If I ingest a grain of sand size piece of the Chernobyl Reactor No.4 core • Hacker News Board

Re: If I ingest a grain of sand size piece of the Chernobyl Reactor No.4 core

#11

Post by CydeWeys » Sun, Jun 02, 2019, 7:42 PM UTC

lisper wrote: post #9

DuskStar wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was interesting to see that it truly was only "preferable" and not "mandatory" or "this will kill you" IMO

That's the interesting thing: it's not really very hazardous, but it is awfully annoying.

To be fair, it has had several decades to decay, and the most dangerous radionuclides are the ones with short half-lives and thus high output. It's pretty amazing that it's still that dangerous given it's had over 30 years to decay.

Re: If I ingest a grain of sand size piece of the Chernobyl Reactor No.4 core

#12

Post by ducttape12 » Sun, Jun 02, 2019, 7:45 PM UTC

lisper wrote: post #3

Gotta love the conclusion: "In summary, it is preferable to not eat spent nuclear fuel."

Now you tell me! What are you going to tell me next, that yellowcake isn't made from flour?

Re: If I ingest a grain of sand size piece of the Chernobyl Reactor No.4 core

#13

Post by beaner » Sun, Jun 02, 2019, 7:47 PM UTC

Couple naive questions:

1. How does a piece of spent fuel end up in a "grassy bit of ground" outside the reactor? Thought it would have all melted in one big clump in the same spot?

2. Why is Chernobyl still so dangerous if literally ingesting the spent fuel isn't super bad? Or is Chernobyl no longer dangerous?

Re: If I ingest a grain of sand size piece of the Chernobyl Reactor No.4 core

#14

Post by javadocmd » Sun, Jun 02, 2019, 7:48 PM UTC

lisper wrote: post #3

Gotta love the conclusion: "In summary, it is preferable to not eat spent nuclear fuel."

This is how you know it was written by an engineer. The executive summary is at the bottom.

Re: If I ingest a grain of sand size piece of the Chernobyl Reactor No.4 core

#15

Post by NikkiA » Sun, Jun 02, 2019, 7:50 PM UTC

beaner wrote: post #13

Couple naive questions: 1. How does a piece of spent fuel end up in a "grassy bit of ground" outside the reactor? Thought it would have all melted in one big clump in the same spot? 2. Why is Chernobyl still so dangerous if literally ingesting the spent fuel isn't super bad? Or is Chernobyl no longer dangerous?

There was an explosion.

Re: If I ingest a grain of sand size piece of the Chernobyl Reactor No.4 core

#16

Post by amluto » Sun, Jun 02, 2019, 7:50 PM UTC

beaner wrote: post #13

Couple naive questions: 1. How does a piece of spent fuel end up in a "grassy bit of ground" outside the reactor? Thought it would have all melted in one big clump in the same spot? 2. Why is Chernobyl still so dangerous if literally ingesting the spent fuel isn't super bad? Or is Chernobyl no longer dangerous?

I assume the answer to #2 is that there is quite a lot of waste around. Gamma and beta sources are dangerous just being near you — you don’t need to eat them to have a problem.

Re: If I ingest a grain of sand size piece of the Chernobyl Reactor No.4 core

#17

Post by ris » Sun, Jun 02, 2019, 7:51 PM UTC

beaner wrote: post #13

Couple naive questions: 1. How does a piece of spent fuel end up in a "grassy bit of ground" outside the reactor? Thought it would have all melted in one big clump in the same spot? 2. Why is Chernobyl still so dangerous if literally ingesting the spent fuel isn't super bad? Or is Chernobyl no longer dangerous?

> How does a piece of spent fuel end up in a "grassy bit of ground" outside the reactor?

There was a pretty huge steam-based explosion, blowing the top off the reactor building and scattering fuel and various debris quite far & wide.

Re: If I ingest a grain of sand size piece of the Chernobyl Reactor No.4 core

#18

Post by AaronFriel » Sun, Jun 02, 2019, 7:52 PM UTC

beaner wrote: post #13

Couple naive questions: 1. How does a piece of spent fuel end up in a "grassy bit of ground" outside the reactor? Thought it would have all melted in one big clump in the same spot? 2. Why is Chernobyl still so dangerous if literally ingesting the spent fuel isn't super bad? Or is Chernobyl no longer dangerous?

1. There was an explosion (edit: two explosions) that began the incident which destroyed the reactor and ejected matter a significant distance.

2. Chernobyl, IIRC, isn't really so dangerous to visit but you should avoid eating or drinking anything in the exclusion zone. Cesium-137 and Strontium-90 will poison you from the inside out. The latter ends up bio-accumulating in bone.

Re: If I ingest a grain of sand size piece of the Chernobyl Reactor No.4 core

#19

Post by codeduck » Sun, Jun 02, 2019, 7:54 PM UTC

beaner wrote: post #13

Couple naive questions: 1. How does a piece of spent fuel end up in a "grassy bit of ground" outside the reactor? Thought it would have all melted in one big clump in the same spot? 2. Why is Chernobyl still so dangerous if literally ingesting the spent fuel isn't super bad? Or is Chernobyl no longer dangerous?

1. There were two explosions - the second of which destroyed the reactor core and distributed parts of the reactor structure (including fuel) over the area.

2. That speck of spent fuel is still radioactive enough after 30 years to push most nuclear industry workers over their annual permissable dosage. Chernobyl itself is still phenomenally radioactive - but is far less so than it was immediately after the accident.

Re: If I ingest a grain of sand size piece of the Chernobyl Reactor No.4 core

#20

Post by akvadrako » Sun, Jun 02, 2019, 7:54 PM UTC

beaner wrote: post #13

Couple naive questions: 1. How does a piece of spent fuel end up in a "grassy bit of ground" outside the reactor? Thought it would have all melted in one big clump in the same spot? 2. Why is Chernobyl still so dangerous if literally ingesting the spent fuel isn't super bad? Or is Chernobyl no longer dangerous?

It's not that dangerous. There are people living nearby, it just increases the risk of cancer and other random mutations.