Good find, thanks for posting.

Elenas pictures are beautifully haunting. I remember seeing them a few years ago when they were posted up in the GT here.
Nuclear power is always a iffy subject with me, because I live about four miles from two, well, one shutdown and in the process of being decommed, one operational and one more in the planning stages which'll probably be started on around 2018ish.
I'm rather fatalistic about it to be honest, if it happens it happens, but I've been around the station a few times on tours (well worth it) and the safety systems they have in place are pretty thorough, however I know that nothing is absolutely a hundred percent foolproof and there is a small but still real risk of a problem in which case my best hope is that the winds are blowing from the west or south-west or it's goodnight Irene. The government knows this, once upon a time they practiced evacuation drills in the local community, particularly amongst the elderly in care homes and the like. Now they don't bother as far as I know, a few years ago some Iodine tablets were handed out to people living two miles from the plant, but really, if it all went wrong, that's about as much help as a bottle of vodka and some tin foil.
On the upside, I wouldn't need to fork out for STALKER: Call of Pripyat... :hmmm:

My view of nuclear power as it stands is, from a consumer point I prefer cheaper electricity, who doesn't? We all use electricity, we all pretty much depend on it for our lives (and daily Subsim fix) therefore we want it to have as low a financial impact on our lives as possible. Human nature, we want the most we can get for the cheapest we can get. :yep:
However, nuclear waste is my primary concern, even over meltdowns and occasional radiation leaks (which we've also had up here), because that stuff glows for years. Even now that one of our local plants reactors has been shut down it's going to be a number of decades before the decommissioning process is complete.

Heh, and for an additional spot of fun, I just found this whilst looking through the wiki for the local NPP:

:har: Ok, like I said...not every safety system is a hundred percent foolproof! :har:

Can someone fill me in with what the deal is with the sarcafogus (sp??)


Did they bury part of the plant and everything in it (and including a body (bodies?)) to keep radiation from spreading?

Yes, it was primarily to contain the molten core and resultant radiation. Otherwise it might make a nifty BASE leap. :)

All kidding aside, what they built then is now in poor condition and there are plans to build another one to cover the first. I'll have to dig up those old links - that were on the now defunct hard drive. :o

Anytime, and thank you.

Did you have your 100ml of vodka today, comrade? :)

What gets me, being a purebred Idahoan, is that one of the US' primary nuclear power test/development sites (at least throughout the fifties) sits directly on top of the aquifer that supplies much of the agricultural and drinking water for the state. My dad some years ago worked for the USGS, drilling into and sampling the aquifer under the site for isotopes. He wasn't allowed to divulge much to us, just that he was drilling. What's even scarier is that the site is now owned and operated by Lockheed... but that may be a topic for future conversation.

Basicly, the sacrophagus is failing, if it falls tonnes of radioactive dust will be send to not so good places.

Alright, thanks guys. Terrible event, just wanted to make sure I have my facts right in case it ever gets brought up, I now have an educated point of views on the subject.

in case you havent read the article its quite educational.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl_disaster

I spent so much time cruising her site. She put a new section up at some point, in which she presents her and friends' efforts at unearthing artifacts from the battles around Kiev during WWII. They must have some ice water in their veins or something.

http://www.theserpentswall.com/

Far as I can tell there aren't any nuclear power stations near where I live. OTOH, I remember my grandmother making a joke once about the yellow pollen from the pine trees. As I recall it, she once told an out-of-towner that it was just dust picked up from the Hanford Site by the wind. :har:

:hmmm:
A new video game?

Cheap electricity is definitely a good thing, especially when it comes to making inroads here at Subsim (and keeping my beer chilly).

I remember all the huff in Idaho about the government shipping waste across the state, particularly the storage of some of those materials at The Site. I certainly had my concerns about the storage aspect, in light of the research my Dad had participated in with the USGS. But any way we look at it, whether it be stored in the Idaho desert or buried elsewhere, the energy source produces it and it has to go somewhere.

Yes, reports such as that inspire so much faith in the integrity of the systems, don't they? :rotfl2: Pretty minor to what the systems are designed to circumvent, though. I'll give it that. :)


Anytime Chad. :salute: I used to have a folder stuffed with bookmarks on the Chernobyl and related subjects, but that computer was greased and I lost everything. The Nuclear Files website has an extensive list of links to filter through, if you're interested. Have a looksee under the Library link on the top menu.

Wow, reading the wikipedia article really puts the pictures to shame. I pictured Nuclear Meltdown the same as when the Atomic bombs were dropped, mass destruction. The destruction this caused was more invisible, and, appears more catastrophic in the long run.

I was reading about how forest fires can release toxins that are in the ground, and the amount of land and forest that has been destroyed is crazy!

We have 10 acres of land at my parents house, I can't even begin to imagine 5,772 or even 1,240 acres of burning land.

If you read the article you posted you'd note that:

A. This stuff was buried when it was a landfill so implying that they would deliberately bury it in a park is dishonest.

B. "The level of radiation was very low; a U.S. Department of Energy official characterized the radiation as equivalent to 1/70th of a dental X-ray"

C. The area was part of a wetland area in the park and not normally used by visitors. Apparently the kids were in fact not playing on it.

That site must be from the days when spent rods were still stored in open trenches. Got radium? Dump it in the landfill! :DL

Yep, while Nagaskai and Hiroshima had very visible damage and many suffered after effects for years, The damage caused by Chernobyl meltdown is largely invisible unless you see some of the victims.I highly suggest anyone watch the documentary Chernobyl Heart.Children born ten years after were born and to this day are born with serious birth defects, missing feet, hands, eyes, all kinds of mutations.Many are born with "Chernobyl Heart" a heart defect directly attributed to exposure at Chernobyl.This is happening hundreds of miles away to women who were in the area and exposed after it happened.This was not some crazy enviro group making the documentary, just showing what goes on.Sad thing is because of the poor shape in the post Soviet era many children could not be helped.Actually, the director of the film herself contracted caesium poisioning during filming but was treated successfully.Then there is the storage problem etc Just need to not give into short term need for gratification and think of the long term effects of things like say property values, I bet most people will not want to live near a nuke power plant.I sure would not.

I know US designed plants esp now are much safer etc but still NOT worth it when they are better alternatives.Plus, global warming is a hoax anyway so we can stay on fossil fuels a bit while we get things in line, but no nuke power esp near my home but hell it be hundreds of miles away and still affect me, my family and friends.Simply not worth it.

The Red Forest is my favorite (if you can put it that way) when it comes to Chernobyl. Something creepy about it. :hmmm:

1986, I remember it very well. I recently saw a documentary where the guys who were digging a tunnel underneath the reactor to put some kind of reinforcement there so the thing wouldn't melt through the earths core and/or get into the water supply. The guys who were digging the tunnel were watching the 1986 football championships from Mexico on television, just like I was back then as a kid. Those guys didn't understand the kind of danger they were in.

Kid of speeds pictures are interesting, just a pity she had to overdo it with her cockamany story about being a biker through the zone.

Yeh, was remembering something about that? Care to remind me what the case was? :hmmm:

From her wiki article:

Thanks August. :salute:

You're quite welcome Dowly.

The way I see it though. She may have faked the solo motorcycle part but the pictures are both real and poignant.

Voices From Chernobyl is an excellent read, it's a collection of monologues from various people who worked at the plant, fought the fires there, residents, etc.

very good book if you ever get the chance to pick it up, I suggest you do