and Moderators who have access to worldedit.  This mod generates a line box around areas selected by worldedit giving you an interface when copying areas.  This works well with Spawn Detector and Chunkborders.
  

Installing Forge and Liteloader

1. First, run the latest version of Minecraft that the server uses from the launcher.
   
2. Download the version of Forge that corresponds with the version of Minecraft you are running. You can either grab a .exe or the .jar file.  I typically will use .jar files.
   
3. Run the Forge installer.  This will create a new profile, likely named forge.  
   
4. Select and run the Forge profile to populate the .minecraft folder.  You can select the new profile from the MC launcher by clicking the green arrow next to the green button at the bottom of the launcher.  Select the profile that contains 'forge' in the title.
   
5. Download Optifine for the version of Minecraft you are using.  Drop the optifine.jar file into the mods folder inside your .minecraft folder.  You can access the .minecraft folder by:
   • On PC: Selecting the search option, type in Run.  Open the Run dialog box.  Type in %appdata% and hit enter.  This will open a Roaming folder with .minecraft at the top.  You should see a mods folder after you run the Forge profile.
     
   • On Mac: Go to the desktop or Finder folder.  Select the Go tab and then at the bottom the Go To Folder option.  Type in ~/Library/Appliation support/minecraft.  You will now be in the minecraft folder and should see a mods folder if you ran the Forge profile.
     
6. Launch Minecraft Forge profile (this is your new profile that you will always use).  Once at the menu, select options and then video settings.  If you see additional options, then Optifine is installed.
   
7. You are now done installing Forge and Optifine.  Below is to add Liteloader and additional QoL mods
   
8. Download Liteloader and run the .jar or .exe installer.
   
9. In the inherit from or use existing profile option (should be the top line), select the forge profile you just set up when installing forge.
   
10. Complete the install and select the new liteloader forge profile. This is done by clicking the green button as when selecting the Forge profile above.  Run this profile.  If liteloader installed correctly you should see a tab to the right side that will slide out when you hover over it.
    
11. Download any liteloader mod you want and add these to the mod folder in the .minecraft folder.  Liteloader and Forge mods will be in the same folder and should not conflict with each other.
    
12. You can verify Optifine is installed by clicking on Video settings, you should see many options now.  For Liteloader mods, click the liteloader tab on the right side of the main menu, you will see options for the mods it is currently running.
    

Liteloader has a nice diagram flow chart for installing both Forge and liteloader, you can find it here.

Show ContentOptimizing Minecraft:

Recommended for Vanilla and Modded Minecraft

• Open the Minecraft launcher.  Go to Launch Options found on the top menu. If you do not see the Launch Options click the stacked icon to open the additional options.  You will now see a list of profiles installed on your system.  Above these profiles are options, click the Advanced options and acknowledge the prompt.
  
• Click on the Profile you will be using.  For Vanilla MC, it should be the latest version or whatever version you are using.  For modded Minecraft it will either be a Forge or a Liteloader-forge profile, if you used the install procedure from the Mods section of this post.
  
• Look for the line that says JVM arguments, and click the button on the left.  It should now turn green.
  
• You will see a line of code: -Xmx1G -XX:+UnlockExperimentalVMOptions -XX:+UseG1GC -XX:G1NewSizePercent=20 -XX:G1ReservePercent=20 -XX:MaxGCPauseMillis=50 -XX:G1HeapRegionSize=32M
  
• You will edit this code to allow Minecraft to use more RAM, which will help improve system performance.  You will change the -Xmx1G to a new RAM number.  For example to go from 1 gb to 3gb change the text to -Xmx3G.
  
• If you are only running vanilla Minecraft, you are now done.  If you have a modded version see below.
  

Modded Minecraft - Optifine

• Once installed, Optifine will provide many new graphical options for you to use.  I recommend playing around with the options to see what will work best for you're system.  If you have a good computer, you can run graphics on fancy.  If your system is a bit older, run graphics on fast.
  
• The second major thing to take a look at is Render Distance.  This is greatly extended.  Change this setting while in game, to find the best range that your system can handle without lagging.
  
• Lastly, go to Video settings and then Details.  Turn Clouds Off.  This is mostly so clouds won't clip buildings that you build, and to prevent buildings above cloud layers from not displaying.
  
• If you are using the Conquest_ Resource Pack
  • To optimize Conquest and make the game look great, go to video settings and then details.  Turn Clouds off if you have not already done so.  Conquest has its own skybox with clouds that look much nicer.
    
  • Next go to Quality Settings.  Make sure Clear Water is Off.  I recommend turning Better Grass on to Fancy, but Fast will work.  This changes how grass displays and makes it look more natural.  If you have performance issues with Fancy, try using Fast setting.  If you still have issues then turn this feature off.
    
  • In Quality Settings, I recommend turning Connected Textures to Fast.  This changes how textures connect to one another and can make block placements more natural in some cases.  E.g. Grass and dirt blend more naturally.  Also placing some blocks changes their texture.  E.g. Placing two workbenches on top of eacher will make a cabinet, while placing two workbenches next to each other will make a dresser.  These items still function as workbenches, but the textures allow for furnishing of a build.
    
  • Also in Quality Settings, you can turn Better Snow on if you wish and your system can handle it.  This will add snow under transparent blocks such as fences and tall grass.  Allowing more immersion.
    
  • In Performance Settings, enable Fast math.
    
  • This is it for optimizing for the Resource Pack.  Some of the above options can be used without conquest, but they look better with the Pack.
    

Show ContentResource Pack and Shaders:

Installing Resource Packs can be done in two ways: Either by going to the .minecraft folder and dropping the resource pack into the Resource Pack folder or by clicking Options and then Resource Pack in game.  Typically you will leave the resource pack in its archived format. e.g. a Zip file.
Resource Pack

• Conquest_ - Conquest is a medieval inspired resource pack that greatly improves the visual quality of minecraft, at least in my opinion.  You will need to use Optifine for the best experience.  This pack also contains connected textures, custom 3d model support, and the ability to change the appearance of armor and weapons by renaming the item at an anvil. I recommend taking a look at the metadata section and biome specific textures. These can add depth and variety to the game and make it so some blocks appear differently in some biomes compared to others.
  Note: Unzip this resource pack into a folder called Conquest_.  This pack adds many options outside of graphics and to work optimally it needs to be in its own folder rather than an archive file.
  

Shaders
Note: Shaders require optifine to be installed and a decent to high end PC for performance.  There are some low performance shaders that can work nicely.  You can install these by going to the .minecraft folder and dropping the shader file into the Shaders folder generated by Optifine.

• Conquest of the Sun
  
• Chocapic13
  
• KUDA
  
• Wisdom
  

Server Plugins Wrote:

Show ContentDynmap Signs:

dynmap web bukkit Wrote:To use these, the first line of the sign MUST be [dynmap]. After that, any non-blank line will be included in the label of the marker, except for lines formatted as icon:<icon-id> (which allows the marker to be set to use a specific icon - if not specified, the icon "sign" is used). If the marker is successfully created, the sign's text will erase the [dynmap] & icon: lines. If the sign is later deleted, the corresponding map marker is deleted.

Example:  After placing a sign (this can be protected with LWC) the format of the sign should be as follows:

line1 = [dynmap]
line2 = icon:temple
line3 = text
line4 = text

You may see a list of icon IDs by typing /dmarker icons in chat. You can see what the icons look like by accessing the Dynmap Marker Icons list.

Show ContentEssentialsX:

A fork of the abandoned "Essentials" plugin, this plugin ads huge changes and functionality to users...and the things I've allowed for you to do aren't even a fraction of what it can do or allow! You can send/receive mail, use private messages, set home locations and teleport to them at willAs a matter of fact, the collection of commands is so massive, I don't have time to list them all here for your convenience. BUT! I will try to at least give a rundown of some of the most important stuff:
Sign commands:: you can set up signs to perform certain functions! Currently, only trading (which may not work yet, sans an economy), disposal (trash), and mail signs can be made, but more may be added in the future. You can read about how to make these special signs here.
Mail:: You can send and receive mail, for offline private communications! Use /mail in game for instructions and to use your mail.
Private chat:: You can now send private chat messages in game! Type /msg <username> (or /m, /t, /tell) to send a pm to that person; use /r (or /reply) to respond to someone you messaged, but you'll need to use /r <username> to change the target of your replies, of someone else messages you and you want to respond to them, instead.
Create & Teleport to Homes:: The most epic and useful of all, use /sethome <home_name> to set the location your standing on as a home location; use /home <home_name> to teleport to your home location (it automatically defaults to your bed). /delhome <home_name> will delete a home location.
Teleport to Spawn whenever you want:: /spawn
Go kill yourself...:: /suicide
...then go back and get your stuff:: You can go back to the last place you teleported from, or the last location where you died, with /back. Enjoy it while you can, this may disappear around/before the server goes public.
Get your bearings:: Find out where you are without cluttering debug info with /depth, /getpos, & /compass. If you've spent too much time spelunking, you can figure out what time it is with /time.
@ For a list of commands while in game, type /help essentials in chat.
@ For help on how to use some commands, and more detailed descriptions, see this link.

Show ContentChairsReloaded:

Tired of ugly-ass minecart chair exploits, or nice-looking chairs that do nothing? Well, now you have working chairs! There are no commands here, just functionality. To make a working chair:
1) Place a stair block. Any stair block, in any number in a continuous string.
2) Place a blank sign on either end of the stair block.
3) Right click the stair to sit.
That's all there is to it.

Show ContentMinepacks:

Frustrated with having to make, like, fifty trips to a storage chest while mining because your inventory got filled with 20 stacks of dirt/cobblestone and a handful of extraneous items that take up all the rest of your inventory even though they're not stacking? Me to! So I doubled your inventory size through the use of "backpacks!" What's more, you keep all the items in your backpack if you die, even if you die in lava! Convenient, innit?
Commands:

• /backpack help - Lists all the commands of this plugin.
  
• /backpack - Opens your backpack.
  
• /backpack clean - Removes all items from the players backpack.
  

Show ContentPickup Money:

A plugin that makes it so monsters and blocks can drop monies! I've set it up so that not every monster drops money when they die (and they won't do it all the time), and I changed the drop rate and put a cap on money earnings over time, to get ahead of possible inflation (but you can increase the drop amount by using a weapon with "looting" enchanted on it). Gold, diamond, and emerald ore also drop money when mined. Players also drop money when killed by other players. Like...all their money. 100% of your purse is dropped on the ground when someone kills you. However, I know that can quickly cause salt and chaos, which is why we also have banking options!

There are no commands associated with this plugin. Just kill/mine things, and get money.

Show ContentTime is Money:

Now you get money just for being logged in! It's a small amount, about $1 per minute every 10 minutes (for people without the special "vip" tag, which may be introduced later for donating to the server) but it does add up in the course of a day, a week, a month of building. You don't earn monies for being afk. This plugin also adds the option of banking via a sign-based "atm" which can be accessed via a right-click, which opens an interace whereby you can withdraw or deposit monies.

@ to make an ATM (assuming you have permissions) you set up a sign with this format: > click here <

Show ContentHyperConomy:

n all-in-one economy plugin, allowing for various kinds of shops and trading all in one plugin. Allows for a server-wide money-based economy with dynamic prices that can either change based upon supply, or be set manually by people in their shops. I haven't configured the economy completely as I still need to edit the database and tables and etc etc etc, but it "works" and that's the key thing. Sadly, i don't think I can set up the plugin to use items as money (like gold bars or emeralds, or whatever), so we're using arbitrary numbers to represent value. Use /balance to check your number of monies. I intend to set up a server-run central "bank" that'll accept your shinies in exchange for monies to spend, and various server shops from which to buy things that are otherwise hard to get.

Admitedly, there's a lot of commands to list here.
@ > Go here < for a list of commands for using HyperConomy
@ > Go here < for a list of commands for setting up your own shops and stuff

Show ContentSuperTrails:

Shinies to wear! Type /trails to open the interface and pick soem really neat trails to follow you around and be pretty! This may go away later, but for now, enjoy being pretty. Find out more here

Show ContentFactions:

This is absolutely YUUUGE. This update brings a faction plugin to the server, allowing players to join together and claim parts of the world, waging war between each other to cull or claim their enemies, making allies, building their bases...yeah, I still prefer Towny, but I figure we lose nothing by giving this a try. Faction claims protect the claimed plots of land from griefing, as faction leaders can assign permissions to areas under their control, which is the main reason why I was looking at something like this.

Factions also came with an assortment of other plugins that'll really give the server some flair:
- CreativeGates - introduces the ability for players to create their own linked portal networks, for that day in the future when I limit everyone to a single /home. Oh yes, it's coming. Tongue
- MassiveBooks - Greatly expands the uses for books and gives additional functionality, such as the ability to edit a book after writing one, creating "server books" - prewritten books that'll automatically write themselves if you use their title for your book - and item-frame bookcases that'll let you create actual functional libraries, among other things. Pretty wicked.
-MassiveHat - Silly hats for silly people. Turn anything in your inventory into a hat!*

Factions works best with a lot more people than we have, but we'll give it a try, yeah? Oh, and on that note...

You can create Faction Mobs!
This is basically a way for factions to raise large standing armies - for a price -  to wage their warfare. Certainly not a good as fighting real people, but who doesn't like riding into battle with hordes of minions are their back?

Show ContentCitizens2:

This is massive. I mean, not as readily massive as some of the other plugins, but this one has the potential to grow based on how it's used. We can have NPCs wandering our world, performing various functions, acting as our, well, citizens. Already I have a few plugins installed that introduce certain "traits" to the created npcs, which determine how the npc behaves. More may be added in the future, but so far we have:
- Alchemist - An npc that will create certain potions for you if you have the right ingredients...for a price. Potion recipes still have to be created on my end, but I intend to make every non-splash potion available.
- Blacksmith - You can now repair your weapons, tool, and armor...again, for a price. Who knows, you might get lucky and find yourself with something better than you had before. Wink
- Builder - Bring the builder the right blocks, and he will build your buildings for you. Can be set to make new constructions, or moitor an area for changes and change them back to how they were; useful for fixing war damage, or guarding a creation against griefing/mistakes. Makes use of schematics, which an admin or mod will have to create, but this will be the primary way for you to transplant your builds from creative maps into the survival world...for a price, of course. (Oh, also, only those who've supported the community financially will be able to make use of this; just fair warning)
- Sentinel - Create customizable and equipable guards for your homes/cities/bases/whatever. Can be set to patrol an area, sit in one place, attack only certain targets, etc etc. Keep those annoying husks out of your home.
- Hypermerchant - Create npc shopkeepers that'll sell your stuff for you with an easy-to-use graphical interface and a minimum of weird text-based commands...for a small commission.  Also, your shop NPCs will show up on the dynamic map for everyone to see what you're selling and where you're selling it, which is nice.
- Denizens - This...this is huge. We can create fully scripted NPCs that will do whatever we want. This one isn't some plug-and-play plugin, this one actually requires a lot of actual scripting knowledge, but the payoff would be huge if I/we could get a handle on how it works. I'm talkin' quest npcs, simple townsfolk, travelers, gatekeepers, conversationalists...This is huge. This is beyond my ability. This is something I really need to get a handle on, and make some really unique stuff.

Oh yeah, did I mention our NPCs will now show up on the dynamic map? Because they will.

I change jobs about every 18 months, so I know it's difficult to keep up with what I'm doing at the moment.  You would be forgiven if you were to not know what I do, so let's start with that.  Right now, I work with a team that assesses hazardous environmental chemicals, either naturally-occurring like radon and manganese, or manmade and industrial releases, for potential health impacts on the community. Part of this includes radioisotopes and nuclear hazards.

I had the opportunity in 2017 to visit a decommissioned gaseous diffusion plant in mid-deconstruction. I thought it was pretty neat, and thought some of you might think so, too.

Disclaimer upfront: We were not allowed to bring any kind of electronic device inside the facility other than the radioactivity monitors we were given, so I don’t have any pictures of my own. However, a lot of this information I’m going to share is available online, so I’ll pull/source photos from there.

First things first…



What’s gaseous diffusion?

Perhaps this comes as a shock [/sarcasm]: I am not an engineer or a chemist or a thermodynamicist. That being said, I understand the basics and I will explain the process to the best of my understanding.

Per the All-Knowing Wikipedia, “gaseous diffusion is a technology used to produce enriched uranium by forcing gaseous uranium hexafluoride (UF6) through semipermeable membranes. This produces a slight separation between the molecules containing uranium-235 and uranium-238.”

Going back to high school chemistry for a minute, isotopes are different versions of a chemical element with varying numbers of neutrons (the parts of the atom’s nucleus that have no charge). U-235 and U-238 are isotopes of uranium. Easy peasy. Natural uranium (Unat) - being exactly what you think: uranium found in nature - is found almost entirely (99.3%) as isotope U-238, and only slightly (.7%) as U-235. There’s at least one other isotope I’m not getting into because it’s not relevant to this. Anywho, when you hear the term “enriched uranium”, that refers to Unat whose composition has been altered to yield uranium with a higher U-235 percentage. U-235 is the stuff that humans use for nuclear power, whether weapons-grade (highly enriched, 20-85% U-235) or reactor-grade (low enriched, <20% U-235). Why this isotope? Unlike 238, 235 is able to sustain a fission chain reaction. That’s the process that makes the energy whereby one nuclear reaction causes a self-propagating and exponential series of subsequent nuclear reactions, but I didn’t fully research it to tell you anything beyond that so I’m going to drop this here.



look at these Basic Beckys

There is more than one method to go about enriching uranium, and one of those is - yep, obviously - gaseous diffusion. Gaseous diffusion operates on the basis of Graham’s Law, which is that gas with a higher molecular mass will pass through a semipermeable membrane (effuse) more slowly than one with a lower molecular mass. The equipment used to complete gaseous diffusion is called a stage and it is comprised of:

1. A large metal cylindrical tank inside which the magic science happens. One gas goes in but only two may leave. Or something.

2. The semi-permeable barrier which is inside the tank.

3. A compressor used to pressurize the gaseous molecules and force them through the stage.

4. A heat exchanger so it doesn’t get too hot and go boom (compressing gas heats it up).

5. Lotsa Cold War-looking science pipes and industrial knobs.

UF6 is used as the starting raw material. It’s got uranium in it, so we’re off to a good start, but remember that the uranium atoms in each of the UF6 molecules are mostly isotope 238 with just a tiny amount of 235 sprinkled in. What we want to do is turn that tiny sprinkling into a hefty portion.

Why do we use UF6, by the way, and not some other kind of uranium-containing molecule? Because UF6 is the only uranium-containing molecule volatile (read this as: vaporizable; able to be sublimed; in the gaseous state of matter) enough to be used in this process. It is used because it is the only option. Seems valid.

The compressor applies pressure to the UF6 gas which pushes it through the semi-permeable barrier inside the big tank. As it moves along, strong and powerful U-235 atoms, which are just barely smaller than SAD very low energy U-238 atoms, escape through the almost incomprehensibly tiny pores in the barrier and into the lower-pressure chamber inside the tank. The enriched U-235 gas is then sent through one tube and the depleted U-238 gas is sent through a separate one. Probably to the gulags for being so useless.


Like this.

Cool! We’re done! …Right?



These two atoms are almost the same size. I mean, you have a difference of a few neutrons. A neutron isn’t even a whole atom. It’s part of an atom. You have a size difference of part of an atom. Some freeloading U-238 atoms are going to cross the semipermeable barrier and hitch a ride in the enriched gas tube. For this reason, the gas must pass through multiple stages and repeat the process over to enrich it more and more until you have a U-235 content than can sustain a fission chain reaction. This series of stages is called a cascade.

That was more information than I meant to dump. My bad. Hopefully you found it as neat as I did!



Portsmouth: A Background

The Portsmouth plant was commissioned by the US Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) in 1952 to be built somewhere in the Ohio River Valley. In August of that same year, the AEC decided on Pike County, OH; the chosen location had a large water source needed to cool down the cascades during pressurization, a reliable power source, and adequate personnel. Goodyear (the tire people) was chosen to be the operating contractor in September while plant construction went to Peter Kiewit Sons’ Company. This whole thing was going to cost somewhere in the ballpark of $2 billion to build, and it was going to be completed in such a way that each process building was going to come online as it was finished, meaning part of the building would be in use while others were still being built.

This place is massive. The aerial view below doesn’t do it justice. The original plot of land on which this thing sits is 4,000 acres and, when construction was complete, contained 25 miles of paved roads and more than 20 miles of railroad. The plant was constructed with 100,000 tons of structural steel and so much concrete that a concrete batching and mixing plant was constructed onsite to speed things up. The three main process buildings which house the diffusion cascades contain hundreds of miles of piping and tubing, all of which had to be coated because UF6 is corrosive. A water pumping station to cool the processes and a power station to power it were also built onsite. In addition to the three main process buildings, there was also a cafeteria, administrative offices, warehouses, utility buildings, fire department, water treatment facility, and hospital. Like I said, massive.



BIG BOY!


Construction on Portsmouth was completed (at only $750 million - a real bargain compared to the initial $2 billion estimate) in 1956 with the first units going online in ‘54. It operated under Goodyear from startup until 1986, Martin Marietta from 1986 until 1995, and Lockheed Martin with the merger of Martin Marietta and Lockheed until its closure in 2001. When still in use, Portsmouth had a peak demand of 2,100 megawatts of electricity, sucked 40 million gallons of water daily for cooling processes, and burned 7.5 million tons of coal annually.

All this to produce 8.3 million separative work units for the nation’s defense programs as well as fuel for nuclear power plants.

It was shut down in 2001 when operations were consolidated with the Paducah plant in Kentucky. The US Enrichment Corporation (USEC), for a while, worked on resuming a gas centrifuge operation on the Portsmouth site that had been attempted in the 1960s, but construction was halted in 2009 when the US Department of Energy would not guarantee a loan of $2 billion. As far as I know, the plan is still to construct and operate the centrifuge facility, but it’s still pending.



What does decommissioning this plant entail?

Decontamination. A looooot of decontamination. 60 years’ worth of industrial solvents and spent UF6 canister levels of decontamination.

The EPA currently has Portsmouth listed as a Superfund site. Superfund, or the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) is a program is a program that forces parties responsible for the contamination to either perform clean-up operations themselves or to reimburse the EPA for doing it. It tries to prevent situations like the Love Canal disaster in which industries throw their toxic waste and byproducts wherever - into soil, drinking water, etc. - and take no responsibility when people later become sick from it.

There’s also the obvious demolition duties that will need performed. Several buildings and one power plant have already been torn down, but there is still a lot left to be completed.  Decontamination and decommissioning are called D&D.  Not the one with the dice, ya nerd.

We got to tour a new landfill that was being constructed on-site. The specs for this thing were impressive and the super specific ways that all the scrap metal and concrete and other things that would go into it had to be folded and laid into the cells to make sure everything fit as planned was kind of mind blowing. I guess it makes perfect sense. I just never thought about landfills before.

The hope for all this effort is for the land to eventually be usable by another industry, possibly even a power plant.



That’s cool and all, but what’s it like in there 17 years later?

A plant that has been semi-shut down for almost two decades is exactly what you’d expect it to be like. I say semi-shut down because, as you could guess, deconstructing a nuclear energy plant takes some effort, and there are still people who work there.

The three main processes buildings, X-333, X-330, and X-326, make up the bulk of the footprint and contain a combined 7.73 million square feet of floor space. We went inside one, the X-333. This was the first building in the process when the plant was in operation; the cascade would have started there, so this is where the UF6 would enter and where the uranium would be totally unenriched. It’s basically been gutted of all the cells and most of the cradles holding the cells, so what you’re left with is this huge, empty concrete and steel hangar sort of thing. There are holes in the roof and it was pouring rain into the building when we visited, and it’s barely air conditioned. Interestingly, there are sections that are fenced and/or barb wired off, and big roped-off areas with warning signs like “this area contains PCE” (I don’t know how the PCE fumes know to stay behind the ropes, but....)

The official Portsmouth Virtual Museum has lots of good photos, both historical and more recent.  I'm going to *ahem* "borrow" some from them for these purposes.


A panoramic photo of X-330 in 2010 taken from the catwalk.  This is the best representation I found of what we saw.



X-333 in 1991. This is how it pretty much still looks today.



Also X-333.  These tanks are probably empty now, but this shows some of the tubing/piping.



This soon-to-be-pensioner laughs maniacally as he loosens the seals on the spent UF6 and releases the radionuclines. Checking seals on UF6 containers. I posted this one for scale on the containers.



The level of PPE you need to be in the building varies depending on where you are. The part we visited were low risk areas, so we got by on shatterproof safety glasses, hard hats, and steel-toed boots - plus the radiation monitors, like I said. But we definitely did wave hi to some people deeper in the bowels of the building who were in full hazmat suits. The bright yellow sci-fi ones like you’re imagining, yep.

One of the neatest things I saw was that the buildings are so large that the workers ride bikes inside.

Outside was pretty spooky, too. I think the weirdest part had to be the stacks of empty UF6 containers all neatly organized and labeled. They weren’t fenced off or anything, just kind of off to the side on asphalt slabs. There was a little nylon rope sort of thing around them with radioactive materials placards every ten feet or so. Just chilling out there.

The old area for where the final enriched uranium would be received by the military still stands, and it was pretty nifty, too. Just two concentric chain link fences surrounded by a whole lot of razor wire under a kind of awning thing. You’d think it would be more than that. At least I did.

Here are some things you can see in the aerial photos from :


Power station and spent UF6 containers behind process building X-330.



A closer look at just how many UF6 containers there are with the water tower for scale.  Note: these are stacked at least two high and this is not all of them.



The water treatment plant.



The train.  Choo choooo....





Yeah, that looks pretty cool.  I'm honestly kind of jealous and wish my work-sanctioned field trips were as fun as yours, Sal.

This thing won’t go cold and dark for another few years, so go take a tour while you can. I haven't seen any information for 2018 yet, but there were public tours offered one Saturday each month by the Department of Energy in 2017.  There’s a virtual tour available for those of you too far away, but Sal already told you all the good parts. Eh.

Welcome to Aer Strathaes . The national airline of Strathae.We operate from our main base at Kathmore International Airport. We are in a central location between Brigdnadia, Kvaenna and Ostara making us an ideal airline to use if you are going to Strathae or just passing to another continent. . Fly with us for modern luxury service with that friendly Strathaen Welcome on board and easy connections in our hub in Kathmore.

Hub:Kathmore

Saratov General Elections of 1588
Elections for the President and Parliament

• Liberalʹno-demokratychna partiya/Liberal Democratic Party - "LDP" (Social Liberals)
  
  Show ContentPlatform:

  The LDP's seeks to expand individual freedoms for the citizens of Saratov. They are in favor of Personal Privacy, Government Welfare, Government Healthcare, Moderate regulation, and open immigration.
• Partiya yednosti Saratovsʹkoyi/Saratovan Unity Party  - "PYS" (Social Democrat)
  
  Show ContentPlatform:

  The PYS is Democratic Socialist party pushing for "modern feminist" and LGBTQQIP2SAA rights movements. They are in favor of heavy regulation, expansion of government healthcare and welfare, and unrestricted immigration.
• Saratovsʹkyy Sotsialistychnyy Soyuz Robitnykiv/Saratovan Socialist Workers Union - "SSR" (Democratic Socialist)
  
  Show ContentPlatform:

  The SSR is a Socialist Party that is in favor of Semi-Planned Economy, Extreme Regulation, A progressive tax bracket, "modern feminist" and LGBTQQIP2SAA rights movements, and a high minimum wage.
• Demokratychna Saratovsʹkyy Konservatyvna Partiya/Saratovan Democratic Conservative Party - "DKP" (Conservative)
  
  Show ContentPlatform:

  The DKP runs a platform centered on supporting "family values" and a "tradition-oriented society". They oppose government healthcare and welfare. While they don't oppose Same-Sex marriage, they consider transgenderism a mental disorder. They support a lightly regulated economy, and only support the immigration of skilled workers. They are in favor of a strong military.
• Saratovsʹka Perovistiy Partiya/Saratov Pervoist Party - "SPP" (Communist)
  
  Show ContentPlatform:

  The SPP's platform is largely to restore the old order that existed while under the rule of the United Socialist Republics. They support a regulated "entitled wage" for each citizen, central planning of the economy, limited imports/exports as well as a limit on immigration and emigration. The SPP is in favor of a strong military.
• Saratovsʹka Natsionalʹna Robitnycha Partiya/Saratov National Workers Party - "NRP" (Fascist)
  
  Show ContentPlatform:

  The NRP campaigns for Protectism, zero tolerance, harsher sentencing, increased prison capacity, and a referendum on re-introducing the death penalty.In foreign policy they are also in favor of turning away from Severyane in defense and economic partnership.
• Nezalezhnyy/Independent - "IND" (Not a party)
  

• Vasiliy Červenka - LDP
  
• Sofia Fyodorov - PYS
  
• Artem Souček - SSR
  
• Dima Skalicky - DKP
  
• Otmar Maruška - SPP
  
• Olha Sokolovsky - NRP
  
• Vitalik Bláha - IND
  
• Vadimir Kováč - IND
  

Ask away any questions about the RP between Fal and I.

In the year 1583, a small private jet with the the seal of the Royal Family of Lomarre landed in the capital city of Adwest. A swarthy 40 year old man with a formal cap and military suit exited followed by two men clad in black suits and sunglasses. After walking off the runway, where he shook the hands of a few Adwestens he didn't know but where clearly important, he began to exit to the terminal of the airport.

The King of Lomarre decided to personally head on a long and brutally boring flight to Adwest. The the only thing keeping his mind off his homeland being the food and the sleep while in flight. King Frederico or Frederick to an Adwesten, had followed the advice of his late brother, King Giovanni IV, to peruse relations out east. Although he had already accomplished this with the Kingdom of Goldecia, it would only be for however long his marriage to the queen lasted. If he wanted a lasting relationship, no other way would do than to sign on paper.

His Royal Majesty had been told that he would meet the Queen out of the public eye and was told nothing else. His guide, who was an underling of the queen, had been told to keep information need to know. The Kings reply had a humorous tone to it, "I didn't think it would be in a public café so that is good," He paused and continued. "Lead on, just give me the scenic route if at all possible."

A few of the King's entourage had joined him not far behind. This included the ambassador to Adwest and her husband, Gianna and Ugo Baldelli. Also accompanying were a few foreign advisors and treaty writers. Lady Baldelli was fluent in the local language and was able to act as the translator for the meeting if so required.

Meanwhile, King Frederico's family remained at home, where his wife would be regent in the meantime and his heir Vittorio-Emanuele was off in private school. As much as he had hoped to bring his son along to his first foreign trip, it would have to be to a less...controversial nation.