Posted on 05/20/2019 5:07:27 PM PDT by BenLurkin
In the second episode of "Chernobyl," ...A large fire rages in the ruins of the No. 4 reactor of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. ... Deadly radioactive dust has drifted all the way out of the Soviet Union and into Sweden. The air above the reactor literally glows where the uranium core has become exposed. And the people leading the disaster response decide to dump thousands of tons of sand and boron on the core.
But why did first responders use sand and boron? And if a similar nuclear disaster were to occur in 2019, is this what firefighters would still do?
Modern reactors are outfitted with chemical sprays that can flood a reactor building, knocking radioactive isotopes out of the air before they can escape. And unlike Chernobyl, nuclear facilities in the U.S. are entirely contained in sealed structures of cement and rebar ...You could crash a small jet into the side of one of these buildings, and it wouldn't expose the core. In fact, as part of a test, the U.S. government did just that to an empty containment vessel in 1988. The NRC states that studies regarding large jet impacts are still ongoing.
...U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has, for every one of the 98 nuclear power reactors operating in the country, drafted emergency handbooks hundreds of pages long.
Those handbooks are available in plain English on the NRC's website. ...You can find instructions for when to shove lots of boron into the core...It saw what to do if hostile forces attack the plant (among other things, start preparing a regional evacuation the moment it becomes clear that the forces might cause a significant radiation leak). And, in the event of significant amounts of radioactive material escaping into the atmosphere, it says who declares an evacuation...
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
When Chernobyl Blew, We Dumped Boron and Sand into the Breach. What Would They Do Today?
or
When Chernobyl Blew, They Dumped Boron and Sand into the Breach. What Would They Do Today?
or
When Chernobyl Blew, We Dumped Boron and Sand into the Breach. What Would We Do Today?
Since wind blows west-to-east, move to Canada.
Of possible interest
What should I do when my Mr. Fusion goes kaput?
When in trouble
When in doubt
Run around
Scream and shout
Hope that you aren’t stuck in the 19th century.
The answer, of course, is to throw Joy Behar into the breach.
Her huge head can fill up any hole.
It’s also mushy, so you can pound it into the cracks.
If you want to watch a drama that highlights the horrors of a totalitarian leftist political system, this is it.
They do correctly show the incredible bravery and sacrifice of some of the people there on the ground. The low rung dwellers who always seem to pay the price for horrible central government planning.
Doesn’t matter, I doubt anyone builds Graphite Reactors any more.
Sounds like a Good Thing that they had some refined Boron available.
Who would want to start at the prospecting phase to go get some in a hurry?
Exactly. Even back then only the Soviets used Graphite Moderated Reactors.
I wonder how many 20-mule teams to haul that much boron, let alone the sand.
They should have dropped a nuclear bomb on the reactor, which would have incinerated all the dangerous radioactive material.
Big run on the grocery stores for 20 Mule Team Borax and other laundry boosters.
When I wuz a kid I had a model 20 Mule team model.
It wasn’t radioactive though.
I think it was five thousand tons. And in the documentary a scientist told them that the heat would melt the sand, forming a barrier over the core. The core would keep on truckin’ and have another BIG blow. Just as well the helicopters couldn’t drop anything in.
For you gamers, one of the best action games ever made is a trilogy of three called S.P.E.C.T.R.E. and deals with Chernobyl, the red forest, Pripyat, and much more.
Me too!
Only, mine had two mules.
OK, it was one mule and a chicken.
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