1 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:07,160 Speaker 1: Get in touch with technology with tech Stuff from how 2 00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:13,960 Speaker 1: stuff works dot com. Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. 3 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:16,640 Speaker 1: I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with 4 00:00:16,680 --> 00:00:20,720 Speaker 1: How Stuff Works, and I love all things tech. Well, 5 00:00:22,000 --> 00:00:24,240 Speaker 1: I say a love all things tech. But today I'm 6 00:00:24,280 --> 00:00:28,920 Speaker 1: going to talk about three different disasters involving nuclear power facilities, 7 00:00:28,960 --> 00:00:34,160 Speaker 1: and I don't really love that. It's a very serious subject. Also, 8 00:00:34,840 --> 00:00:37,720 Speaker 1: I am coming down with a cold or a sinus 9 00:00:37,720 --> 00:00:40,360 Speaker 1: infection or something, and I mentioned this in the last episode. 10 00:00:40,760 --> 00:00:42,920 Speaker 1: It is even more true as I sit here now 11 00:00:43,640 --> 00:00:47,040 Speaker 1: one hour after I recorded that last episode, and I 12 00:00:47,040 --> 00:00:49,599 Speaker 1: can feel my body falling apart. So I apologize if 13 00:00:49,640 --> 00:00:55,600 Speaker 1: I sound particularly uh wonky, but I don't want to 14 00:00:55,640 --> 00:00:59,680 Speaker 1: suggest that I'm covering these topics in order to scare 15 00:00:59,720 --> 00:01:03,520 Speaker 1: people will away from the possibilities of using nuclear power 16 00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:08,279 Speaker 1: to generate electricity. I think if you implement nuclear power 17 00:01:08,480 --> 00:01:13,080 Speaker 1: correctly and responsibly, which includes securing a long term storage 18 00:01:13,080 --> 00:01:16,880 Speaker 1: facility for spent nuclear fuel, it can be a viable 19 00:01:16,920 --> 00:01:20,959 Speaker 1: method to generate electricity. But it would be dishonest to 20 00:01:21,080 --> 00:01:25,760 Speaker 1: suggest there are not significant risks involved. And the three 21 00:01:25,800 --> 00:01:29,920 Speaker 1: stories I'm going to cover today illustrate that fact. So 22 00:01:29,959 --> 00:01:33,560 Speaker 1: we're going to start with the Three Mile Island accident. 23 00:01:33,560 --> 00:01:37,320 Speaker 1: We're gonna go in chronological order of when they happened. 24 00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:40,640 Speaker 1: So Three Mile Island is the earliest. It is also 25 00:01:40,800 --> 00:01:45,640 Speaker 1: the worst nuclear power accident to happen in the United States. 26 00:01:46,640 --> 00:01:48,920 Speaker 1: But there's an interesting side to that, and we'll get 27 00:01:48,920 --> 00:01:52,400 Speaker 1: to that. So Three Mile Island is a nuclear power facility. 28 00:01:52,440 --> 00:01:57,240 Speaker 1: It's located near Middleton, Pennsylvania, and at the time of 29 00:01:57,280 --> 00:02:01,680 Speaker 1: the accident it had to water reactors. I mean, it 30 00:02:01,760 --> 00:02:05,640 Speaker 1: was using light water as the coolant. T m I 31 00:02:05,680 --> 00:02:08,400 Speaker 1: one t m I stands for three Mile Island, not 32 00:02:08,480 --> 00:02:11,880 Speaker 1: too much information, and t m I two now t 33 00:02:12,080 --> 00:02:15,440 Speaker 1: m I one had been in operation since nineteen seventy four. 34 00:02:15,960 --> 00:02:19,360 Speaker 1: T m I two came online a couple of years later, 35 00:02:19,720 --> 00:02:23,680 Speaker 1: and then on March ninety nine, that t m I 36 00:02:23,720 --> 00:02:28,280 Speaker 1: two nuclear reactor experienced a partial meltdown. Now, a meltdown 37 00:02:28,360 --> 00:02:32,600 Speaker 1: happens when the heat inside a reactor core builds beyond 38 00:02:32,680 --> 00:02:36,600 Speaker 1: the melting point of the nuclear fuel that's arranged in 39 00:02:36,760 --> 00:02:41,360 Speaker 1: rods inside the nuclear core. Reactors use a combination of 40 00:02:41,400 --> 00:02:45,880 Speaker 1: things like coolant and moderators and control rods to maintain 41 00:02:45,919 --> 00:02:50,160 Speaker 1: the rate of nuclear reactions. And by controlling the rate 42 00:02:50,160 --> 00:02:53,679 Speaker 1: of nuclear reactions, you then by extension, control the reactor 43 00:02:53,760 --> 00:02:56,760 Speaker 1: core temperature. The more reactions there are, the higher the 44 00:02:56,800 --> 00:03:01,200 Speaker 1: temperature goes. The slower the reactions are, the lower you 45 00:03:01,240 --> 00:03:04,320 Speaker 1: can make the temperature. And if you actually insert control 46 00:03:04,400 --> 00:03:09,280 Speaker 1: rods all the way through your bundles, the bundles being 47 00:03:09,360 --> 00:03:12,720 Speaker 1: that where the fuel rods are, then you will absorb 48 00:03:12,840 --> 00:03:18,640 Speaker 1: enough neutrons to stop the reaction overall. Keep in mind 49 00:03:18,960 --> 00:03:23,320 Speaker 1: these are sustained nuclear reactions where a heavy atom splits apart, 50 00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:26,079 Speaker 1: and one of the things that shoots off are high 51 00:03:26,120 --> 00:03:30,680 Speaker 1: speed neutrons, and if another heavy atom of that same type, 52 00:03:30,960 --> 00:03:35,520 Speaker 1: like uranium two thirty five, for example, absorbs that incoming neutron, 53 00:03:35,800 --> 00:03:39,360 Speaker 1: it too will split. And so once you start the reaction, 54 00:03:39,400 --> 00:03:42,480 Speaker 1: it can sustain itself if you have enough uranium two 55 00:03:42,760 --> 00:03:47,320 Speaker 1: five in the mixture the critical mass. So if this happens, 56 00:03:47,480 --> 00:03:51,000 Speaker 1: if these reactions keep on happening and they increase in 57 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:55,600 Speaker 1: rate to the point where the temperature has grown beyond 58 00:03:55,680 --> 00:03:58,120 Speaker 1: the melting point of the fuel, the fuel starts to 59 00:03:58,160 --> 00:04:02,680 Speaker 1: melt down. This is a big problem. At four am 60 00:04:02,800 --> 00:04:08,360 Speaker 1: on March something went wrong at Three Mile Island. Now 61 00:04:08,360 --> 00:04:10,680 Speaker 1: to understand what happened, it helps to get a general 62 00:04:10,760 --> 00:04:14,800 Speaker 1: understanding of that reactor's design. So you've got the nuclear 63 00:04:15,000 --> 00:04:20,800 Speaker 1: side of the system and the non nuclear side. The 64 00:04:20,920 --> 00:04:25,840 Speaker 1: nuclear side consists of the nuclear reactor which has the fuel, 65 00:04:25,920 --> 00:04:29,720 Speaker 1: which was uranium, and it has the control rods, has 66 00:04:29,760 --> 00:04:33,320 Speaker 1: the coolant in it. The coolant is water, but the 67 00:04:33,320 --> 00:04:37,440 Speaker 1: coolant is water under pressure, so it's a pressurized system. 68 00:04:37,480 --> 00:04:41,880 Speaker 1: The water can circulate through the core, through the rest 69 00:04:41,920 --> 00:04:44,760 Speaker 1: of the system to a heat exchanger more on that 70 00:04:44,800 --> 00:04:48,240 Speaker 1: in a second. And then after it goes through the 71 00:04:48,240 --> 00:04:51,080 Speaker 1: heat exchanger, some of the heat has been pulled away 72 00:04:51,080 --> 00:04:54,160 Speaker 1: from the coolant, it continues to circulate, goes back into 73 00:04:54,160 --> 00:04:57,159 Speaker 1: the core, heats up again, and it's kept under pressure 74 00:04:57,200 --> 00:05:00,640 Speaker 1: so that way the coolant doesn't boil off, because if 75 00:05:00,640 --> 00:05:02,560 Speaker 1: you don't have you know, if you don't keep it 76 00:05:02,600 --> 00:05:05,920 Speaker 1: under pressure, then some of that water would boil off 77 00:05:05,920 --> 00:05:09,160 Speaker 1: into steam, and that would make your whole system less 78 00:05:09,200 --> 00:05:12,359 Speaker 1: efficient and also would create problems when you're trying to 79 00:05:12,520 --> 00:05:16,640 Speaker 1: pump the water through that side, that's the nuclear side. 80 00:05:17,680 --> 00:05:22,440 Speaker 1: Then uh you have the non nuclear section that's a 81 00:05:22,520 --> 00:05:28,800 Speaker 1: secondary water system. Secondary loop of water. The water flows 82 00:05:28,960 --> 00:05:33,320 Speaker 1: into a steam generator essentially a boiler, and that is 83 00:05:33,360 --> 00:05:36,240 Speaker 1: on the other side that heat exchange that's on the 84 00:05:36,320 --> 00:05:40,000 Speaker 1: nuclear side. So the coolant from the nuclear side, which 85 00:05:40,040 --> 00:05:44,599 Speaker 1: is superheated water that's under pressure, transfers heat through the 86 00:05:44,640 --> 00:05:49,400 Speaker 1: heat exchanger. The heat exchanger transfers heat to the steam generator, 87 00:05:49,440 --> 00:05:53,440 Speaker 1: which boils water off from this second closed loop, So 88 00:05:53,480 --> 00:05:57,720 Speaker 1: the two loops are not connected. And then that steam 89 00:05:57,880 --> 00:06:02,159 Speaker 1: goes on to drive a a steam turbine which generates 90 00:06:02,160 --> 00:06:06,919 Speaker 1: electricity and then goes through some cooling process to condense 91 00:06:07,000 --> 00:06:09,760 Speaker 1: back into water and go back through the system again. 92 00:06:10,320 --> 00:06:12,760 Speaker 1: So the important thing to remember is that these are 93 00:06:12,800 --> 00:06:16,840 Speaker 1: two closed systems that do not overlap. So the the 94 00:06:17,800 --> 00:06:19,960 Speaker 1: the water that's being used to turn into steam and 95 00:06:19,960 --> 00:06:23,680 Speaker 1: turn the steam turbines, never has any contact with the 96 00:06:23,760 --> 00:06:27,120 Speaker 1: nuclear fuel. It is just heated by this heat exchange, 97 00:06:27,960 --> 00:06:31,640 Speaker 1: and the other water, the coolant water, that's the one 98 00:06:31,640 --> 00:06:34,880 Speaker 1: that's circulating through the nuclear reactor core. Well, that Monday 99 00:06:34,880 --> 00:06:39,159 Speaker 1: in March, there was a malfunction in that secondary non 100 00:06:39,400 --> 00:06:46,560 Speaker 1: nuclear water system, and that prevented the water from circulating properly. Now, 101 00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:50,080 Speaker 1: the reactions in the reactor core continued, but there was 102 00:06:50,120 --> 00:06:53,840 Speaker 1: no way for the coolant to pass heat to that 103 00:06:53,960 --> 00:06:57,440 Speaker 1: secondary system, right. It could not pass heat through the 104 00:06:57,480 --> 00:06:59,599 Speaker 1: heat exchanger to the secondary system. There was nothing to 105 00:06:59,640 --> 00:07:03,600 Speaker 1: carry that heat away. And without anything to carry the 106 00:07:03,640 --> 00:07:06,919 Speaker 1: heat away, it meant the temperature of the reactor's coolant 107 00:07:07,040 --> 00:07:10,559 Speaker 1: began to rise. So the reactor cores temperature began to rise. 108 00:07:11,440 --> 00:07:16,840 Speaker 1: The actual plant automatically shut down the reactor because it 109 00:07:16,920 --> 00:07:20,520 Speaker 1: detected that this was happening. It saw that the temperature 110 00:07:20,560 --> 00:07:23,480 Speaker 1: was rising, so as a safety measure, it shut down. 111 00:07:23,560 --> 00:07:27,760 Speaker 1: That's a good thing. Then a pressure relief valve on 112 00:07:27,800 --> 00:07:30,880 Speaker 1: the pressure riser on the nuclear side, so where the 113 00:07:30,920 --> 00:07:34,640 Speaker 1: coolant gets pressurized so that it doesn't boil off. There's 114 00:07:34,640 --> 00:07:37,880 Speaker 1: a safety valve there that opens up in the case 115 00:07:38,120 --> 00:07:41,360 Speaker 1: of UH, temperatures rising too high in order to let 116 00:07:41,360 --> 00:07:46,080 Speaker 1: out a little pressure, and it's supposed to open for 117 00:07:46,120 --> 00:07:48,960 Speaker 1: about ten seconds and then close, so that way it 118 00:07:49,000 --> 00:07:53,040 Speaker 1: releases some pressure. It closes, everything is fine, UH, and 119 00:07:53,400 --> 00:07:56,440 Speaker 1: the steam it releases, because you know, you're talking about 120 00:07:56,680 --> 00:08:00,760 Speaker 1: water that's been in contact with the nuclear reactor core, 121 00:08:01,280 --> 00:08:04,000 Speaker 1: all of that is still contained within the facility. It's 122 00:08:04,040 --> 00:08:07,320 Speaker 1: not like it's being vented out into the wilderness and 123 00:08:07,320 --> 00:08:10,880 Speaker 1: suddenly you've got Bambi with eight heads or something. That 124 00:08:10,960 --> 00:08:14,240 Speaker 1: doesn't happen. But what it's supposed to do is have 125 00:08:14,280 --> 00:08:16,800 Speaker 1: that valve shut after about ten seconds, and the valve 126 00:08:16,880 --> 00:08:22,400 Speaker 1: didn't shut, it stayed open, But the instrumentation in the 127 00:08:22,440 --> 00:08:26,480 Speaker 1: control room indicated that the valve had shut, so the 128 00:08:26,560 --> 00:08:30,520 Speaker 1: workers at three Mile Island were working under incorrect information. 129 00:08:30,640 --> 00:08:33,880 Speaker 1: They saw that everything on the nuclear side appeared to 130 00:08:33,880 --> 00:08:38,120 Speaker 1: be fine once this venting process was over, and then 131 00:08:38,160 --> 00:08:40,840 Speaker 1: the valve had shut and everything should be good to go, 132 00:08:41,960 --> 00:08:45,120 Speaker 1: But that valve was open, so the reactor coolant continued 133 00:08:45,280 --> 00:08:48,880 Speaker 1: to escape the reactor. It continued to boil off into steam, 134 00:08:49,640 --> 00:08:54,320 Speaker 1: and that began to drain the reactor coolant uh and 135 00:08:55,600 --> 00:08:59,160 Speaker 1: that meant that the reactor core was losing coolant and 136 00:08:59,240 --> 00:09:02,160 Speaker 1: residual to a heat was starting to build up, and 137 00:09:02,200 --> 00:09:04,560 Speaker 1: the core would be damaged by this because once the 138 00:09:04,600 --> 00:09:09,440 Speaker 1: coolant drains enough, then the reactor is able to the 139 00:09:09,640 --> 00:09:12,440 Speaker 1: uranium inside the reactor is able to have these reactions 140 00:09:13,080 --> 00:09:17,160 Speaker 1: with more regularity, and the temperature will grow very very 141 00:09:17,200 --> 00:09:20,679 Speaker 1: quickly because of that. To make matters worse, the employees 142 00:09:20,720 --> 00:09:24,080 Speaker 1: assumed that the coolant in the core was remaining at 143 00:09:24,080 --> 00:09:26,040 Speaker 1: the right levels. They did not have an easy way 144 00:09:26,080 --> 00:09:29,440 Speaker 1: to monitor how much water was actually in the reactor core. 145 00:09:30,840 --> 00:09:33,920 Speaker 1: Now the plant it had a better idea of what 146 00:09:33,960 --> 00:09:37,720 Speaker 1: was going on. The automated systems had detected this problem, 147 00:09:37,960 --> 00:09:42,360 Speaker 1: and so the automated systems spring into action and began 148 00:09:42,400 --> 00:09:46,160 Speaker 1: to inject water at high pressure into the reactor in 149 00:09:46,280 --> 00:09:48,960 Speaker 1: order to replace the coolant that was being lost with 150 00:09:49,120 --> 00:09:52,040 Speaker 1: the open valve. Now, at this point, the employees still 151 00:09:52,080 --> 00:09:56,320 Speaker 1: thought the valve was closed. Cooling water entered the pressure 152 00:09:56,400 --> 00:10:01,000 Speaker 1: riser in the nuclear reactor coolant system, so the employees 153 00:10:01,040 --> 00:10:03,480 Speaker 1: couldn't see how much water was going into the reactor core. 154 00:10:03,559 --> 00:10:06,439 Speaker 1: They didn't have the instrumentation to detect that. But they 155 00:10:06,480 --> 00:10:09,960 Speaker 1: did see they had instrumentation to detect how much water 156 00:10:10,000 --> 00:10:13,960 Speaker 1: was in the pressurizer, because if the pressurizer had too 157 00:10:14,040 --> 00:10:17,720 Speaker 1: much water in it and attempted to add more pressure 158 00:10:17,760 --> 00:10:21,440 Speaker 1: to the system, it could cause a rupture, which would 159 00:10:21,440 --> 00:10:25,679 Speaker 1: be a really bad thing. Right, So the employees are 160 00:10:25,720 --> 00:10:27,600 Speaker 1: looking at this figure and they're seeing it go up 161 00:10:27,600 --> 00:10:29,760 Speaker 1: and up and up, and they start to think, oh, no, 162 00:10:30,280 --> 00:10:33,640 Speaker 1: something's gone wrong. For some reason, the automated systems are 163 00:10:33,640 --> 00:10:37,600 Speaker 1: pouring more water into the reactor and the pressurizer is 164 00:10:37,600 --> 00:10:40,920 Speaker 1: getting over overloaded with water, so we need to shut 165 00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:44,160 Speaker 1: down that water. They did not realize that that valve 166 00:10:44,240 --> 00:10:47,280 Speaker 1: was still open and that coolant was still boiling off, 167 00:10:48,480 --> 00:10:53,480 Speaker 1: so they were working under incorrect information. Now that allowed 168 00:10:53,640 --> 00:10:57,840 Speaker 1: steam to form inside the reactor system in general, So 169 00:10:58,000 --> 00:11:00,240 Speaker 1: the mixture of water and steam in the system, which 170 00:11:00,280 --> 00:11:03,120 Speaker 1: was supposed to be just high pressure, high temperature water, 171 00:11:04,320 --> 00:11:07,800 Speaker 1: was giving the coolant pumps problems when they were trying 172 00:11:07,800 --> 00:11:10,760 Speaker 1: to pump the liquid through the system. That steam was 173 00:11:10,840 --> 00:11:13,480 Speaker 1: causing issues. It was making the pumps start to vibrate, 174 00:11:13,880 --> 00:11:16,240 Speaker 1: and that could have caused massive damage to the plant. 175 00:11:16,320 --> 00:11:19,800 Speaker 1: So the employees shut down the pumps. The reactor court 176 00:11:19,960 --> 00:11:23,200 Speaker 1: no longer had sufficient coolant. The level was too low 177 00:11:24,080 --> 00:11:27,240 Speaker 1: and it was no longer circulating, so the fuel rods 178 00:11:27,280 --> 00:11:31,199 Speaker 1: got hotter and hotter without sufficient coolant and partially melted. 179 00:11:31,800 --> 00:11:36,800 Speaker 1: That introduced radioactive material into the water itself. Before the 180 00:11:36,880 --> 00:11:39,240 Speaker 1: radioactive material was more or less contained and the water 181 00:11:39,559 --> 00:11:41,760 Speaker 1: would go past it, but not you know, it's not 182 00:11:41,800 --> 00:11:44,880 Speaker 1: like the water was soaking up radioactive isotopes or something, 183 00:11:45,200 --> 00:11:48,360 Speaker 1: But now you had fuel melting off and falling into 184 00:11:48,360 --> 00:11:52,520 Speaker 1: the water itself. Now the water actually is carrying radioactive material. 185 00:11:53,120 --> 00:11:55,079 Speaker 1: At six two in the morning, keep in mind this 186 00:11:55,160 --> 00:11:58,800 Speaker 1: started at four am. Employees were able to finally close 187 00:11:58,880 --> 00:12:02,280 Speaker 1: a blocked valve that was between the pressurizer and that 188 00:12:02,440 --> 00:12:05,160 Speaker 1: open relief valve, so they were able to take care 189 00:12:05,200 --> 00:12:08,400 Speaker 1: of that. They found that problem and so that managed 190 00:12:08,440 --> 00:12:13,000 Speaker 1: to stop the loss of coolant, But the coolant system 191 00:12:13,120 --> 00:12:16,199 Speaker 1: inside the reactor was now partly filled with steam and 192 00:12:16,360 --> 00:12:19,960 Speaker 1: steam from water that had contact with radioactive material, so 193 00:12:20,000 --> 00:12:23,840 Speaker 1: this was very concerning. Eventually, the operators were able to 194 00:12:23,920 --> 00:12:27,240 Speaker 1: condense that steam into water and they were able to 195 00:12:27,280 --> 00:12:29,920 Speaker 1: inject more water into the system and restore the core 196 00:12:30,000 --> 00:12:34,360 Speaker 1: to proper temperatures. They also captured several of the radioactive 197 00:12:34,360 --> 00:12:37,040 Speaker 1: gases that were coming from the reactor. They would vent 198 00:12:37,760 --> 00:12:41,400 Speaker 1: these gases from the reactor, but they vented it into 199 00:12:42,080 --> 00:12:45,960 Speaker 1: trapping systems. It was all meant to go from the 200 00:12:46,000 --> 00:12:49,760 Speaker 1: reactor into compressors that would then send this radioactive gas 201 00:12:50,440 --> 00:12:55,160 Speaker 1: into uh a tank called the makeup tank. Then from 202 00:12:55,200 --> 00:12:58,040 Speaker 1: the makeup tank it would be compressed to move into 203 00:12:58,200 --> 00:13:02,160 Speaker 1: gas decay tanks. These are special containers designed to hold 204 00:13:02,240 --> 00:13:05,720 Speaker 1: radioactive gases. If all of that had worked, yes, there 205 00:13:05,800 --> 00:13:08,080 Speaker 1: still would have been a disaster in the sense that 206 00:13:08,200 --> 00:13:12,360 Speaker 1: things had gone wrong, but radiation would have been contained. 207 00:13:12,720 --> 00:13:15,560 Speaker 1: In the process of sending it along this chain, some 208 00:13:15,640 --> 00:13:18,440 Speaker 1: of the compressors leaked and some of that gas got 209 00:13:18,480 --> 00:13:21,439 Speaker 1: released into the environment. That gas also had to pass 210 00:13:21,480 --> 00:13:25,880 Speaker 1: through several HEPPA filters, which removed most of the radio newclides, 211 00:13:26,400 --> 00:13:29,360 Speaker 1: so most of the heavier radioactive materials. In fact, all 212 00:13:29,440 --> 00:13:34,120 Speaker 1: the heavy radioactive materials were all caught, but some radioactive 213 00:13:34,160 --> 00:13:38,800 Speaker 1: noble gases passed through those filters. Those gases had radio 214 00:13:38,840 --> 00:13:41,760 Speaker 1: nuclides with a very short half life, and the gases 215 00:13:41,800 --> 00:13:47,240 Speaker 1: themselves were biologically inert, so it wasn't like organisms were 216 00:13:47,280 --> 00:13:51,880 Speaker 1: going to soak up those gases. They didn't interact with them, 217 00:13:51,960 --> 00:13:55,000 Speaker 1: so it wasn't an environmental catastrophe. It's still not great 218 00:13:55,200 --> 00:14:00,840 Speaker 1: to say radioactive gas escaped are our facility, but at 219 00:14:00,880 --> 00:14:03,800 Speaker 1: least you could say, but this radioactive gas does not 220 00:14:03,960 --> 00:14:07,000 Speaker 1: interact with the environment in any way, so we should 221 00:14:07,040 --> 00:14:10,560 Speaker 1: be fine. So in fact, numerous independent health studies and 222 00:14:10,679 --> 00:14:14,080 Speaker 1: environmental studies showed no real evidence of ill effects from 223 00:14:14,240 --> 00:14:17,280 Speaker 1: this incident. So it was a bad accident. It should 224 00:14:17,320 --> 00:14:20,120 Speaker 1: not have happened, but the safety measures that were in 225 00:14:20,200 --> 00:14:23,280 Speaker 1: place in the event of catastrophic failure appeared to hold 226 00:14:23,360 --> 00:14:27,000 Speaker 1: up pretty well. The accident revealed enormous gaps in technology 227 00:14:27,000 --> 00:14:31,200 Speaker 1: and training, but the safety measures managed to hold in place. 228 00:14:31,880 --> 00:14:34,480 Speaker 1: But the communication of the event caused a great deal 229 00:14:34,480 --> 00:14:39,600 Speaker 1: of distress and panic, understandably so, so they clean up 230 00:14:39,680 --> 00:14:43,560 Speaker 1: process for t m I too, because this radiation got 231 00:14:43,680 --> 00:14:47,160 Speaker 1: leaked inside the facility. It took more than a decade 232 00:14:47,160 --> 00:14:50,960 Speaker 1: and cost nearly a billion dollars. While the impact to 233 00:14:51,000 --> 00:14:54,680 Speaker 1: the region around the plant was minimal, inside the plant 234 00:14:54,720 --> 00:14:56,840 Speaker 1: was a different story. You had a lot of services 235 00:14:56,840 --> 00:14:59,960 Speaker 1: that had to be decontaminated. The water in the cyste 236 00:15:00,040 --> 00:15:04,120 Speaker 1: them had to be thoroughly processed and decontaminated. The damaged 237 00:15:04,120 --> 00:15:07,440 Speaker 1: fuel in the reactor had to be retrieved and then stored. 238 00:15:08,400 --> 00:15:12,680 Speaker 1: T m I one, the other reactor, was actually offline 239 00:15:13,080 --> 00:15:16,040 Speaker 1: during this accident. It was shut down. It was undergoing refueling. 240 00:15:16,520 --> 00:15:19,720 Speaker 1: It would end up remaining offline during an investigation led 241 00:15:19,760 --> 00:15:24,000 Speaker 1: by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and would come back online 242 00:15:24,040 --> 00:15:27,640 Speaker 1: in October. So t m I two was offline but 243 00:15:27,720 --> 00:15:30,640 Speaker 1: t m I one did come back into service, and 244 00:15:32,160 --> 00:15:38,200 Speaker 1: the Exelon Corp Corporation, which then owned Three Mile Island, 245 00:15:38,440 --> 00:15:41,280 Speaker 1: said that without action from the State of Pennsylvania, operations 246 00:15:41,280 --> 00:15:44,080 Speaker 1: at t m I one would end in twenty nineteen, 247 00:15:44,160 --> 00:15:47,520 Speaker 1: So next year, t m I one is licensed to 248 00:15:47,640 --> 00:15:52,920 Speaker 1: operate until twenty four but it is not economically feasible 249 00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:56,280 Speaker 1: to do so under the current climate. According to Exelon Corporation, 250 00:15:56,800 --> 00:16:00,160 Speaker 1: Three Mile Island was the worst nuclear power disaster or 251 00:16:00,200 --> 00:16:06,000 Speaker 1: in US history, but no one died as a result 252 00:16:06,040 --> 00:16:08,920 Speaker 1: of Three Mile Island and there were no harmful effects 253 00:16:09,000 --> 00:16:14,040 Speaker 1: that could be pointed to Three Mile Islands. So while 254 00:16:14,120 --> 00:16:16,800 Speaker 1: it was bad and never should have happened, it could 255 00:16:16,800 --> 00:16:19,000 Speaker 1: have been much worse, and it pales in comparison to 256 00:16:19,040 --> 00:16:22,800 Speaker 1: some of the other disasters. So we're going to look 257 00:16:22,880 --> 00:16:24,600 Speaker 1: at one of those in just a second, But first 258 00:16:24,640 --> 00:16:35,040 Speaker 1: let's take a quick break to thank our sponsor from 259 00:16:35,120 --> 00:16:39,000 Speaker 1: Pennsylvania in nineteen seventy nine. We now travel to the Ukraine. 260 00:16:39,160 --> 00:16:43,720 Speaker 1: In nineteen eighties six, near the border between Ukraine and 261 00:16:43,800 --> 00:16:48,440 Speaker 1: Belarus is Chernobyl, the site of a terrible nuclear disaster. 262 00:16:49,040 --> 00:16:52,880 Speaker 1: The name Chernobyl has become synonymous with concepts like radiation 263 00:16:53,040 --> 00:16:57,800 Speaker 1: and nuclear meltdowns. So what exactly happened at Chernobyl. Well, 264 00:16:57,800 --> 00:17:01,880 Speaker 1: the short answer is that a trained staff working at 265 00:17:01,880 --> 00:17:05,880 Speaker 1: a poorly designed Soviet nuclear power plant caused a massive 266 00:17:05,920 --> 00:17:09,880 Speaker 1: catastrophe in one of the four reactors that directly resulted 267 00:17:10,119 --> 00:17:13,000 Speaker 1: in the deaths of at least thirty people over the 268 00:17:13,040 --> 00:17:17,040 Speaker 1: course of a few weeks. Initially, two thirty seven people 269 00:17:17,119 --> 00:17:21,399 Speaker 1: received a diagnosis of acute radiation syndrome or a r S. 270 00:17:22,080 --> 00:17:25,320 Speaker 1: That number would be reduced to one four once those 271 00:17:25,320 --> 00:17:28,479 Speaker 1: cases were confirmed, But that really doesn't tell us much 272 00:17:28,480 --> 00:17:32,679 Speaker 1: about what actually happened, right, So to understand what happened 273 00:17:32,680 --> 00:17:36,400 Speaker 1: at Chernobyl helps to understand the difference in the design 274 00:17:36,520 --> 00:17:39,400 Speaker 1: of that power plant compared to say, the three Mile 275 00:17:39,560 --> 00:17:43,359 Speaker 1: Island designed. So this design was called the r b 276 00:17:43,760 --> 00:17:46,399 Speaker 1: m K one thousand, and I am not about to 277 00:17:46,600 --> 00:17:50,080 Speaker 1: attempt to pronounce the words that r B m K 278 00:17:50,320 --> 00:17:53,600 Speaker 1: stands for, because my Russian is just as bad as 279 00:17:54,000 --> 00:17:59,280 Speaker 1: all my other pronunciations, which you guys know is uniformly terrible. 280 00:17:59,800 --> 00:18:03,520 Speaker 1: But the meaning in English, if you were to translate 281 00:18:03,600 --> 00:18:07,720 Speaker 1: those Russian words is high power channel reactor and the 282 00:18:07,880 --> 00:18:11,320 Speaker 1: r B M K design used water as a coolant 283 00:18:11,520 --> 00:18:15,359 Speaker 1: and graphite as a moderator, although water was also a moderator, 284 00:18:15,520 --> 00:18:19,359 Speaker 1: so that is the moderators, they help absorb neutrons and 285 00:18:19,400 --> 00:18:22,960 Speaker 1: that controls the rate of nuclear reactions. As I mentioned 286 00:18:22,960 --> 00:18:25,760 Speaker 1: in the previous section, the R and B m K 287 00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:29,560 Speaker 1: also had boron carbide control rods that would do that 288 00:18:29,600 --> 00:18:32,800 Speaker 1: as well. So if you were to insert the boron 289 00:18:32,920 --> 00:18:37,160 Speaker 1: carbide control rods all the way into the UH, into 290 00:18:37,240 --> 00:18:40,440 Speaker 1: the reactor core, you would shut down reactions because you 291 00:18:40,480 --> 00:18:43,120 Speaker 1: would be absorbing all the neutrons that were being given 292 00:18:43,160 --> 00:18:46,120 Speaker 1: off and the reaction would not be able to sustain itself, 293 00:18:46,160 --> 00:18:50,320 Speaker 1: so you would no longer have nuclear power that way. 294 00:18:50,760 --> 00:18:53,080 Speaker 1: But one thing the R B M K design did 295 00:18:53,080 --> 00:18:56,240 Speaker 1: not have was a heat exchanger. It did not have 296 00:18:56,359 --> 00:19:01,200 Speaker 1: these two closed loops like three Mile Island did, so 297 00:19:01,760 --> 00:19:06,560 Speaker 1: instead it used one loop for water. The water that 298 00:19:06,640 --> 00:19:10,080 Speaker 1: was the coolant for the actual reactor core was the 299 00:19:10,119 --> 00:19:13,320 Speaker 1: same water that we get turned into steam, go through 300 00:19:13,320 --> 00:19:17,720 Speaker 1: a steam turbine, go through a cooling process, condensed back 301 00:19:17,760 --> 00:19:20,560 Speaker 1: into water, and go back into the system. So it 302 00:19:20,600 --> 00:19:23,959 Speaker 1: was a very different approach from Three Mile Island UH. 303 00:19:24,119 --> 00:19:27,879 Speaker 1: The water would boil within that reactor design. So you 304 00:19:27,920 --> 00:19:30,800 Speaker 1: remember Three Mile Island that was bad when the cool 305 00:19:30,880 --> 00:19:33,240 Speaker 1: it was boiling off and steam was introduced into the 306 00:19:33,280 --> 00:19:36,480 Speaker 1: system because the cooling pumps had trouble pumping the water 307 00:19:36,600 --> 00:19:41,760 Speaker 1: with steam in it. The Soviet version depended upon having 308 00:19:42,160 --> 00:19:48,639 Speaker 1: steam inside the system, so uh, you needed it to 309 00:19:48,760 --> 00:19:52,000 Speaker 1: work this way to generate power the way the Soviets 310 00:19:52,040 --> 00:19:54,760 Speaker 1: had intended. But it did introduce another problem with the 311 00:19:54,920 --> 00:19:57,520 Speaker 1: r b M K one thousand, which is that you 312 00:19:57,560 --> 00:20:04,400 Speaker 1: have an issue called positive voy coefficient. So water like graphite, 313 00:20:04,640 --> 00:20:08,080 Speaker 1: can absorb neutrons, so it can act as a bit 314 00:20:08,119 --> 00:20:11,879 Speaker 1: of a moderator, not just a coolant. So water it 315 00:20:11,880 --> 00:20:14,520 Speaker 1: can help cool core, but it can also absorb some 316 00:20:14,640 --> 00:20:17,320 Speaker 1: of those neutrons that are being given off and thus 317 00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:23,040 Speaker 1: help with the rate of nuclear reaction. Liquid water does 318 00:20:23,080 --> 00:20:27,520 Speaker 1: this much better than steam does. So the more steam 319 00:20:27,560 --> 00:20:31,080 Speaker 1: you have in your mixture, the less capable the water 320 00:20:31,280 --> 00:20:36,200 Speaker 1: is to absorb those neutrons. And we call the little 321 00:20:36,240 --> 00:20:41,160 Speaker 1: steam bubbles in the water supply voids in the nuclear 322 00:20:41,200 --> 00:20:44,560 Speaker 1: power biz. So as the number of steam bubbles grows, 323 00:20:44,600 --> 00:20:47,600 Speaker 1: the neutron absorbing capability of the water decreases. And since 324 00:20:47,720 --> 00:20:52,480 Speaker 1: sustain nuclear reactions depend upon nuclear fuel absorbing neutrons. That 325 00:20:52,520 --> 00:20:58,280 Speaker 1: means you get more reactions as the positive void coefficient increases. 326 00:20:58,640 --> 00:21:00,879 Speaker 1: So the more steam bubbles are in the water, the 327 00:21:00,920 --> 00:21:03,680 Speaker 1: more neutrons are going to get absorbed by other atoms 328 00:21:03,680 --> 00:21:07,199 Speaker 1: of uranium, and the more reactions you're gonna get as 329 00:21:07,200 --> 00:21:10,240 Speaker 1: a result, and the more heat you get. The Soviet 330 00:21:10,240 --> 00:21:13,320 Speaker 1: design depended upon that process. The control rods could be 331 00:21:13,320 --> 00:21:17,040 Speaker 1: inserted into the pressurized tubes that contain the nuclear fuel 332 00:21:17,119 --> 00:21:19,600 Speaker 1: rods and shut down a reaction if things got out 333 00:21:19,640 --> 00:21:24,040 Speaker 1: of hand, Now it's your noble. The process got out 334 00:21:24,040 --> 00:21:27,760 Speaker 1: of hand big time. So first it became a cycle 335 00:21:27,880 --> 00:21:32,200 Speaker 1: that fed upon itself. The nuclear reactions would heat up 336 00:21:32,320 --> 00:21:35,119 Speaker 1: the coolant water and start to convert some of that 337 00:21:35,119 --> 00:21:39,639 Speaker 1: water into steam. Steam bubbles or voids began to form. 338 00:21:39,680 --> 00:21:42,439 Speaker 1: That reduced the capability of the water in the system 339 00:21:42,640 --> 00:21:46,880 Speaker 1: to absorb neutrons, and that increase the rate of nuclear 340 00:21:46,880 --> 00:21:49,879 Speaker 1: reactions within the core, which meant the core got hotter, 341 00:21:50,119 --> 00:21:52,680 Speaker 1: which meant heated up the water even more, which meant 342 00:21:52,760 --> 00:21:56,080 Speaker 1: it increased the number of voids, which meant that even 343 00:21:56,200 --> 00:21:58,760 Speaker 1: fewer neutrons were absorbed. So you see how this very 344 00:21:58,880 --> 00:22:04,879 Speaker 1: quickly becomes a problem. On a reactor four at the 345 00:22:04,960 --> 00:22:09,160 Speaker 1: Chernobyl facility was beginning to shut down. It was getting 346 00:22:09,200 --> 00:22:12,680 Speaker 1: ready for a scheduled maintenance and refueling. This was totally routine, 347 00:22:13,640 --> 00:22:16,040 Speaker 1: but before it was to shut down, it was going 348 00:22:16,119 --> 00:22:19,000 Speaker 1: to go through a testing procedure on the following day, 349 00:22:19,000 --> 00:22:23,120 Speaker 1: on April uh and that test was to see how 350 00:22:23,160 --> 00:22:26,240 Speaker 1: long the reactor would be able to generate steam and 351 00:22:26,280 --> 00:22:30,399 Speaker 1: thus spin turbines in the event of a main electrical 352 00:22:30,480 --> 00:22:34,440 Speaker 1: power supply loss. So they were going to simulate losing 353 00:22:34,520 --> 00:22:37,600 Speaker 1: power at this facility and they were going to see 354 00:22:38,680 --> 00:22:44,000 Speaker 1: how long can this reactor continue to generate steam and 355 00:22:44,160 --> 00:22:46,720 Speaker 1: turn this turbine even if the power is lost to 356 00:22:46,960 --> 00:22:50,639 Speaker 1: the reactor itself. So to conduct that test on the 357 00:22:52,080 --> 00:22:56,520 Speaker 1: back on the operators started to disable automatic shutdown features. 358 00:22:58,200 --> 00:23:01,960 Speaker 1: And when you hear about shutting down ematic shutdown features, 359 00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:05,360 Speaker 1: that should raise some pretty big alarm flags in your 360 00:23:05,520 --> 00:23:07,879 Speaker 1: in your head, you should be thinking that doesn't sound 361 00:23:07,880 --> 00:23:10,240 Speaker 1: like a good idea, and in fact it wasn't. So 362 00:23:10,320 --> 00:23:13,440 Speaker 1: the operator went to shut down the reactor by instarting 363 00:23:13,440 --> 00:23:17,240 Speaker 1: the control rods into the core, and for some reason 364 00:23:17,320 --> 00:23:22,359 Speaker 1: or another, that action, telling the the control arms too 365 00:23:22,920 --> 00:23:27,120 Speaker 1: insert those control rods caused a power surge, and the 366 00:23:27,160 --> 00:23:30,920 Speaker 1: hot fuel in the reactor began to fragment. Water began 367 00:23:30,920 --> 00:23:34,480 Speaker 1: converting into steam at an accelerated rate, and as I mentioned, 368 00:23:34,480 --> 00:23:37,119 Speaker 1: that meant the water was less efficient at absorbing neutrons. 369 00:23:37,440 --> 00:23:40,280 Speaker 1: So the reaction began to accelerate. The production of steam 370 00:23:40,320 --> 00:23:44,199 Speaker 1: began to increase, and that increased the pressure inside the 371 00:23:44,240 --> 00:23:49,960 Speaker 1: system so much that the pressure actually partially detached the 372 00:23:50,080 --> 00:23:54,040 Speaker 1: steel cover plate on top of the reactor. That steel 373 00:23:54,160 --> 00:23:58,960 Speaker 1: cover plate weighed one thousand tons. That's how much pressure 374 00:23:59,040 --> 00:24:02,919 Speaker 1: was inside this react term enough pressure to displace at 375 00:24:02,960 --> 00:24:08,479 Speaker 1: least partially one thousand tons of steel. Worse, when this 376 00:24:08,600 --> 00:24:13,480 Speaker 1: cover plate became partially dislodged, it it wedged the control 377 00:24:13,600 --> 00:24:15,960 Speaker 1: rods in such a way that they could not insert 378 00:24:16,160 --> 00:24:20,840 Speaker 1: completely into the pressure tubes. So the control rods were stuck. 379 00:24:20,840 --> 00:24:23,480 Speaker 1: They couldn't go all the way in and thus shut 380 00:24:23,520 --> 00:24:26,879 Speaker 1: down the nuclear reaction. They had only reached about the 381 00:24:26,920 --> 00:24:31,160 Speaker 1: halfway mark, so the nuclear reaction was continuing because there 382 00:24:31,200 --> 00:24:35,040 Speaker 1: was the control rods couldn't absorb those extra neutrons. The 383 00:24:35,080 --> 00:24:38,280 Speaker 1: build up of steam reached catastrophic levels, and there was 384 00:24:38,359 --> 00:24:43,040 Speaker 1: an explosive rupture which released nuclear material into the atmosphere. 385 00:24:43,560 --> 00:24:48,160 Speaker 1: Seconds later, another explosion followed, and this one flung out 386 00:24:48,480 --> 00:24:53,919 Speaker 1: superheated graphite and nuclear fuel flying out from the facility. 387 00:24:54,119 --> 00:24:58,160 Speaker 1: The general consensus is that the second explosion happened after 388 00:24:58,600 --> 00:25:02,520 Speaker 1: hydrogen gas, which had been generated from the reactions in 389 00:25:02,560 --> 00:25:08,520 Speaker 1: the core, ignited from those high temperatures. The explosion killed 390 00:25:08,640 --> 00:25:12,320 Speaker 1: two of the workers at Chernobyl outright. The hot material 391 00:25:12,400 --> 00:25:15,840 Speaker 1: started numerous fires in the area because chernobyls in the 392 00:25:15,880 --> 00:25:19,879 Speaker 1: middle of a forest, and so the four started catching fire, 393 00:25:20,160 --> 00:25:24,280 Speaker 1: and that helped distribute radioactive material further into the atmosphere 394 00:25:24,320 --> 00:25:28,280 Speaker 1: and the general environment. And some of the radioactive elements 395 00:25:28,320 --> 00:25:32,680 Speaker 1: included iodine one and ses M one thirty seven. Both 396 00:25:32,720 --> 00:25:36,600 Speaker 1: of those post significant dangers to the public in the region. 397 00:25:37,080 --> 00:25:41,119 Speaker 1: Iodine one one has a relatively short half life of 398 00:25:41,160 --> 00:25:43,439 Speaker 1: just a few days. Caesium one thirty seven is like 399 00:25:43,480 --> 00:25:46,840 Speaker 1: a decade our thirty years rather, so you've got thirty 400 00:25:46,920 --> 00:25:49,840 Speaker 1: years half life or case one thirty seven a few 401 00:25:49,920 --> 00:25:52,960 Speaker 1: days for iodine one nine. So it became a very 402 00:25:53,119 --> 00:25:59,800 Speaker 1: dangerous mixture, and winds were carrying radioactive materials pretty far away, 403 00:25:59,840 --> 00:26:02,800 Speaker 1: like little radioactive particles flying way up in the atmosphere. 404 00:26:02,840 --> 00:26:06,800 Speaker 1: It started to go as far as across Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, 405 00:26:06,920 --> 00:26:11,400 Speaker 1: even into Scandinavia. Many people at the site were exposed 406 00:26:11,400 --> 00:26:14,240 Speaker 1: to massive amounts of radiation in a short amount of time, 407 00:26:14,640 --> 00:26:18,520 Speaker 1: and within three weeks, twenty eight people died from radiation poisoning. 408 00:26:19,240 --> 00:26:25,000 Speaker 1: Around one six thousand people in a thirty kilometer UH 409 00:26:25,280 --> 00:26:32,399 Speaker 1: radius around the facility were relocated by May four, but 410 00:26:32,640 --> 00:26:35,800 Speaker 1: around a thousand of them would secretly kind of return 411 00:26:35,840 --> 00:26:37,479 Speaker 1: to the area on the QT in order to go 412 00:26:37,520 --> 00:26:40,679 Speaker 1: back home. Another two d twenty thousand people would eventually 413 00:26:40,760 --> 00:26:44,400 Speaker 1: be relocated over the course of the next few years. Now, 414 00:26:44,440 --> 00:26:50,560 Speaker 1: independent studies found that the populations around Chernobyl do not 415 00:26:50,680 --> 00:26:55,520 Speaker 1: appear to have had abnormally high incidents of cancer, with 416 00:26:55,720 --> 00:27:00,719 Speaker 1: the exception of thyroid cancer. Thyroid cancer numbers shot up. 417 00:27:01,240 --> 00:27:06,679 Speaker 1: Thyroid cancer, fortunately, if caught early, is very treatable, but 418 00:27:07,400 --> 00:27:10,800 Speaker 1: it's still obviously is a big concern. The thyroid cancer 419 00:27:10,840 --> 00:27:13,639 Speaker 1: was an outlier, but they did not see a rise 420 00:27:13,680 --> 00:27:17,680 Speaker 1: in incidents and stuff like leukemia, And some people say 421 00:27:17,680 --> 00:27:23,000 Speaker 1: perhaps some of those cases of thyroid cancer they might 422 00:27:23,040 --> 00:27:27,560 Speaker 1: have already been an issue before the Chernobyl disaster, but 423 00:27:27,680 --> 00:27:31,040 Speaker 1: because you suddenly had all these doctors in the area 424 00:27:31,160 --> 00:27:34,320 Speaker 1: specifically looking for problems, they were finding them more frequently. 425 00:27:34,680 --> 00:27:38,200 Speaker 1: So not that the Chernobyl disaster didn't cause some of that. 426 00:27:38,800 --> 00:27:41,960 Speaker 1: It more than likely had to have because the numbers 427 00:27:41,960 --> 00:27:47,080 Speaker 1: shot up so much. But because our focus turned to this, 428 00:27:47,640 --> 00:27:51,240 Speaker 1: we discovered stuff that we otherwise would have overlooked. Sometimes 429 00:27:51,240 --> 00:27:53,320 Speaker 1: when you know what you're looking for, you find it 430 00:27:54,040 --> 00:27:58,480 Speaker 1: um whereas before you would have overlooked it. So Uh, 431 00:27:59,080 --> 00:28:01,520 Speaker 1: it's hard to say exactly how much it contributed, but 432 00:28:01,560 --> 00:28:06,199 Speaker 1: it probably contributed at least to thyroid cancer rates in 433 00:28:06,280 --> 00:28:12,720 Speaker 1: the area. But otherwise the harm to humans seemed to 434 00:28:12,800 --> 00:28:20,119 Speaker 1: be fairly limited. Uh. The immediate area around the plant 435 00:28:20,440 --> 00:28:23,680 Speaker 1: suffered a quick die off, like within you know, ten 436 00:28:23,760 --> 00:28:25,920 Speaker 1: kilometers of the plant. There was a quick die off 437 00:28:25,960 --> 00:28:29,240 Speaker 1: around there, but it recovered very quickly. Within the next year, 438 00:28:29,240 --> 00:28:31,960 Speaker 1: it was starting to recover. This I'm talking about like 439 00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:38,320 Speaker 1: things like plants and trees, and the incidents didn't seem 440 00:28:38,360 --> 00:28:42,880 Speaker 1: to you know, contribute to long lasting health effects in 441 00:28:42,920 --> 00:28:45,640 Speaker 1: that area, at least not at a level that is 442 00:28:46,440 --> 00:28:49,760 Speaker 1: easy to point out and say This is evidence that 443 00:28:49,840 --> 00:28:56,920 Speaker 1: this disaster directly led to these results. There did happened 444 00:28:56,920 --> 00:28:59,880 Speaker 1: to be a very powerful psychological impact on the region, 445 00:29:00,240 --> 00:29:03,720 Speaker 1: largely fueled by the public perception of the effects of radiation. Essentially, 446 00:29:04,360 --> 00:29:06,240 Speaker 1: if you're told over and over again that you're going 447 00:29:06,320 --> 00:29:10,040 Speaker 1: to get sick and you're going to suffer, then you're 448 00:29:10,040 --> 00:29:13,400 Speaker 1: gonna believe that and you will get sick and you 449 00:29:13,440 --> 00:29:16,960 Speaker 1: will suffer because it becomes sort of a self fulfilling prophecy. 450 00:29:17,400 --> 00:29:20,480 Speaker 1: So that was a real issue. Today, Chernobyl as a 451 00:29:20,520 --> 00:29:23,600 Speaker 1: tourist site, you can actually go there. The wildlife in 452 00:29:23,640 --> 00:29:26,280 Speaker 1: the area has not only made a comeback, it's actually 453 00:29:26,760 --> 00:29:29,480 Speaker 1: gotten better than it was from before the accident. There's 454 00:29:29,520 --> 00:29:32,920 Speaker 1: greater biological diversity in the region than there was prior 455 00:29:33,000 --> 00:29:35,800 Speaker 1: to the accident. Now that's not because of radiation. It's 456 00:29:35,840 --> 00:29:40,000 Speaker 1: not that radiation is suddenly magically helped animals get better. 457 00:29:40,640 --> 00:29:43,400 Speaker 1: It's largely because people have stayed the hell away from Chernobyl. 458 00:29:43,960 --> 00:29:46,720 Speaker 1: So if you take human beings out of an environment, 459 00:29:47,440 --> 00:29:50,400 Speaker 1: it tends to do better. I'm just gonna leave that 460 00:29:50,800 --> 00:29:54,960 Speaker 1: idea there. But since two ten, the Ukraine has led 461 00:29:55,000 --> 00:29:57,760 Speaker 1: the way in resettling the area. Though with some restrictions 462 00:29:57,760 --> 00:30:00,480 Speaker 1: in place to protect settlers. So for Examp Bowl, you're 463 00:30:00,480 --> 00:30:03,320 Speaker 1: not supposed to use wood from the area in case 464 00:30:03,480 --> 00:30:08,040 Speaker 1: it has uh any radioactive material in that would and 465 00:30:08,040 --> 00:30:11,240 Speaker 1: you're also supposed to check soil very thoroughly for contamination 466 00:30:11,320 --> 00:30:14,160 Speaker 1: levels before you try and farm there. But we're starting 467 00:30:14,200 --> 00:30:18,400 Speaker 1: to see some reclamation of the land around Chernobyl, and 468 00:30:19,160 --> 00:30:23,600 Speaker 1: that disaster is the greatest for at least an immediate 469 00:30:23,680 --> 00:30:28,320 Speaker 1: effect on people of all time for for nuclear power plants. 470 00:30:28,720 --> 00:30:32,920 Speaker 1: Our next one is an ongoing story, so it's impossible 471 00:30:32,960 --> 00:30:37,880 Speaker 1: to say right now what the full effect of that 472 00:30:37,960 --> 00:30:41,520 Speaker 1: disaster is because it's still playing out as I speak. 473 00:30:41,840 --> 00:30:43,680 Speaker 1: But before I get to that, let's take another quick 474 00:30:43,680 --> 00:30:53,719 Speaker 1: break to thank our sponsor. All Right, this brings us 475 00:30:53,760 --> 00:30:59,920 Speaker 1: to Fukushima in Japan. On March eleventh, two eleven, at PM, 476 00:31:00,080 --> 00:31:03,120 Speaker 1: there was a massive earthquake off the coast of Japan. 477 00:31:03,440 --> 00:31:06,560 Speaker 1: It measured nine on the Richter scale, which makes it 478 00:31:06,640 --> 00:31:11,240 Speaker 1: the fourth largest earthquake ever recorded. The earthquake created a 479 00:31:11,360 --> 00:31:16,080 Speaker 1: tsunami that was fifteen meters tall at the point of Fukushima. 480 00:31:16,360 --> 00:31:21,200 Speaker 1: That's just under fifty feet tall. Imagine not a wave, 481 00:31:21,840 --> 00:31:26,080 Speaker 1: but a wall of water fifty feet tall that hit 482 00:31:26,160 --> 00:31:32,280 Speaker 1: the Fukushima Daichi Nuclear Facility, and that natural disaster led 483 00:31:32,320 --> 00:31:36,720 Speaker 1: to a terrible man made disaster. The tsunami disabled the 484 00:31:36,720 --> 00:31:40,240 Speaker 1: power supply and thus the cooling systems for three of 485 00:31:40,280 --> 00:31:44,560 Speaker 1: the reactors at that facility, Reactors one, two, and three. 486 00:31:44,600 --> 00:31:48,040 Speaker 1: In fact, the facility actually withstood the initial shock of 487 00:31:48,040 --> 00:31:53,400 Speaker 1: the earthquake pretty well. The uh the various inspections that 488 00:31:53,440 --> 00:31:57,720 Speaker 1: have happened since this disaster have suggested that the earthquake 489 00:31:57,760 --> 00:32:01,880 Speaker 1: did not really damage the facilities in any meaningful way, 490 00:32:02,000 --> 00:32:06,600 Speaker 1: so that's kind of impressive. There were six reactors at Fukushima, 491 00:32:06,920 --> 00:32:09,040 Speaker 1: but reactors four or five and six were not in 492 00:32:09,160 --> 00:32:13,200 Speaker 1: operation at the time of the earthquake. Um at least 493 00:32:13,440 --> 00:32:17,960 Speaker 1: reactor four did have a lot of nuclear material as 494 00:32:17,960 --> 00:32:21,920 Speaker 1: part of that building because they have waste fuel pools 495 00:32:22,040 --> 00:32:25,719 Speaker 1: storage pools where you take the fuel you've used in 496 00:32:25,760 --> 00:32:29,120 Speaker 1: the reactor that no longer has enough feasible material in 497 00:32:29,160 --> 00:32:31,840 Speaker 1: it for it to be useful. It's no longer going 498 00:32:31,880 --> 00:32:36,680 Speaker 1: to produce efficient nuclear reactions. You have to put that somewhere, 499 00:32:36,840 --> 00:32:41,400 Speaker 1: so generally speaking, right now, most nuclear facilities store nuclear 500 00:32:41,440 --> 00:32:46,240 Speaker 1: waste on site, so they were to go into cooling 501 00:32:46,280 --> 00:32:48,680 Speaker 1: pools for a few years before being moved to a 502 00:32:48,680 --> 00:32:53,000 Speaker 1: different facility, and so reactor four, while it was not active, 503 00:32:53,080 --> 00:32:59,360 Speaker 1: did have uh spent nuclear fuel inside these cooling pools. Anyway, 504 00:32:59,440 --> 00:33:01,800 Speaker 1: when that's soon Nummi hit, it's shut down twelve of 505 00:33:01,840 --> 00:33:05,880 Speaker 1: the thirteen backup generators on site designed to run the 506 00:33:05,960 --> 00:33:09,720 Speaker 1: residual heat removal system cooling pumps, and it also disabled 507 00:33:09,720 --> 00:33:12,400 Speaker 1: the heat exchangers that would take heat from the reactor 508 00:33:12,480 --> 00:33:15,640 Speaker 1: and transfer it to the ocean. To make matters worse, 509 00:33:15,960 --> 00:33:19,360 Speaker 1: the seawater pumps on site that were designed to pump 510 00:33:19,440 --> 00:33:23,040 Speaker 1: seawater off the system. They were there expressly in case 511 00:33:23,080 --> 00:33:26,760 Speaker 1: there was a tsunami. We're located at too low an 512 00:33:26,760 --> 00:33:29,120 Speaker 1: elevation to be of any help. So when they designed 513 00:33:29,680 --> 00:33:34,800 Speaker 1: the Fukushima Daiichi facility, they estimated a tsunami of three 514 00:33:34,800 --> 00:33:40,320 Speaker 1: point one meters in height, so they positioned the seawater 515 00:33:40,400 --> 00:33:43,920 Speaker 1: pumps at four meters above sea level because they said, oh, 516 00:33:44,040 --> 00:33:47,240 Speaker 1: three point one meters that's how high the tsunami would 517 00:33:47,240 --> 00:33:50,800 Speaker 1: likely be, will go about a meter above that. The 518 00:33:50,840 --> 00:33:55,160 Speaker 1: facility itself was at ten ms above sea level, but 519 00:33:55,840 --> 00:33:59,680 Speaker 1: because it was a fifteen m tsunami. It meant that 520 00:34:00,040 --> 00:34:04,760 Speaker 1: those pumps were actually eleven meters below the water's surface 521 00:34:04,920 --> 00:34:09,919 Speaker 1: when that tsunami hit, and they were all overwhelmed. Reactors one, two, 522 00:34:09,960 --> 00:34:13,440 Speaker 1: and three could not moderate reactor core temperatures, and the 523 00:34:13,480 --> 00:34:17,080 Speaker 1: cooling systems that could transfer excess heat were not operational. 524 00:34:17,120 --> 00:34:20,520 Speaker 1: So the reactors had been shut down automatically after the earthquake, 525 00:34:20,920 --> 00:34:25,440 Speaker 1: which is good, so they weren't in operation at that moment, 526 00:34:25,840 --> 00:34:30,040 Speaker 1: but even in shutdown mode there's still some residual fission 527 00:34:30,120 --> 00:34:33,759 Speaker 1: reactions taking place. The reactor cores were producing about one 528 00:34:33,760 --> 00:34:36,719 Speaker 1: point five pc of their nominal thermal power, but that 529 00:34:36,800 --> 00:34:39,640 Speaker 1: heat was building up and it was beginning to convert 530 00:34:39,719 --> 00:34:42,600 Speaker 1: water into steam, and there was no way to transfer 531 00:34:42,640 --> 00:34:44,719 Speaker 1: the heat away from the reactor cores, so they were 532 00:34:44,760 --> 00:34:47,879 Speaker 1: just getting hotter and hotter. The steam vented out through 533 00:34:47,920 --> 00:34:52,080 Speaker 1: safety valves into a primary containment vessel, so again not 534 00:34:52,239 --> 00:34:56,080 Speaker 1: just venting out into the general region. The steam included 535 00:34:56,160 --> 00:34:59,960 Speaker 1: some hydrogen gas as well, which was generated from reactor 536 00:35:00,280 --> 00:35:04,399 Speaker 1: reactions between the superheated zirconium cladding in the reactor core 537 00:35:04,880 --> 00:35:08,279 Speaker 1: and the steam, and so you get this hydrogen gas 538 00:35:08,280 --> 00:35:10,840 Speaker 1: as a byproduct and As I mentioned before, hydrogen gas 539 00:35:11,560 --> 00:35:16,600 Speaker 1: can be very dangerous. It's extremely you know, flammable or explosive. 540 00:35:17,360 --> 00:35:21,400 Speaker 1: You can look at things like the Hindenburg disaster, which 541 00:35:22,719 --> 00:35:27,280 Speaker 1: happened because of a hydrogen disaster. Will pressure inside these 542 00:35:27,840 --> 00:35:32,600 Speaker 1: units continued to increase. Steam was directed into special suppression 543 00:35:32,719 --> 00:35:36,440 Speaker 1: chambers that were located under these reactors. So you have 544 00:35:36,520 --> 00:35:40,480 Speaker 1: these special chambers underneath that were meant to hold this 545 00:35:40,600 --> 00:35:43,120 Speaker 1: kind of stuff in the case of an emergency um 546 00:35:44,000 --> 00:35:47,719 Speaker 1: Water injection followed. That's where you you know, obviously, you 547 00:35:47,960 --> 00:35:52,799 Speaker 1: introduce water into the system along with the initiation of 548 00:35:52,840 --> 00:35:57,399 Speaker 1: the emergency core cooling system. So all measures were being 549 00:35:57,400 --> 00:36:00,200 Speaker 1: put into place to try and get this reactor horror 550 00:36:00,200 --> 00:36:03,759 Speaker 1: temperature under control. But the water injection systems began to 551 00:36:03,760 --> 00:36:07,839 Speaker 1: fail for each of those first three units, and so 552 00:36:07,960 --> 00:36:11,080 Speaker 1: responders began to use fire pumps to inject more water 553 00:36:11,239 --> 00:36:14,799 Speaker 1: into the reactors using fire trucks and fire hoses, and 554 00:36:14,840 --> 00:36:18,239 Speaker 1: then they started using seawater, pumping seawater in to help 555 00:36:18,280 --> 00:36:21,120 Speaker 1: inject into the reactors and cool them down. And this 556 00:36:21,200 --> 00:36:25,440 Speaker 1: was all to keep the fuel submerged in water. But 557 00:36:25,560 --> 00:36:28,640 Speaker 1: in Unit one, that water level fell enough to expose 558 00:36:28,680 --> 00:36:31,600 Speaker 1: the top of the fuel rods to air, and the 559 00:36:31,640 --> 00:36:34,160 Speaker 1: reactions began to speed up. The water was not there 560 00:36:34,200 --> 00:36:37,319 Speaker 1: to moderate those reactions. An hour and a half later, 561 00:36:37,800 --> 00:36:41,400 Speaker 1: all of the fuel and Unit one had become uncovered 562 00:36:41,440 --> 00:36:43,560 Speaker 1: because as a heat up, it obviously turned more of 563 00:36:43,560 --> 00:36:46,680 Speaker 1: the water into steam, and while there was still water 564 00:36:46,840 --> 00:36:53,040 Speaker 1: inside the vessel that contains the reactor core, all the 565 00:36:53,080 --> 00:36:56,600 Speaker 1: fuel was open to the air. At that point, the 566 00:36:56,640 --> 00:36:58,360 Speaker 1: water was still in the base of the vessel, but 567 00:36:58,400 --> 00:37:01,440 Speaker 1: the fuel is suspended above of the base, so the 568 00:37:01,480 --> 00:37:03,759 Speaker 1: temperature of the fuel inside Unit one climbed to around 569 00:37:03,800 --> 00:37:06,680 Speaker 1: two thousand, eight hundred degrees celsius. It began to melt, 570 00:37:06,880 --> 00:37:10,520 Speaker 1: it fell apart. The falling fuel landed into the water 571 00:37:10,600 --> 00:37:12,480 Speaker 1: that was still pooled at the bottom of the reactor 572 00:37:12,520 --> 00:37:16,319 Speaker 1: pressure vessel, and that helped actually bring temperatures down. The 573 00:37:16,320 --> 00:37:21,520 Speaker 1: temperatures began to decrease once the melted fuel hit water again. 574 00:37:22,320 --> 00:37:25,200 Speaker 1: Gases and steam were building up inside the reactor building, 575 00:37:25,239 --> 00:37:27,840 Speaker 1: so attempts were made to vent the gases through an 576 00:37:27,880 --> 00:37:30,960 Speaker 1: external system that would contain the gases so you wouldn't 577 00:37:31,120 --> 00:37:35,360 Speaker 1: have radiated material released into the environment, But there was 578 00:37:35,400 --> 00:37:38,759 Speaker 1: a backflow problem and gases began to accumulate inside the 579 00:37:38,760 --> 00:37:42,960 Speaker 1: reactor building itself, not just the reactor core, and one 580 00:37:43,000 --> 00:37:46,680 Speaker 1: of those gases was hydrogen, and on March twelve, that 581 00:37:46,800 --> 00:37:51,200 Speaker 1: hydrogen exploded on the service floor above the Unit one reactor. 582 00:37:51,640 --> 00:37:54,719 Speaker 1: This destroyed the roof of the facility and the fuel 583 00:37:54,760 --> 00:37:57,279 Speaker 1: inside the reactor pressure vessel was later found to have 584 00:37:57,400 --> 00:38:02,560 Speaker 1: melted through the vessel and had melted about sixty down 585 00:38:02,680 --> 00:38:07,279 Speaker 1: into the concrete below the vessel. Now that concrete was 586 00:38:07,400 --> 00:38:12,080 Speaker 1: two point six meters thick, so it held firm and 587 00:38:12,360 --> 00:38:16,040 Speaker 1: the mass eventually cooled down enough to solidify. Units two 588 00:38:16,040 --> 00:38:19,279 Speaker 1: and three had also had some nuclear fuel melt, but 589 00:38:19,400 --> 00:38:22,160 Speaker 1: they appeared to be less affected than Unit one at 590 00:38:22,200 --> 00:38:26,480 Speaker 1: that point. But then Unit two's water injection systems failed, 591 00:38:26,640 --> 00:38:29,719 Speaker 1: just as Unit one had, and the responders attempted to 592 00:38:29,760 --> 00:38:32,959 Speaker 1: inject water from fire pumps and from seawater. This time, 593 00:38:32,960 --> 00:38:36,160 Speaker 1: they ventilated the building. They used a blowout panel near 594 00:38:36,200 --> 00:38:39,600 Speaker 1: the top of the building to help avoid another hydrogen 595 00:38:39,640 --> 00:38:42,960 Speaker 1: build up like in Unit one. On March fifteen, the 596 00:38:43,000 --> 00:38:46,880 Speaker 1: pressure inside one of the containment systems beneath the reactor 597 00:38:47,680 --> 00:38:51,200 Speaker 1: dropped after what was believed to be a hydrogen gas explosion. 598 00:38:51,520 --> 00:38:53,560 Speaker 1: And the initial thought was that some sort of rupture 599 00:38:53,640 --> 00:38:57,239 Speaker 1: must have happened, but investigations haven't really been able to 600 00:38:57,280 --> 00:39:00,279 Speaker 1: turn up signs of a rupture, so there's a lot 601 00:39:00,320 --> 00:39:04,239 Speaker 1: of questions about what actually happened that day. But somewhere 602 00:39:04,960 --> 00:39:08,720 Speaker 1: pressure was released and some radioactive material was released into 603 00:39:08,760 --> 00:39:12,279 Speaker 1: the environment on that day from Unit two. Unit three 604 00:39:12,760 --> 00:39:16,200 Speaker 1: seemed initially to have fared better, with responders able to 605 00:39:16,280 --> 00:39:19,400 Speaker 1: inject water and ventilate the building. But on March fourteen, 606 00:39:19,880 --> 00:39:23,759 Speaker 1: there was an explosion inside Unit four. Now, remember Unit 607 00:39:23,840 --> 00:39:28,240 Speaker 1: four was de fueled. There was no nuclear fuel inside 608 00:39:28,239 --> 00:39:32,120 Speaker 1: the core of Unit four, so why did it explode. Well, 609 00:39:32,160 --> 00:39:36,799 Speaker 1: the hypothesis is that hydrogen forming from Unit three had 610 00:39:36,920 --> 00:39:41,120 Speaker 1: reached Unit four by backflow because the two buildings, the 611 00:39:41,160 --> 00:39:42,959 Speaker 1: one for Unit three and the one for Unit four, 612 00:39:43,400 --> 00:39:47,440 Speaker 1: shared a common duct system. So they thought is that 613 00:39:47,480 --> 00:39:50,359 Speaker 1: the hydrogen gas must have passed through this duct system 614 00:39:50,440 --> 00:39:53,360 Speaker 1: it got into Unit four, and while Unit four didn't 615 00:39:53,400 --> 00:39:55,520 Speaker 1: have any nuclear fuel in the reactor, it did have 616 00:39:55,560 --> 00:39:57,520 Speaker 1: all this hydrogen gas build up, and then there was 617 00:39:57,560 --> 00:40:01,160 Speaker 1: an explosion. That explosion also for they're damaged the building 618 00:40:01,200 --> 00:40:04,480 Speaker 1: that housed Unit three. Now, out of all these events, 619 00:40:04,800 --> 00:40:07,120 Speaker 1: the one that seemed to release the most radioactive material 620 00:40:07,160 --> 00:40:10,000 Speaker 1: into the environment happened on March fifteenth from the issues 621 00:40:10,040 --> 00:40:12,920 Speaker 1: with Unit two, but the actual mechanism that led to 622 00:40:12,960 --> 00:40:16,839 Speaker 1: that release still remains a mystery. The three units now 623 00:40:16,880 --> 00:40:21,400 Speaker 1: receive cooling water from a special water plant supplying recycled 624 00:40:21,400 --> 00:40:24,719 Speaker 1: water to the units. They have cooling circuits UH to 625 00:40:24,840 --> 00:40:28,600 Speaker 1: help do this. They are all being held at around 626 00:40:28,760 --> 00:40:32,440 Speaker 1: atmospheric temperatures, so the temperature of the core is about 627 00:40:32,440 --> 00:40:35,239 Speaker 1: the same as what it is outside. The government has 628 00:40:35,280 --> 00:40:39,279 Speaker 1: also injected nitrogen into those units, and that was an 629 00:40:39,280 --> 00:40:43,680 Speaker 1: attempt to capture hydrogen and prevent hydrogen gas from building up. 630 00:40:44,120 --> 00:40:46,719 Speaker 1: Another challenge that had to be overcome was dealing with 631 00:40:46,840 --> 00:40:50,000 Speaker 1: spent fuel, because, as I said, each of the units 632 00:40:50,040 --> 00:40:53,680 Speaker 1: has a waste fuel pond and that provides cooling and 633 00:40:53,719 --> 00:40:56,799 Speaker 1: moderation of spent fuel. Since the accident, there is now 634 00:40:56,840 --> 00:41:00,840 Speaker 1: a new set of heat exchangers and cooling circuits attached 635 00:41:00,880 --> 00:41:04,200 Speaker 1: to each unit to help keep those those cooling ponds 636 00:41:04,360 --> 00:41:07,120 Speaker 1: cool enough, and arrangements have been made to remove and 637 00:41:07,160 --> 00:41:11,440 Speaker 1: transport the spent fuel rods to a more permanent facility. UH. 638 00:41:11,480 --> 00:41:13,960 Speaker 1: Typically you keep them in the pool for a few years, 639 00:41:14,000 --> 00:41:16,680 Speaker 1: and then you move them to air cooled facilities once 640 00:41:16,719 --> 00:41:21,560 Speaker 1: they've reached a certain level of non activity and uh, 641 00:41:21,640 --> 00:41:23,719 Speaker 1: and so you kind of have to wait for things 642 00:41:23,760 --> 00:41:25,279 Speaker 1: to cool down enough for you to be able to 643 00:41:25,280 --> 00:41:28,920 Speaker 1: move them, and that started to happen. So there's some 644 00:41:28,920 --> 00:41:31,359 Speaker 1: good news and there's some bad news. And the good 645 00:41:31,400 --> 00:41:34,760 Speaker 1: news is that the effects of radiation from the disaster 646 00:41:34,920 --> 00:41:39,120 Speaker 1: appear to have had no real impact on human health 647 00:41:39,200 --> 00:41:45,920 Speaker 1: in the area. Based upon the various research projects that 648 00:41:45,960 --> 00:41:48,920 Speaker 1: have gone on since then, it doesn't like there's been 649 00:41:49,000 --> 00:41:54,040 Speaker 1: widespread negative impact on human health. The general region had 650 00:41:54,160 --> 00:41:57,320 Speaker 1: been evacuated, but since two thousand and twelve, the government 651 00:41:57,320 --> 00:42:00,879 Speaker 1: has allowed people in small groups to come back um 652 00:42:01,120 --> 00:42:03,080 Speaker 1: one at a time, like small groups at a time. 653 00:42:03,600 --> 00:42:07,239 Speaker 1: But the bad news is that the radiation levels inside 654 00:42:07,440 --> 00:42:11,880 Speaker 1: the facilities themselves are still really really high, like deadly 655 00:42:12,280 --> 00:42:17,160 Speaker 1: high in those facilities, and that contaminated water around the 656 00:42:17,239 --> 00:42:20,479 Speaker 1: units is starting to seep into the ground in that 657 00:42:20,680 --> 00:42:23,600 Speaker 1: area now that it happens to be an area that's 658 00:42:23,640 --> 00:42:28,040 Speaker 1: next to the ocean. So I guess the media bright 659 00:42:28,120 --> 00:42:31,560 Speaker 1: side is that the any water that seeps into the 660 00:42:31,560 --> 00:42:34,960 Speaker 1: ground isn't going into the water table that serves up 661 00:42:35,000 --> 00:42:36,920 Speaker 1: the water for the people there, because the water is 662 00:42:36,960 --> 00:42:40,040 Speaker 1: coming from further inland and it's flowing out to the ocean. 663 00:42:40,800 --> 00:42:45,920 Speaker 1: But without containing that contaminated water properly, that could end 664 00:42:46,000 --> 00:42:50,080 Speaker 1: up leaking into the ocean and contaminating ocean water and 665 00:42:50,160 --> 00:42:55,239 Speaker 1: spread radiation quite far. Uh. There's still a lot of 666 00:42:55,840 --> 00:42:58,520 Speaker 1: efforts going on in Japan to contain all of that, 667 00:42:59,600 --> 00:43:04,359 Speaker 1: but I've read some pretty disturbing reports about the way 668 00:43:04,400 --> 00:43:07,520 Speaker 1: it's all being handled, and that it's suggests that that 669 00:43:07,560 --> 00:43:11,440 Speaker 1: way is not the most effective. Uh. So, the plant 670 00:43:11,480 --> 00:43:16,359 Speaker 1: decommissioning process is going on in Fukushima, and there's gonna 671 00:43:16,360 --> 00:43:18,439 Speaker 1: be a lot of different steps. It's probably gonna take 672 00:43:18,680 --> 00:43:21,880 Speaker 1: more than a decade of work to be able to 673 00:43:21,960 --> 00:43:25,759 Speaker 1: bring those those uh those buildings to a point where 674 00:43:25,800 --> 00:43:29,200 Speaker 1: we can truly decommission them. So that's it. That's the 675 00:43:29,280 --> 00:43:33,480 Speaker 1: look at three of the biggest nuclear powered disasters. They're 676 00:43:33,480 --> 00:43:37,799 Speaker 1: all bad and and people tragically lost their lives in 677 00:43:37,880 --> 00:43:42,359 Speaker 1: the Chernobyl one in particular. Um, and they you never 678 00:43:42,440 --> 00:43:45,640 Speaker 1: want to have any of these sort of incidents happen. Uh. 679 00:43:46,760 --> 00:43:50,719 Speaker 1: They do suggest perhaps that in the event of a 680 00:43:50,840 --> 00:43:58,239 Speaker 1: nuclear disaster like this, the impact might not be as dramatic, 681 00:43:58,320 --> 00:44:01,600 Speaker 1: at least at first as we tend to think. I 682 00:44:01,600 --> 00:44:04,719 Speaker 1: mean again, are thoughts are often shaped by stuff like 683 00:44:04,760 --> 00:44:08,000 Speaker 1: pop culture, and in the fifties, you know, all the 684 00:44:08,040 --> 00:44:11,960 Speaker 1: different science fiction films were all about how how radiation 685 00:44:12,040 --> 00:44:16,480 Speaker 1: was going to mutate people in weird and unpredictable ways. 686 00:44:17,239 --> 00:44:20,759 Speaker 1: Reality is that doesn't actually happen that way in the 687 00:44:20,840 --> 00:44:24,239 Speaker 1: long term. Who knows, we may see long term effects 688 00:44:24,920 --> 00:44:29,400 Speaker 1: that are much more troubling than what we're seeing in 689 00:44:29,440 --> 00:44:33,480 Speaker 1: the short term. So I'm not suggesting, like I'm not 690 00:44:33,520 --> 00:44:37,799 Speaker 1: suggesting that people have overreacted to these disasters. Maybe three 691 00:44:37,840 --> 00:44:41,680 Speaker 1: Mile Island out of all of them, the result of 692 00:44:41,719 --> 00:44:46,239 Speaker 1: three Mile Island was still should never have happened. But 693 00:44:46,400 --> 00:44:51,560 Speaker 1: at least it appears that in the grand scheme of things, 694 00:44:52,239 --> 00:44:57,400 Speaker 1: it was not that dangerous to people because these safety 695 00:44:57,400 --> 00:45:00,839 Speaker 1: systems worked properly. Still shouldn't have happened, And it's still 696 00:45:00,920 --> 00:45:04,239 Speaker 1: kind of scary, more than more than kind of scary. 697 00:45:04,280 --> 00:45:06,719 Speaker 1: But I wanted to look into them because you hear 698 00:45:06,760 --> 00:45:09,719 Speaker 1: about these stories all the time, and without really understanding 699 00:45:09,760 --> 00:45:14,560 Speaker 1: what happened, then all you really feel is anxiety. I 700 00:45:14,600 --> 00:45:17,719 Speaker 1: think the only way to really greet that is through education, 701 00:45:18,440 --> 00:45:21,399 Speaker 1: and that education means well, now I feel like I'm 702 00:45:21,400 --> 00:45:24,759 Speaker 1: more informed with what can happen, what can go wrong 703 00:45:24,840 --> 00:45:27,680 Speaker 1: with nuclear power. Maybe that guides my decision about whether 704 00:45:27,760 --> 00:45:31,520 Speaker 1: or not I support it. That's totally legitimate, uh, and 705 00:45:31,640 --> 00:45:36,279 Speaker 1: I am no longer just imagining worst case scenarios. That 706 00:45:36,320 --> 00:45:39,560 Speaker 1: wraps up this episode. If you have any ideas for 707 00:45:39,640 --> 00:45:42,840 Speaker 1: future episodes, we will be going to something totally different 708 00:45:42,840 --> 00:45:46,200 Speaker 1: from nuclear power in next week. I'm not sure what 709 00:45:46,320 --> 00:45:48,000 Speaker 1: that is because I don't have my schedule opened up, 710 00:45:48,000 --> 00:45:50,680 Speaker 1: but it will be something different, so look forward to that. 711 00:45:50,840 --> 00:45:52,920 Speaker 1: If you have suggestions for future episodes, let me know. 712 00:45:53,000 --> 00:45:55,160 Speaker 1: Send me an email. The addresses tech Stuff at how 713 00:45:55,200 --> 00:45:57,439 Speaker 1: stuff works dot com or drop me a line on 714 00:45:57,480 --> 00:46:00,239 Speaker 1: Facebook or Twitter. The handle for both of those says 715 00:46:00,280 --> 00:46:04,480 Speaker 1: tech Stuff hs W. Don't forget go by t public 716 00:46:04,640 --> 00:46:07,799 Speaker 1: dot com slash tech stuff to take a look at 717 00:46:07,840 --> 00:46:12,480 Speaker 1: our merchandise store. Everything you purchase ends up benefiting the show, 718 00:46:13,000 --> 00:46:16,400 Speaker 1: which is awesome, and you get some cool stuff in return, 719 00:46:16,480 --> 00:46:18,720 Speaker 1: So go check that out and don't forget to follow 720 00:46:18,880 --> 00:46:21,800 Speaker 1: us on Instagram and I will talk to you again 721 00:46:22,880 --> 00:46:31,080 Speaker 1: really soon for more on this and thousands of other 722 00:46:31,120 --> 00:46:43,040 Speaker 1: topics because it how staff works dot com