The chernobyl story.

[corksil]

Something about how the first responder firemen on the scene received a lethal dose of radiation in the first 40 seconds.

Something else about how a patient suffering from radiation was observed by a nurse standing up from his bed in the medical bay only to watch the skin on one of his legs break free and slide down his leg like an oversized pair of pants with no belt.

Something about how three brave men volunteered to don diving gear and flashlights to swim underwater and find particular water valves involved with cooling a melting nuclear reactor. The men dove into the hole, shortly after the lighting implements failed, no one re-emerged, yet the valves were opened and life as we very well may know it on this planet was saved.

Something else about how the russians feared that an improper shutdown of the ground-zero accident resolution process could involve a nuclear reactor melting through the earth's crust and causing a reaction that could very well cause planet earth to implode upon itself and be completely obliterated.

Something else about how the first real test of progress was when the first winter came after the accident. Scientists observed the site from a great distance and reported that progress had indeed been made because the snow that fell on the roof built over the rubble did not melt. If the snow had melted, it would be clear evidence that the site of the meltdown was indeed still continuing to exude high amounts of radioactive decay.

I'm really sunburned at the moment so this kind of thing seems relevant -- hopefully others will find the same mind expansion in this link. Some pictures are not for the faint of heart. Or the feint of heart. Maybe I'm just being dramatic.

Seems as if an "accident" of such magnitude should have as much information available about it published for the good of the colony -- albeit; humanity.

I think the 'event' remained mysterious and under-wraps for many years due to the fact that most film involved with documenting the mishap purportedly melted due to the radiation.

There were apparently only a few cameras in existence that arrived on the scene and took pictures, and then were flown far enough OFF site before damaging doses of radiation took their toll on the internal mechanisms of the camera devices.

I don't know what else to say. Sooner or later we are going to do ourselves in as a species, and god is gonna laugh about it and cash in on his poker bets between himself and the other gods before going home and having a fretful evening wondering if the should indeed attempt to create another organism "in his image."

I don't believe in god. If you do, perhaps this will strengthen your faith -- or the opposite. Either way, social progress will be made.

http://imgur.com/a/TwY6q

[corksil]

If you find this sort of thing interesting I highly recommend that you click the link at the top of the imgur page and read through the more "in depth" version.

[Singh2jz]

I've always wanted to go there. some chick went on her bike, I think it was a ninja! Lol, but she wrote up a blog thingy on her website and the pics were crazy. I'll post the link when I find it. Deserted places are freaky and their stories always interest me.

[Rifleman]

all good, but some a bit far fetched or incorrect.

Yes, many of the first responders were fatally irradiated. 1 Watt of power produced gives off 6 Rad of fission radiation... 1 Watt, that the cores (there are 4) at Chernobly were rated for 3,2oo,ooo,ooo (3.2 gigawatt) watts. A lethal dose is between 500 to 1000 Rad, 5000 Rad is 100% lethal. You do the math. Now understand that after core geometry was lost, it was impossible to produce that kind of power, but still. Enough dose that even the helo pilots that flew over the core and attempted to dump Borated Silica on the core were fatally dosed...

Valor in the face of adversity or even death... where do we find such people.

Several problems with a meltdown that would penetrate the earths crust. Reactor cores require both a minimum fissile mass (there is a minimum amount of fuel below which criticality can not be maintained) and a fissile geometry. You need enough fuel, and you need to hold it together to keep the chain reaction going. At Chernobyl the core actually did melt down, right through the bottom of the reactor vessel... but as soon as it did, it spread out and the chain reaction (and heat production) stops. Well you still have decay heat, but not enough to melt stone/concrete/metal. Secondly, even if the core were able to be held together and started to melt into the ground, it would eventually come in contact with ground water and a steam explosion would blow the "core" apart and sub critical... Even if it did reach the mantle or other internal structures of the earth, the earth would absorb it without so much as a hic-up. There is a lot of heat and pressure already there, a reactor core would be akin to tossing a candle on a bonfire.

sunburn, yikes... SPF 50, everyday, every time. Should be right there next to the tooth paste on your sink... nose, cheeks, and the top of your ears... or a doctor will be trimming things off you ever 5 years once you are over 50.

An accident of such magnitude was attempted to be kept secret because at the time we were at the height of the cold war with Consortium of Soviet Socialistic Republics (CCCP) Niky Khrushchev had banged his shoe on the podium and said "we will bury you". Back then the US didn't take kindly to that kind of crap and proceeded to pound the living bull pucky out of them on every front we could. Submarine technology, "Star Wars" ABM systems, Computer tech, food, fuel, etc. About the only things they could out produce us on were fuzzy winter hats and crappy Vodka. They wanted to dance... so we danced.

Chernobyl (RBMK type II) is a bad reactor design. It was used for dual purposes. It produced power to keep the lights and heat on, but it also produced Plutonium for weapons programs. To do this, it was a graphite moderated, and positive coefficient of reactivity design. Hard to control during power transients. The design attempts to kill two birds with one stone... it can be done, it's just tricky, and the results of mistakes or inattention are quite spectacular.

the cameras are pretty radio insensitive... but the film, remember 1986 was still celluloid film in those cameras, no digital photography yet (and 1986 in Russia would be like 1966 in the US). The film will be "exposed" by radioactivity just as it is exposed by light... only radioactivity can pass right through the shutter and camera housing as though it were a glass camera out in sunlight.

besides, Russia didn't want to document a huge failure for the world to see... the more "damaged" film... the better.

the only constant on this earth is extinction. 99.7% of the species that have existed are now gone... Homo Sapiens will be added to that list... sooner or later...

so while we are still off that list... drink the beer, dance with the wenches, do wheelies

[liberpolly]

I was riding a train through Kiev a few days after it happened, when the news reached the people through underground channels, and panic started. Not a pretty sight...

[liberpolly]

Originally Posted by Rifleman

About the only things they could out produce us on were fuzzy winter hats and crappy Vodka.

And rockets. As of today, Russian rockets are the only way American astronauts can reach space stations.

[Rifleman]

Originally Posted by liberpolly

And rockets. As of today, Russian rockets are the only way American astronauts can reach space stations.

well that's today, at the time we had a shuttle program going (and yes we had some mishaps with that) Today we "parked" the shuttle and haven't felt the need to replace it with anything... the Soyuz is a pretty robust system (it is of course their test platform for their 8K74 and R7A ICBM program. If you can lift 15,ooo pounds of cosmonauts and gear... you can lift 14,ooo pounds of MERV's

things are different today, those were heady and dangerous times.

[liberpolly]

Originally Posted by Rifleman

well that's today, at the time we had a shuttle program going (and yes we had some mishaps with that)

Exactly.

Also, Russian food is better too. Let alone women...

[Somchai]

Thank you for bringing this to attention

[Singh2jz]

Elena on her zzr-1100. This is it..

also, survivor goes back!

[Alex]

Her story has been discussed a few times on this site. Cool pics, but she didn't ride anywhere near where she implied she did, and went in instead by bus & car.

https://www.ninjette.org/forums/showthread.php?t=41130

[corksil]

I think this world is changing in many ways. I feel it important to spread awareness of how things once were in the past -- not only to shed light on those who have done the work and paid the ultimate price required to maintain our continued peaceful existence, but also to ensure that we as a species learn from our mistakes and not make them again.

Dang, I read in one of the links about how some of the boars native to the forests surrounding chernobyl had grown to strange proportions. Oversized noses for the purpose of avoiding potentially harmful future radioactive snacks, long and slender legs capable of outrunning common natural predators, and all kinds of other natural-selection-survival-of-those-who-evolve-the-quickest type of stuff.

I can't help but wonder what would happen to the local population if a nuclear reactor melted down in my neighborhood.

Riding a motorcycle for years on end without serious mishap is almost a form of natural selection. I wish there were more catalysts for rapid evolution in this world of overconsumption and rapid population growth. "That which does not kill you, can only make you stronger" or something like that.

[Ninjinsky]

"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger"
A popular mis-quote of

"That which does not kill us makes us stronger"
Friedrich Nietzsche

[capt_bugaloo]

Originally Posted by corksil

Something else about how the russians feared that an improper shutdown of the ground-zero accident resolution process could involve a nuclear reactor melting through the earth's crust and causing a reaction that could very well cause planet earth to implode upon itself and be completely obliterated.

I ain't no nuc-yu-ler physicist, but I'm pretty sure that wouldn't have happened.

[Ninjinsky]

Factoid:
The core of the earth is as hot as the surface of the sun so they needn't have worried
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-22297915

[CZroe]

Originally Posted by corksil

Something else about how a patient suffering from radiation was observed by a nurse standing up from his bed in the medical bay only to watch the skin on one of his legs break free and slide down his leg like an oversized pair of pants with no belt.

Patient reported it (not a nurse). Also, they said "like a sock," which implies that it could easily slide off but not by gravity alone.

Originally Posted by corksil

Something about how three brave men volunteered to don diving gear and flashlights to swim underwater and find particular water valves involved with cooling a melting nuclear reactor. The men dove into the hole, shortly after the lighting implements failed, no one re-emerged, yet the valves were opened and life as we very well may know it on this planet was saved.

They re-emerged and died later. How do you think we know that their lights went out? That particular event wouldn't have significantly affected life as we know it. Not sure where you got that.

Originally Posted by corksil

Something else about how the russians feared that an improper shutdown of the ground-zero accident resolution process could involve a nuclear reactor melting through the earth's crust and causing a reaction that could very well cause planet earth to implode upon itself and be completely obliterated.

It was a very interesting read, but it never said anything remotely like that. It doesn't even make sense, really. Do you have any idea what kind of mass we are talking about here?

Originally Posted by corksil

Something else about how the first real test of progress was when the first winter came after the accident. Scientists observed the site from a great distance and reported that progress had indeed been made because the snow that fell on the roof built over the rubble did not melt. If the snow had melted, it would be clear evidence that the site of the meltdown was indeed still continuing to exude high amounts of radioactive decay.

I'm really sunburned at the moment so this kind of thing seems relevant -- hopefully others will find the same mind expansion in this link. Some pictures are not for the faint of heart. Or the feint of heart. Maybe I'm just being dramatic.

Well, your interpretation certainly piqued my interest, but I wouldn't say that it added "drama."

Originally Posted by corksil

Seems as if an "accident" of such magnitude should have as much information available about it published for the good of the colony -- albeit; humanity.

I think the 'event' remained mysterious and under-wraps for many years due to the fact that most film involved with documenting the mishap purportedly melted due to the radiation.

There were apparently only a few cameras in existence that arrived on the scene and took pictures, and then were flown far enough OFF site before damaging doses of radiation took their toll on the internal mechanisms of the camera devices.

It touches on why photographic film shots were hard to come by and mentions that digital was not really available at the time, but magnetic video tape recorders and cameras with CCDs or CMOS sensors were available. I wonder how they would have held up and why we don't see any.

Originally Posted by corksil

I don't know what else to say. Sooner or later we are going to do ourselves in as a species, and god is gonna laugh about it and cash in on his poker bets between himself and the other gods before going home and having a fretful evening wondering if the should indeed attempt to create another organism "in his image."

It's hard to overstate the seriousness of what happened there but, somehow, you've managed!

[Somchai]

Good luck for those at the West-Coast
"Few issues on the Asia-Pacific security horizon are more worrying and potentially more destabilizing to the region than the decommissioning and cleanup of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant… the situation is dangerous enough that a single mistake could potentially lead to a radiological disaster far worse than the initial disaster… That there has not yet been a major disruption in Fukushima that could cause another meltdown and potentially affect the lives of millions in the Asia-Pacific and on the western coast of the United States is an incredible relief to all. But, as some scientists have asserted, the situation in Fukushima is so fragile that a number of things could go wrong at any moment to make the currently risky situation turn globally catastrophic. An earthquake or severe storm… could cause damage… leading to the massive radiological contamination of the Pacific region, which would endanger the lives of millions of people and force mass evacuations… In the context of regional security, it is important to acknowledge that the situation in Fukushima poses a substantial risk to the stability of the Asia-Pacific. If an incident occurred during the decommissioning of… the nuclear facility, it would impact systems such as the social and political stability of Japan as well as countries in the region; food security; public health; trade and commerce; the global environment; and regional politics. Governments in the Asia-Pacific would do well to anticipate a variety of emergency scenarios that could unfold during the upcoming and most fragile phases of decommissioning."
Link: http://enenews.com/govt-contractor-f...b-fukushima-al