CHERNOBYL...threat to Poland?

♂

Feb 2, 11, 20:03 #1

When hundreds of workers and soldiers worked to cover the destroyed reactor at Chernobyl in tons of concrete and metal , did we think the problem was over....?

Did we realise that this concrete bunker built over the mess was just a temporary structure , and that its nearing the end of its life...!

Work has been underway for a few years now to construct the new cover for the radioactive mess that was the reactor , but at present they have only half the money needed to complete the job....

One of the walls of the building has a huge crack in it , and has quite a lean on it....

Are we worried in Poland...?

When the reactor exploded the wind was blowing towards Belarus , and not Poland....will we be lucky next time....?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-12335595

convexThreads: 46 Posts: 7,185 Joined: Nov 25, 09 ♂	Feb 2, 11, 20:10 #2
I never understood why they just don't place the reactors underground. That would seem to be win-win-win.

♂

Feb 2, 11, 20:20 #3

One of the things they were most worried about when Chernobyl went pop , was that the molten core would seep deep enough into the earth to contaminate the water table over a vast area...

I guess if they put them underground it would make it easier for such contamination to happen....??

I suspect the cost of digging big holes to put these things in may be a factor also...

You have to remember also , that the Russians are not big on nuclear safety....not so long ago they were taking nuclear subs out of service...and dumping the reactors in the Baltic...

ConstantineKThreads: 35 Posts: 1,949 Joined: May 10, 07 ♂	Feb 2, 11, 21:42 #4
wildrover: not so long ago they were taking nuclear subs out of service...and dumping the reactors in the Baltic... Healing nature, it always takes care. Poles need energy so maybe their fishermen will get it out one perfect day.

Lodz_The_BoatThreads: 58 Posts: 2,314 Joined: Sep 7, 08 ♂	Feb 2, 11, 21:50 #5
convex: That would seem to be win-win-win. It fragments the surface/core ... which causes many natural disasters...

wildroverThreads: 180 Posts: 8,188 Joined: Jun 7, 07 ♂	Feb 2, 11, 22:44 #6
ConstantineK: es need energy so maybe their fishermen will get it out one perfect day. Ha.. they don,t do this any more i believe....there are now special international teams dismantling these old submarines...

VarianteMThreads: - Posts: 3 Joined: Feb 3, 11 ♀	Feb 3, 11, 04:25 #7
Haha, irony is one of my favourite words :)

♂

Feb 3, 11, 13:07 #8

While I don't worry overly about future generations, they will look back on us as particularly short-sighted as regards nuclear power. Try as you might, decommissioned nuclear power stations will NEVER be radiation-free, and the next ice age will come when we're long-dead and the ice-sheets will spread the radioactive waste over the whole of northern Europe ...

... but we will have "saved the planet from global warming" in the meantime ...

Oh how I hate the dumb ecologists who've brought us to this ...

♂

Feb 3, 11, 17:01 #9

Varsovian:

they will look back on us as particularly short-sighted as regards nuclear power.

I think they will consider "nuclear waste" as valuable resource, there is a lot of isotopes that is extremely rare or not exist at all in Earth crust. But first 100-200 years anyway it is too radioactive to perform any reprocessing attempts.

AFAIK, submarine reactors is liquid metal cooled, so now they represent depleted active zone encased in chunk of solid lead-bismuth alloy. And all these still in submarine reactor compartment (it is cut out as a whole while sub is dismantled for scrap metal).

There was idea to launch well protected containers with active waste to pre-determined sun orbit out of ecliptic plane where they can rest for millions of years if necessary but will still be available for reprocessing (preferably on same orbit) if our descendants will ever need any unique materials that may be found there.

convexThreads: 46 Posts: 7,185 Joined: Nov 25, 09 ♂	Feb 3, 11, 17:17 #10
Lodz_The_Boat: It fragments the surface/core ... which causes many natural disasters... The explosion is conventional, much less powerful than underground nuclear bomb testing. Thorium reactors are looking very promising.

VarsovianThreads: 91 Posts: 568 Joined: Nov 23, 06 ♂	Feb 3, 11, 17:23 #11
Civilisation has lasted 6000 years ... and will go on forever (said the ancient Romans).

♂

Feb 3, 11, 19:10 #12

Varsovian:

Civilisation has lasted 6000 years ...

But there is some interesting notes in ancient texts, that make me think that our civilisation is not first on this planet.

convex:

Thorium reactors are looking very promising.

Yes, especially for India that have lots of monazite...

But I would prefer sub-critical units, that need external neutron source for reaction and can be turned off almost as easily as light bulb. ;)

♂

Edited by: wildrover Feb 4, 11, 18:45 #13

Here is film taken at Chernobyl just after the explosion...these poor guys were were working in radiation a million times above normal , a fatal dose , protected by only a dust mask that most chose not to wear because it was hard to breath wearing it....

The guy who made the film later died from the radiation....

http://englishrussia.com/index.php/2011/02/04/chernobyl-first-days-aft er-the-explosion/#more-35151

♂

Feb 6, 11, 12:31 #14

wildrover:

When the reactor exploded the wind was blowing towards Belarus , and not Poland....will we be lucky next time

Here is the common mistake! Certainly it was not the nuclear reaction which exploded the reactor. The first reason was very rare in nature but nonetheless simple set of reactions of water cleavage - radiolysis of water and simple disintegration of water under high temperature inside the reactor. Hydrogen produced in these reactions exploded the reactor scattering parts of reactor and particles of nuclear fuel over the territory.

wildrover:

Did we realise that this concrete bunker built over the mess was just a temporary structure , and that its nearing the end of its life...!

At least it bore new artificial minerals. Fuel, graphite, water, concrete and hight temperature gave many interesting alloys inside sarcophagus.

wildroverThreads: 180 Posts: 8,188 Joined: Jun 7, 07 ♂	Feb 6, 11, 13:52 #15
ConstantineK: Fuel, graphite, water, concrete and hight temperature gave many interesting alloys inside sarcophagus. Who is going to go in and get them though....?

♂

Feb 6, 11, 15:07 #16

Years ago, when Chernobyl leakage happened, it affected the blacksea reagon here where tea is one of main agricultural incomes. Nowadays, the worry is more about old nuclear plants in countries like Armenia, etc. But, hey, while even British Petrolium with a highly developed technology is unable to prevent an accident in a developed place like USA, expecting Armenians, Ukrainains, etc with lower tech facilities and abilities to do better about such a risky technology like nuclear shows their weakness of leading countries. Nobody knows if their nuclear plants of leading countries are hundred percent safe or not. Some curious kids back home may want to check.

♂

Edited by: Velund Feb 6, 11, 20:32 #17

wildrover:

Who is going to go in and get them though....?

AFAIK there was attempts to put some monitoring devices inside and get some samples. One interesting thing - there is something living inside. Some previously unknown (or maybe newborn) black fungi grow there. It is harvesting energy from intense radiation using melanine-based "radiosynhtesis" just like regular green plants use chlorophyll for photosynthesis to get energy from sunlight.

wildroverThreads: 180 Posts: 8,188 Joined: Jun 7, 07 ♂	Feb 6, 11, 21:02 #18
Velund: One interesting thing - there is something living inside. Oh my god... its going to come out one day and take over the world... A huge mutant jelly monster...!

POLAND . The Unofficial Guide	Unanswered \| Archives
POLAND . The Unofficial Guide	Poland News and Events	Witamy, Guest \| PF Members \| Gold Members

Home \| Unanswered \| Archives \| Random \| Statistics	Time in Poland: 20:52 / May 26
About Us \| Contact Us \| Rules, Privacy \| Poland Advertising	© 2005-12 PolishForums.com