[HN Gopher] The Secret of Nanda Devi
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The Secret of Nanda Devi
Author : bookofjoe
Score : 83 points
Date : 2021-03-20 10:02 UTC (12 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (rockandice.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (rockandice.com)
| naringas wrote:
| I recall reading in some random internet place that the Nazis
| also went on wild goose chases in the Himalayas... might have
| been a conspiracy forum (which means this "factoid" may be
| discarded at will; and some might argue that therefore it's
| immoral to repeat it)
|
| In any case, as such matters are usually state secrets I can
| never really know, only imagine things.
| smaddali wrote:
| Recently this was in news. There was a rumor that the plutonium
| device planted in Nanda Devi exploded and caused floods in India.
| https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-56102459
| Daniel_sk wrote:
| Plutonium doesn't explode on itself. Unless you pack it into
| the complicated mechanism of a nuclear bomb device. Other than
| that you can do what you want, wrapping it in explosives and
| firing them will just disperse the plutonium but it will not
| make a chain reaction.
| hunter-2 wrote:
| I'm no expert on the subject, but do you think the plutonium
| being buried under several tons of ice could cause it to
| explode?
| AareyBaba wrote:
| "Radioisotope thermoelectric generator" is what you want to
| understand. There are plenty of youtube videos on this
| topic.
| manwe150 wrote:
| My layman's understand is you need a neutron trigger to
| destabilize it rapidly, as well as a shell to contain it to
| get a stable chain reaction going. I think you typically
| need to be at the center of a an exploding star to see that
| happen just from pressure.
| ta988 wrote:
| They can't explode though.
| temp-dude-87844 wrote:
| Satellite surveys suggest that the flood originated in the
| valley of the stream Raunthi, which is the first major
| confluence upstream of Reni village on the Rishi Ganga. This
| puts the origin of the flood at a tributary valley that's
| outside of any path the secret Nanda Devi expedition would have
| taken.
|
| The rumour supposed that perhaps the plutonium capsules (which
| continue to generate heat by radioactive decay, since that's
| their purpose) had melted through ice and the meltwater deluged
| downstream. It's not improbable that this may happen someday,
| or that their presence perhaps already contributes meltwater
| into the Rishi Ganga, but the location of their demise is not
| the tributary valley where the February 2021 flood appears to
| have originated.
|
| Part of the confusion is that the origin point of the flood was
| not immediately known, only that it came from somewhere within
| the Nanda Devi Sanctuary, a large nature reserve area that
| shares the name with the famous mountain contained within.
| stareatgoats wrote:
| Radioactivity needs to be treated with proper respect. But what
| is that? Because of the intimate ties between plutonium and
| global military dominance there is little reason to trust any
| info that comes out of the military on face value in this area,
| where "calming the public" is likely more important than a few
| (hundreds?thousands?) natives dying from radiation poisoning. [0]
|
| Statements like "the lost material poses 'a miniscule threat'
| because the plutonium amount was relatively small and the
| dilution factor--even if the stuff gets into the Ganges--is so
| great" does nothing for me.
|
| [0]
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_testing_at_Bikini_Atol...
| beambot wrote:
| Think that's crazy...? Look at PFOA:
|
| https://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/10/magazine/the-lawyer-who-b...
| 42_ wrote:
| On the subject of using mountaineers as spies, Sidney Wignall's
| "Spy on the roof of the world" is also interesting.
| Abishek_Muthian wrote:
| What intrigued me when I first came across the story of Nanda
| Devi Device was the fluidity of India's non-alignment towards
| Soviet Union/USA. Sino-India war of 1962 showcased India's non-
| alignment led to its isolation with great powers ignoring what's
| going on in the region. I presume this had a greater role to play
| when India decided to work with USA to spy on China.
|
| Then again situation reversed within a decade, during 1971 war to
| liberate East-Pakistan India had Indo-Soviet friendship treaty,
| USA sent carrier USS Enterprise under Task Force 74 to Bay of
| Bengal which was intercepted by Soviet Naval force, Nixon even
| sent a proposal for cooperation of Chinese army at borders; But
| China didn't act on it(Possibly on insistence by Soviet Union).
|
| Now India's diplomatic strategy seems to have reversed again with
| greater alignment towards USA with every passing year especially
| with the neighbor to the North flexing again.
| fakedang wrote:
| It's important to note the reversal in Indian politics in that
| time. India in the Bangladeshi war for Independence was led by
| Indira Gandhi, who later assumed Emergency powers and arrested
| a lot of her critics and activists, mostly from the RSS. India
| today is led by the same people she arrested back then.
|
| That being said, Russia has always been close to India ever
| since the Soviet Era, even though India didn't embrace
| communism, largely because of the shared history of being
| opposed by the US at every step, and a mutual interest in
| curtailing China (which claims a significant part of Russian
| Amur as part of its Greater China project). For instance,
| Russia supported India during its first nuclear test, when the
| US imposed sanctions on it. Russia supported India's actions in
| Bangladesh as you mentioned, etc.
|
| The current strong ties of India with the US are only because
| of the shared background of Modi and Trump in right wing
| politics, and now a shared urgency in containing China as much
| as possible.
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(page generated 2021-03-20 23:01 UTC)