<story><title>How the wrong cat litter took down a nuclear waste repository</title><url>https://cen.acs.org/articles/95/i20/wrong-cat-litter-took-down.html?h=-472621416</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>mchannon</author><text>Missing from this article is the most fascinating thing about this story- why someone thought it was a good idea to make the cat litter substitution that made this whole mess possible.&lt;p&gt;In Los Alamos, those charged with repackaging the waste were hearing a speech by an expert on the matter.  The expert warned they should be using &amp;quot;INorganic cat litter&amp;quot;, which they already were.  What a member of the group heard was &amp;quot;AN organic cat litter&amp;quot;.&lt;p&gt;The two look very different in print, but when spoken, they&amp;#x27;re often indistinguishable to a non-chemist.  When the discussion made its way to memos and emails, the die was cast.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>inopinatus</author><text>Well, then, perhaps the key problem here is that the people charged with packaging nuclear waste were not experts in packaging nuclear waste.&lt;p&gt;For some reason I&amp;#x27;m reminded of a recent visit to Takashimaya, a department store in Tokyo.  After making a purchase, the checkout operator asked me (in perfectly clear English, for which she unnecessarily apologised) if I would like it wrapped.  I said yes (this was a gift).  I was directed down the hall to another desk staffed entirely by a team that had apparently been doing nothing for the last eighty years but perfect the art of swiftly and flawlessly packaging objects in attractive wrapping paper.&lt;p&gt;edit: watch here &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.youtube.com&amp;#x2F;watch?v=b6ltgrxioeQ&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.youtube.com&amp;#x2F;watch?v=b6ltgrxioeQ&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;I have a feeling there are lessons here for the packaging of software, both from the nuclear waste story and the Japanese gift wrap.</text></comment>
<story><title>How the wrong cat litter took down a nuclear waste repository</title><url>https://cen.acs.org/articles/95/i20/wrong-cat-litter-took-down.html?h=-472621416</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>mchannon</author><text>Missing from this article is the most fascinating thing about this story- why someone thought it was a good idea to make the cat litter substitution that made this whole mess possible.&lt;p&gt;In Los Alamos, those charged with repackaging the waste were hearing a speech by an expert on the matter.  The expert warned they should be using &amp;quot;INorganic cat litter&amp;quot;, which they already were.  What a member of the group heard was &amp;quot;AN organic cat litter&amp;quot;.&lt;p&gt;The two look very different in print, but when spoken, they&amp;#x27;re often indistinguishable to a non-chemist.  When the discussion made its way to memos and emails, the die was cast.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>lowbloodsugar</author><text>How is &amp;quot;kitty litter&amp;quot; even a reasonable specification at all? We&amp;#x27;re dealing with nuclear waste but with less rigor than my car mechanic putting the right oil in my car?</text></comment>