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

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31–40 of 81 posts

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

#31

If we were to make an analogy between radiocative matter entering the body, and toxic information entering the mind, what metrics do we use to measure the dangerous effects of the information? How long it lasts or how deeply it can modify conscious/subconscious brain processes?

There's no such thing as dangerous information, only truth and not truth.

Game of Thrones analogy: an important character being told they are the true heir to the throne results in another character burning down a city. Information can be dangerous depending on the context. Also in the show, The heir’s father in the story kept the information secret to protect that persons life.

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

#32
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.

Given that half time is 50000 years for some of its content its is not a big surprise.

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

#33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's no such thing as dangerous information, only truth and not truth.

>There's no such thing as dangerous information There most certainly is. We actively codify for it in most societies in a myriad of ways. See: Nuclear technology secrets, CDC protocols, and the fact that things like PTSD exist. And to your underlying point: stop assuming everyone is rational or will act in the best interests of society with information. There is plenty of information available to you to negate that a…

Such as people who would gladly steal your identity for financial gain.

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

#34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Wouldn’t that also apply to all the wildlife in the area? Are there no animals inside the exclusion zone? I get that cancer rates and birth defects would go up, but that’s a bit different from being poisoned, the implication a lack of survivability.

The exclusion zone is actually resembles a wildlife refuge these days. From reports of the numbers of animals present it seems like human populations are much worse for wildlife than low levels of ionizing radiation and other contaminants from the disaster.

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

#35
>Me, riding the whole body counter in SP1430, Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, after being inside the Unit 4 “Sarcophagus”

What do people do who actually go inside the Sarcophagus these days? I assume there’s monitoring that needs to be done, but I also assume that you can monitor a lot of this remotely. Also, how much longer until Chernobyl is considered “safe”?

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

#36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's no such thing as dangerous information, only truth and not truth.

I disagree having read about people who work as content moderators for websites like YouTube. They frequently suffer from acute forms of PTSD having only passively consumed information. If information can cause PTSD, I would consider that information dangerous to one's mental health.

Not to mention simpler examples like the anti vax movement. Which has put not only individuals in danger, but whole populations. There's plenty of examples of information leading to harm.

(This comment is neither a recommendation for censorship nor a push for freedom is speech)

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

#37

>Me, riding the whole body counter in SP1430, Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, after being inside the Unit 4 “Sarcophagus” What do people do who actually go inside the Sarcophagus these days? I assume there’s monitoring that needs to be done, but I also assume that you can monitor a lot of this remotely. Also, how much longer until Chernobyl is considered “safe”?

I think I heard 20,000 years before it's safe.

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

#38
post #7

Good to know. I was worried for this girl :) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejZyDvtX85Y

I had a feeling it was a bionerd23 video before I clicked that link... she has some pretty scary radioactivity videos.

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

#39

If we were to make an analogy between radiocative matter entering the body, and toxic information entering the mind, what metrics do we use to measure the dangerous effects of the information? How long it lasts or how deeply it can modify conscious/subconscious brain processes?

There's no such thing as dangerous information, only truth and not truth.

Tell that to a gay man in Iran who is outed among many other examples.

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

#40

>Me, riding the whole body counter in SP1430, Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, after being inside the Unit 4 “Sarcophagus” What do people do who actually go inside the Sarcophagus these days? I assume there’s monitoring that needs to be done, but I also assume that you can monitor a lot of this remotely. Also, how much longer until Chernobyl is considered “safe”?

The Chernobyl New Safe Confinement has two cranes inside, and a lot of sensors. Incidentally, it's a great engineering project. The only downside is that if you visit now, you can't see the sarcophagus.
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