Posted on 03/19/2015 9:19:36 AM PDT by golux
Rising above the scene of the world’s worst nuclear accident is the spectacular sight of the largest moveable structure ever created on land. The complex of nuclear power plants at Chernobyl has dominated this corner of northwest Ukraine for decades but the new construction towers over it all. The project is to build what is called a New Safe Confinement – in effect, a giant cover, a kind of dome, to fit over the building that houses the reactor that exploded on 26 April, 1986. The radiation immediately above the reactor is still far too intense for the new enclosure to be built exactly where it is needed – anyone working there can only stay very briefly. So adjacent land has been cleared and then decontaminated – a massive task in itself – to allow the new structure to be assembled before being manoeuvred into position. Large enough to accommodate a couple of Boeing 747s or the Stade de France in Paris, and almost tall enough to hold St Paul’s Cathedral in London, the giant cover stands on a system of massive rails. When complete, it will weigh an extraordinary 31,000 tonnes....
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
Who wants a job?
That is an incredible engineering task...
But let me ask why are Nuclear power plants built above ground in the first place? Why not build deep underground (away from faults or water tables etc) and if a problem occurs any radiation would be secondarily contained by earth. BNatural protection from terror as well. They could be built in very remote areas where water still could be available to cool.
Chernobyl wasn’t built like a modern plant. Basically a reactor in a warehouse with no containment around it, IIRC.
I understand that, but i’m also not a believer that newer technology eliminates human error in design or operation. I’m sure there is a reason why they aren’t built underground, cost perhaps, but I’d like to know the reasoning since nuclear power is the cleanest when it is running safely.
And apparently held together with rubber bands, chewing gum and duct tape.
CC
Take everyone from Iran up there for a tour.
“Who wants a job?”
The good news is that it pays $10,000 an hour. The bad news is that it only lasts 10 minutes.
Some countries with nuclear power abuse destitute people scandalously this way, paying them, say, $500.00 a day in exchange for a “lifetime exposure” to radiation - in a day. In the West, I believe that if you get dosed, you simply go home and get paid your salary.
How many people have died because of the world’s worst nuclear accident (which happened in 3rd world Russia)?
Mexican workers for jobs Russian workers won’t do!!
What is the difference between this and Fukishima?
It seems Japans disaster is much worse then Chernobyl
Hans Blix inspected Chernobyl, gave it a thumbs up, then flew over to Moscow and received an honorary Ph.D and who knows what else. Chernobyl started leaking shortly after.
“What is the difference between this and Fukishima?
It seems Japans disaster is much worse then Chernobyl”
Congrats...
You found the propaganda in the article. All MSM articles contain propaganda.
Power plants require large amounts of water for cooling, therefore you can’t stick one in a mountain cave because you’d have to expend massive amounts of energy to pump water up to it. That means it has to be built next to some body of water, i.e. in a low-lying area. Now if you put that underground, you run the risk of the entire structure someday being inundated with water and filling up like a swimming pool. Once that happens you can’t exactly get in and fix things. The reason why Fukishima was as bad as it was is they installed the backup generators in an area, you guessed it, that was inundated with water and they got swamped. No backup generators=no power=no cooling pumps running=core melt down=bad day.
The Russians were, and remain, tragically irresponsible on design. At the same time the Chernobyl accident can teach us all a great deal about “normal” or “system” accidents as defined by a man I knew well, accident theorist Charles Perrow (sadly a leftie, but bright) and how small things like a PORV valve light-bulb failure can cause a meltown. At the same time there is a place for patriotism and pride in “American” engineering and common-sense prevention: nobody caught so much as a cold at TMI.
Oddly enough, this was one thing that enabled the disaster to be brought under at least a modicum of control because it was connected by tunnels(!) to surrounding weapons plants.
Also, don't ever forget many hundreds of valiant Russkis and Ukrainians sacrificed their lives to get the accident under control, and many thousands more workers face a slow death from radiation poisoning caused by exposure during their work to contain the site..
Essentially, Chernobyl was built of blocks of graphite rather than a true containment vessel. Scary factoid: The USSR was planning to built one of these monster plants in Cuba, of all places, before cooler heads prevailed and/or they ran out of money.
Right now, the area is sort of a radioactive national park with an exploding population of hot wildlife. Great place to study the long term effects of radiation. Don't drink the water.
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