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A worker fell into a nuclear reactor pool

nrc.gov

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Re: A worker fell into a nuclear reactor pool

#61

Post by Zak »

arresin wrote: post #34
0xDEAFBEAD wrote: post #29

Your periodic reminder that coal is deadlier than nuclear. https://cns.utexas.edu/news/research/coal-power-killed-half-...

More radiation released also which is hard to get your head around.

Not really hard: nuclear power generation uses radiation and radioactive material, but tries very hard not to release it. Coal power generation burns a substance that contains a small amount of radioactive material, and makes no effort not to release radiation.

Re: A worker fell into a nuclear reactor pool

#62

Post by sparky_z »

christina97 wrote: post #5

Relevant xkcd content: https://what-if.xkcd.com/29/

Is it relevant? It's writing about a pool for storing spent fuel, which is not a part of the actual reactor system.

  This incident report says that the worker fell into a "reactor cavity" containing water and that there was a measurable amount of radiation detected in their hair after the initial clean-up. The two situations don't seem remotely compatible to me.

Re: A worker fell into a nuclear reactor pool

#63

Post by scarier »

andy99 wrote: post #32
donatj wrote: post #24

Earlier 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?

It seems reasonable and prudent to go through decontamination after this sort of thing, but if the worker had just gone home to their family soaking wet without changing, there would still have been close enough to zero risk to anyone (again, cleaning up and making sure this is the case is a very reasonable thing to do).

This sort of place is safe enough to bring your kid into without significant precautions (I got to do this as a kid—it was really cool). The biggest risk by far is drowning.

Relevant XKCD: https://what-if.xkcd.com/29/

Re: A worker fell into a nuclear reactor pool

#64

Post by foobar1962 »

hshdhdhehd wrote: post #7

> 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"

A bite requires teeth. Sharks bite. Snakes bite. Bees and wasps sting. Jellyfish and bluebottles sting.

Not sure about spiders. Are their fangs considered to be teeth? Platypus have venomous spurs, not sure what that’s called.

Re: A worker fell into a nuclear reactor pool

#65

Post by mlindner »

arresin wrote: post #34
0xDEAFBEAD wrote: post #29

Your periodic reminder that coal is deadlier than nuclear. https://cns.utexas.edu/news/research/coal-power-killed-half-...

More radiation released also which is hard to get your head around.

It's not that surprising. We're burning a rock we dug out of the ground and turning it into a vapor. Rocks found underground contain some amount of natural radioactive material, for example granite/marble tend to be higher in radiation. If you burn that into a powder and put it into the atmosphere it'll spread around and expose the nearby area to very slightly radioactive pollution.

Re: A worker fell into a nuclear reactor pool

#66

Post by loeg »

hshdhdhehd wrote: post #7

> 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"

Nah this is literally just not an emergency. The water isn't very radioactive.

Re: A worker fell into a nuclear reactor pool

#67

Post by slicktux »

I’ve heard of people falling into the spent fuel pool but never the reactor pool. Usually there are strict FME barriers in place and one cannot even look over into the pool without violating the FME. I wonder what led to the event? Definitely an OSHA recordable!

Re: A worker fell into a nuclear reactor pool

#68

Post by hammock »

sigmar wrote: post #14

It doesn't say worker, just "person." I could understand falling in with some freak accident where you trip. But they ingested the water?!

When I was a kid I was amazed at how many of the other kids would take pool water in their mouth and drool it out, simply as a normal part of their treading water. I thought they were weird for this but it was really about 1 out of every 3 or 4 kids I noticed that did this.

Re: A worker fell into a nuclear reactor pool

#70

Post by pembrook »

Man in Michigan potentially exposed to radiation levels equivalent to undergoing 4 x-rays at the doctors office.

Meanwhile, in Texas, 1.5 people die every day working in Oil and Gas extraction.

A few people die every year installing or falling off of wind turbines.

But by all means, let's make this a news story instead and keep making nuclear sound scary. I’m sure the person who posted this to HN with this clickbait title has zero political beliefs.

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