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Post by Oliver R Shead on Oct 15, 2015 5:33:36 GMT
Wow. Nasty! That is really intense.
How long do you think it would take for people to be able to live nearby again, and what sort of radius would long-term contaminated areas have do you reckon?
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Post by rupethebear on Oct 15, 2015 6:41:04 GMT
Are they back near Chernobyl?
I wouldn't think so, but must admit I haven't checked.
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Post by vonpenguin on Oct 15, 2015 14:25:55 GMT
Levels are way down but I don't think it's livable by humans yet. Though interestingly several plants and fungi have adapted to photosynthesize the radiation.
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Post by pappadoc on Oct 21, 2015 1:43:49 GMT
I used to be a Nuke Machinist's Mate in the US Navy, working in the aft main machinery room on the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72). The principal of nuclear power is much like conventional power generation is for oil or coal. Here is a quick high level diagram of the engineering concept: upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/PWR_nuclear_power_plant_diagram.svgYou will notice 2 loops. The left one, which flows through the reactor is called the primary loop. The other, is the secondary loop. If and when you have a reactor breach from overheating, the primary loop has to dry up or the reactor coolant pumps have to fail. This will melt the fuel rod cell cladding, making the primary loop highly radioactive. Eventually the primary loop will have a breach in the steam generator due to heat. This is where the contamination gets out and where the term "meltdown" comes from. The water is usually a local water source. Lake, river, ocean. All this eventually will become irradiated. Now as far as the fuel source, U235 (Uranium 235) is the most prevalent. The half life of this material is 703.8 million years. Half life is the measure at which the time taken for the radioactivity of a specified isotope to fall to half its original value. So this is why effectively areas that have meltdowns are effectively blocked off, as they won't be inhabitable for a VERY LONG time. Did you every come into NNSY (Norfolk Naval Shipyard) back in the early 90s?. |
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Post by thangulhad on Oct 22, 2015 22:16:06 GMT
I used to be a Nuke Machinist's Mate in the US Navy, working in the aft main machinery room on the USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72). The principal of nuclear power is much like conventional power generation is for oil or coal. Here is a quick high level diagram of the engineering concept: upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c3/PWR_nuclear_power_plant_diagram.svgYou will notice 2 loops. The left one, which flows through the reactor is called the primary loop. The other, is the secondary loop. If and when you have a reactor breach from overheating, the primary loop has to dry up or the reactor coolant pumps have to fail. This will melt the fuel rod cell cladding, making the primary loop highly radioactive. Eventually the primary loop will have a breach in the steam generator due to heat. This is where the contamination gets out and where the term "meltdown" comes from. The water is usually a local water source. Lake, river, ocean. All this eventually will become irradiated. Now as far as the fuel source, U235 (Uranium 235) is the most prevalent. The half life of this material is 703.8 million years. Half life is the measure at which the time taken for the radioactivity of a specified isotope to fall to half its original value. So this is why effectively areas that have meltdowns are effectively blocked off, as they won't be inhabitable for a VERY LONG time. Did you every come into NNSY (Norfolk Naval Shipyard) back in the early 90s?. Yes I did. I knew a guy on the Bainbridge (or as we called it, Braindamaged) that was in there for overhaul. |
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Post by thangulhad on Oct 22, 2015 22:18:26 GMT
Wow. Nasty! That is really intense. How long do you think it would take for people to be able to live nearby again, and what sort of radius would long-term contaminated areas have do you reckon? literally millions of years. For places like Chernobyl, you can visit for short periods of time. Living there though, near forever away. |
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Post by pappadoc on Oct 23, 2015 6:53:52 GMT
Did you every come into NNSY (Norfolk Naval Shipyard) back in the early 90s?. Yes I did. I knew a guy on the Bainbridge (or as we called it, Braindamaged) that was in there for overhaul. was looking for a guy called " Bondoman " from his friends. He was a "glow worm" that played alot of games and said that he got written up for not following protocol when civilian were testing alot in high security areas. |
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