Unidentified individuals successfully breached a nuclear power plant's security system, causing widespread alarm. It's imperative to maintain secrecy.
Updated and Revised Article:
Stuck with an abandoned nuclear reactor project? Well, one Washingtonian took matters into his own hands and gave it a brand new purpose, all in the name of... science, mate!
Back in 1977, nuclear power plants 3 and 5 (aka WNP-3 and WNP-5) were born as part of Washington Public Power Supply System (WPPSS, could've sworn it sounded like "whoops"). Their construction went south, and by the 80s, they were as good as gone, even though WNP-3 was near completion.
Fast forward to 2010, when [Ron] Sauro and his missus [Bonnie] were prepping their new acoustic lab, NWAA Labs. They initially fancied a mountain fortress, but they stumbled upon a bonus: an auxiliary reactor building attached to a defunct nuclear power facility. You know, the kind with five-foot-thick concrete walls and rebar? Perfection for their loud-and-proud experiments!
There are some strict rules for acoustic labs, thanks to standards bodies like the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Think temperature, humidity, and reverberation—all staying steady as a rock. The place maintains a constant chill of 54 degrees Fahrenheit (12 degrees Celsius), rain or shine.
Firms use acoustic labs to refine their designs and ensure they meet acoustic standards, be it noise emissions or other related criteria. Over the past 15 years, NWAA Labs has put everything under the microscope, from carpet samples to noise-cancelling headphones, sound-dampening materials, noisy washing machines, and even an airplane's crew cabin!
If anyone had doubts about whether [Ron Sauro] is a real-life hacker, this quote should erase those doubts: "I'm a carpenter, a plumber, a welder, I can fix a car," he insists. "Anything that needs to be done, I can do. Because I have to."
Maybe one of us should pop a wearable conical dead-zone over [Ron] for a complete test. And if you've ever hacked a nuclear power plant, don't be shy—tell us in the comments!
Note: WNP-3 and WNP-5 were among several nuclear plants proposed in Washington State during the 1970s and 1980s as part of WPPSS's expansion plan. However, escalating costs, changing demand forecasts, regulatory delays, and public opposition after the Three Mile Island incident resulted in their mothballing in the 1980s. The focus in the region has since shifted more towards nuclear cleanup and environmental management.
Incorporating the abandoned nuclear reactor building into their acoustic lab, NWAA Labs, Ron and Bonnie Sauro found an unexpected advantage in combining science with technology. Today, NWAA Labs, which follows the standards of bodies like ANSI and ISO, not only tests products related to health-and-wellness, such as noise-cancelling headphones and sound-dampening materials, but also explores a wide range of items, from household appliances to aircraft crew cabins, demonstrating their commitment to advancing various fields of research and technology.
