Chernobyl
- Thread starter Xarpolis
- Start date
khorum
Murder Apologist
- 24,338
- 81,363
Actuarially, you're like a gorillion times more likely to die as a fossil-fuel worker than in the nuclear power industry. That's just a fact. And it's not even close AT ALL.
The nuclear accidents get a ton more press because they're scarier, but we measure deaths in the coal industry by the dozens annually. There was a record low of 15 deaths in US coal mining a couple years ago and it was like 15 dead in a year. It's usually like 40.
Whereas in Fukushima, although 18,000 people died in the tsunami, NOONE died during the nuclear power plant failure.
The nuclear accidents get a ton more press because they're scarier, but we measure deaths in the coal industry by the dozens annually. There was a record low of 15 deaths in US coal mining a couple years ago and it was like 15 dead in a year. It's usually like 40.
Whereas in Fukushima, although 18,000 people died in the tsunami, NOONE died during the nuclear power plant failure.
- 2
Lanx
<Prior Amod>
- 61,012
- 134,451
ver_21
Molten Core Raider
- 975
- -361
Downhammer
Vyemm Raider
- 1,518
- 3,911
From what I've read that scene is one of the few that was intensified for dramatic effect. In reality it was supposedly a couple inches of water and the biggest obstacle was the maze of pipes and hallways.
cabbitcabbit
NeoGaf Donator
- 2,623
- 7,919
Nuclear power is the most effective power source we have ever attained on this planet and it’s because of hippy bullshit that it’s not more widespread.
That being said when shit goes wrong it can really goes wrong. Imagine every time there’s a fire at an oil refinery there’s a small chance that the area will be unlivable for 30,000 years.
- 2
Alex
Still a Music Elitist
- 14,516
- 7,446
Disagree here. I live in hippy central and people are pro nuclear in general. You're talking about environmentalist central. But I'm also from Ohio and know what many hometown folks think. Those are the people that are more anti-nuclear because they look at Chernobyl and just assume that's a common risk. Those are also the places that have prominent coal plants. Hmmm...
- 21,132
- 80,762
Fucker still blames everyone else. I also read dyatlov was an sob and arrogant all the time. He finally kicked the bucket in 95
Gurgeh
Silver Baronet of the Realm
- 4,345
- 11,854
Nuclear plant are a good idea, but let's not forget that they are ran by bureaucrats, and one must not underestimate their ability to completely fuck up something perfectly fine. I don't think we can shrug fukushima as "something happened", now imagine something similar happening in South Africa or Venezuela, or if the IRCG sabotage their nuclear power plant when they are about to be overthrown
- 1
jayrebb
Naxxramas 1.0 Raider
- 13,981
- 13,852
Gavinmad
Mr. Poopybutthole
- 42,512
- 50,714
No, we really can. Fukushima wasn't bureaucrats fucking things up, it was hit by a high magnitude earthquake and two tsunamis, and despite that they never suffered a catastrophic core containment breach. It wasn't until years later that there was any evidence that they suffered any core containment breach at all.
What I don't understand from this show is why none of the Russian scientists were able to figure out how it could have exploded. All of them keep repeating "it's not possible" but if the rest of the world chose not to build their plants like them surely there was a reason that was easily understood by others.
Jozu
Bronze Baronet of the Realm
- 6,959
- 6,268
Some people forget how fucking awesome Modern Warfare was (singleplayer).
Russia still has 11 RMBK reactors in service today. Supposedly the catastrophe was due to a failure during a simulated power outage test, where cooling to the reactor was halted, but there is also literature that says the unit was overpowered which caused the explosion? Lack of cooling would most likely cause a meltdown, Im sure someone smarter than me can explain it more accurately.
Russia still has 11 RMBK reactors in service today. Supposedly the catastrophe was due to a failure during a simulated power outage test, where cooling to the reactor was halted, but there is also literature that says the unit was overpowered which caused the explosion? Lack of cooling would most likely cause a meltdown, Im sure someone smarter than me can explain it more accurately.
- 1
- 1
brekk
Dancing Dino Superstar
- 2,191
- 1,746
When water regulated reactors, which most of the world uses, overheat and boil off the water they lose cooling, BUT they also lose the water which moderates the reactor and allows it to run, so without water it inherently powers down. They can still meltdown from a lack of cooling, but it will be a slow meltdown. Russian RBMK reactors use water for cooling, and graphite for moderation. When the water used for cooling boils off, the reaction speeds up, this leads to rapid and violent meltdowns.
Imagine it like this. A water moderated reactor is like a car with an emergency rocket engine pointing forward to stop you if the brakes fail. It goes off and slows you down, it won't stop the car, but it'll make the ensuing crash less bad. A graphite moderated RBMK reactor is like if that rocket engine was pointed backwards. If the brakes fail you speed up leading to an even worse crash.
It's mind boggling designs like this were signed off on.
- 1
Gavinmad
Mr. Poopybutthole
- 42,512
- 50,714
Void coefficient - Wikipedia
Neutron moderator - Wikipedia
Those are the two things Brekk is talking about. And on top of the insanity of using reactors configured with a positive void coefficient, there is an additional level of danger in using graphite as a neutron moderator because graphite is combustible. Modern first world reactors have negative void coefficients and do not use combustible neutron moderators.
Neutron moderator - Wikipedia
Those are the two things Brekk is talking about. And on top of the insanity of using reactors configured with a positive void coefficient, there is an additional level of danger in using graphite as a neutron moderator because graphite is combustible. Modern first world reactors have negative void coefficients and do not use combustible neutron moderators.
Onigen
Golden Knight of the Realm
- 163
- 232
Downhammer
Vyemm Raider
- 1,518
- 3,911
The above posts talk about the faults of RBMK, but one of the benefits is that the water is at significantly lower pressure than western reactors. Contemplating a water pressure explosion probably didn't even cross their minds because their reactors were specifically designed to use lower pressure. They were probably fixated on some kind of nuclear criticality explosion which would also be impossible given the enrichment level of the fuel. As we'll likely see in the last two episodes the "safety test" had significant execution errors that were unknown to Legasov and others outside the control room, and inside the control room were 25 year old "senior chief engineers."
One thing that contributed to the explosion is that their control rods had graphite tips which actually increase the power. It's like your gas grill knobs going through Max to get to Off. When the control rods got stuck part way in the graphite tips did the exact opposite of what control rods are supposed to do. It's why Akimov and the other kid said the explosion occurred after they pressed AZ5, which lowers the control rods. Removing those tips was one of the major changes made to RBMKs after '86.
Last edited: