News Chernobyl disaster: Ukraine marks 30th anniversary

[Andy44]

You can protect or harden electronics to work in high radiation; it's harder in space because you need to keep the weight down but for an earth-bound robot it's not too hard as long as the chassis can carry the mass.

Another reactor accident that resulted in fatalities and a high rad environment was the SL-1. When they dismantled and cleaned up that reactor, they used a crane with a shielded cab and dropped a shielded movie camera into the reactor core to inspect the damage first. This wasn't nearly as big a mess as Chernobyl, of course:

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAKcWM-yBkI"]1961 Nuclear Reactor Meltdown : The SL-1 Accident - Educational Documentary - WDTVLIVE42 - YouTube[/ame]

 

[PhantomCruiser]

It's interesting to me to see the difference between their unit and mine (well, not mine but you get my drift). The equipment is the same but different. I've no doubt I could figure some of it out. As they toured the control room I could pick out some things that were pretty familiar.

I've no doubt I could half-shell their turbines with very little things lost in translation. The names of things may change, but the functions and way things go together is pretty common as far as I've seen.

 

[Urwumpe]

It's interesting to me to see the difference between their unit and mine (well, not mine but you get my drift). The equipment is the same but different. I've no doubt I could figure some of it out. As they toured the control room I could pick out some things that were pretty familiar.

I've no doubt I could half-shell their turbines with very little things lost in translation. The names of things may change, but the functions and way things go together is pretty common as far as I've seen.

Steam turbines, have you seen one, you have seen them all. :rofl:

Seriously, you might get some trouble because the main circulation pumps in a RBMK are electrical, not steam driven. Less fun with large wrenches.

 

[PhantomCruiser]

S'all good. spinny-spinny metal give rotation to conductor in a magnetic field.

Still though, there should still be more in common than different. Need thermocouples, some sort of vibration and turbine supervisory. Steam seals, steam seal regulators, turbine lift oil, turbine lube oil, overspeed protection, the list goes on and on.

Electrical circ pumps are nothing new to me; sometime the frequency driven drives can be a pain though.

 

[Andy44]

 

[Xyon]

Chernobyl Mysteries: The Elephant's Foot (aka "Medusa"... Pure chernobylite) - YouTube

How weird to think the people pictured, and the people filming, are absorbing fatal amounts of radiation just by being that close to "Chernobylite"... spooky.

 

[Artlav]

Was there anyone actually filming up close?
Many of the camera motions feel robotic, and some scenes look like the camera was pushed with a stick or dragged.

I read that sometimes pictures were taken through a mirror poked towards the door on a stick, since just putting a hand out could be lethal.

 

[Xyon]

Was there anyone actually filming up close?
Many of the camera motions feel robotic, and some scenes look like the camera was pushed with a stick or dragged.

I read that sometimes pictures were taken through a mirror poked towards the door on a stick, since just putting a hand out could be lethal.

Yeah, but you've also got those people wearing rudimentary looking hazmat suits wandering around the pipes oozing chernobylite, and I can't imagine those suits provide protection against 10000 roentgen/hour.

And, to be honest, even if you've got a camera on a stick to film the elephant's foot, unless that stick is half a mile long, then when those films were taken you're probably too close to stick around long.

 

[Andy44]

Yes, a bunch of guys actually went inside and filmed it in person; I remember seeing a documentary on it. They didn't stay in there long for obvious reasons, and I think I heard they did not all die quickly and may even be alive and well today, but not entirely sure about that.

But for me, that's a whole lotta NOPE.

Robots, please.

---------- Post added at 06:09 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:06 PM ----------

Oh, and by the way, there is actually a fungus that uses gamma rays for photosynthesis growing in and around the Chernobyl plant: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiotrophic_fungus

 

[Artlav]

Life... finds a way.
These aren't just some finitely resilient cockroaches, these things are actually anti-fragile.

 

[boogabooga]

"Chernobylite"...Really?

 

[Thunder Chicken]

Yes, a bunch of guys actually went inside and filmed it in person; I remember seeing a documentary on it. They didn't stay in there long for obvious reasons, and I think I heard they did not all die quickly and may even be alive and well today, but not entirely sure about that.

But for me, that's a whole lotta NOPE.

Robots, please.

Here is a German video showing a crew going through the containment and the basement levels. Minimum dose pathways have been mapped out (the hard way in some cases), so it isn't a death sentence by radiation poisoning to enter the containment, but you certainly don't do this on a daily basis.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKnFurg5-Ag"]Inside Chernobyl - YouTube[/ame]

 

[Urwumpe]

"Chernobylite"...Really?

Yes. It is a mineral first found in Chernobyl. :lol:

 

[gertz]

There was an interesting film on the 1st of May on Discovery regarding wildlife in the zone.
Though, there is a danger of further contamination if so-called Red forest will be set ablaze (according to what they say).
But obviously, this is not what bothers most of the ukrainians now.

 

[Notebook]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-37978482

Work has begun at Chernobyl in Ukraine to move a giant shield over the site of the world's worst nuclear accident.

The concrete and steel arch will eventually cover the remains of the reactor which lost its roof in a catastrophic explosion in 1986.

 

[Urwumpe]

Finally. :dry:

 

[PeterRoss]

Oh, so it's built already, they're just putting it on? What took them so long then?

 

[Zatnikitelman]

So they are going to then dismantle the reactor underneath this thing? I never read that before. Maybe I'm missing something?

 

[Andy44]

So they are going to then dismantle the reactor underneath this thing? I never read that before. Maybe I'm missing something?

Yeah, I saw that, too.

My take is that that is more of a wish than a plan. It's gonna take a lot of money and time to do that, given the health hazards associated with working around the thing and sheer amount of material to be moved.

And then there is all the debris spread for miles around which will likely never be found, little tiny bits and pieces and particulate matter.

 

[Notebook]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/video_and_audio/headlines/37979572

Time-lapse of huge Chernobyl arch

The last 10 seconds show the area under the arch. Looks substantial and new. I presume they had to put that in as they were dismantling the old containment?

N.