Does anyone have a sense for how significant of a dose of radiation this person got?
A worker fell into a nuclear reactor pool
31–40 of 545 posts
Re: A worker fell into a nuclear reactor pool
#32Earlier quoted context omitted.
Knowing nothing about nuclear reactor design, why would there ever be a dangerous pool that people could walk by that wasn’t covered? Hard to believe it’s like some kind of Bond villain complex with open pools everywhere. This must have been in the course of some kind of servicing that required opening something that normally stays closed?
Because it's generally speaking, not that dangerous. Water is very good at blocking radiation. That's part of the reason why the pool is filled with it to begin with.
Re: A worker fell into a nuclear reactor pool
#33I have SOOO many questions, and this report answers SOOO few of them.
My question is what happened between when they went in the water and when they got off-site medical treatment. 7 hours seems like a long time. Is there on-site medical that would be doing something during that time?
Among other things, he had to sit inside an enclosure made of scintillator material for a period of time, to make sure he wasn't contaminated. Then he also got blood tests for heavy metals etc. They pretty much went by the book for all of these tests.
Also, the facility is the only place that's equipped for this kind of situation.
Re: A worker fell into a nuclear reactor pool
#34Your periodic reminder that coal is deadlier than nuclear. https://cns.utexas.edu/news/research/coal-power-killed-half-...
Re: A worker fell into a nuclear reactor pool
#35> Non Emergency I guess in a nuclear reactor there is a lingual shift and the word emergency cant be used for just any old 911 call. Like how Australians apparently call a jellyfish bite "uncomfortable"
Aussie surfer here, the stings typically are uncomfortable. Some of the deadlier ones can be close to painless and only result in itching and result in you dying from respiratory failure 24 hours later. Others are downright painful with even strong opiate based pain killers struggling to cut through the pain.
Re: A worker fell into a nuclear reactor pool
#36Re: A worker fell into a nuclear reactor pool
#37Relevant xkcd content: https://what-if.xkcd.com/29/
Wow
Re: A worker fell into a nuclear reactor pool
#38Re: A worker fell into a nuclear reactor pool
#39Earlier quoted context omitted.
Because it's generally speaking, not that dangerous. Water is very good at blocking radiation. That's part of the reason why the pool is filled with it to begin with.
I personally consider an area dangerous if I need to undergo radiation decontamination after entering it, continue emitting radiation after decontamination, and need to seek medical attention. Maybe the nuclear regulatory bodies have differen definitions?