Chernobyls Dead Zone, so many years later,

[mag00]

One motorcycle riders story about biking through Chernobyl "Ghost Town". Really interesting what nuclear fallout can do and how nature adapts. Get ya a good beverage and kick back as it is a well written compelling story.

[meandog]

This has to be one of the most interesting but disturbing atricles I have ever read.
Thanx for sharing.

[mag00]

Originally Posted by meandog

This has to be one of the most interesting but disturbing atricles I have ever read.
Thanx for sharing.

Your welcome, I had long forgot of the disaster and the media never does a good followup on stories. The reality is I had thought we need more nuclear power plants, with the oil prices etc. and now I wonder...

[aLLiKZar]

Wow, that was very interesting.
That had to be very spooky driving
through there.

[DanTekGeek]

great link!

[alanc]

Excellent link. I've seen it before but I think I'll bookmark it this time...

Originally Posted by mag00

I had long forgot of the disaster and the media never does a good followup on stories.

That is so true. This is one of those history lessons that needs to stay in the public consciousness indefinitely so this tragedy is never repeated.

[Endi]

http://www.majorgeeks.com/vb/showthread.php?t=30040


very nice linke. Try the above link too. very similar

[Fw190]

looks like they finally got a domain name.

[G.T.]

Originally Posted by mag00

Your welcome, I had long forgot of the disaster and the media never does a good followup on stories. The reality is I had thought we need more nuclear power plants, with the oil prices etc. and now I wonder...

No, you were right. We DO need more nuclear power; only totally clean burning reliable electrical power other than hydroelectric, and that's limited in where you can build them. We just don't need any more Chernobyl-type reactors, with wooden walls as a "containment chambers" (burn baby burn). Scary thing is there are still others of that design in use, last I heard. Three Mile Island is touted as a major "disaster", but it's design did its job; it kept the nasty stuff confined inside.

And both of those are VERY old designs; we can do much better today. Today the U.S. is banking more heavily on natural gas, which is even more limited than oil, and is still not "clean burning" by today's eco-standards that don't even like carbon dioxide emissions. Our biggest nuclear problem in the U.S. is the stupid decision by Jimmy Carter to forbid recycling spent fuel rods, which has created the massive problem we have with radioactive "waste". The rest of the world recycles it, very profitably.

[meandog]

30 miles from me there is a plant called Davis Bessie.
A few years ago they found a football sized hole where Boric Acid ate through the containment shield.
It seems the N R C knew about it but decided to let them operate until the next scheduled shutdown. Nothing happened. ( LUCKY ).
It took 2 years and millions of dollars to repair.
There was no thought of life.
The plant sits next to Lake Erie.
What would it be like now if something did happen ??
After much broo haha the N R C decided they didnt like the way the place was being run.
The engineer who first reported it was fired for neglect of duty. He was the only one who reported it.
Lost his job.
They are running again now but it makes you think.
IS IT MONEY OR SAFETY THESE BIG COMPANYS ARE LOOKING OUT FOR ??
This is just what i memember.
If you want more specific details just ask and I will tell you .

[G.T.]

Large corporation first priority is always profit. That's what they're in business for, and the stockholders will likely throw out the current managers if they forget that priority. But ignoring safety has a huge cost risk, so in general, companies DO pay attention to it. And no U.S. nuclear powerplant design is approved or allowed without some very strong safety backups in place, which is usually not focused on when the media reports on potential hazards. The media is in the business of scaring you to raise their ratings and generate more advertising dollars (their first priority is money too.)

Davis Bessie was a great example of corporate stupidity in allowing their problem to go as far as it did, but even if the reactor containment vessel had been breached, no radioactives would have been released into the air like at Chernobyl. All U.S. plants have extremely thick outer containment walls, literally a reinforced concrete building around the reactor, which is designed to contain even a complete meltdown internally. Which is exactly what happened at Three Mile Island. Expensive, but it was contained as it was designed to be.

Oil and coal fired powerplants don't have the spectacular potential for eco-disasters, but they have their own environmental costs, that are not just "potential". Living downwind from those increases the incidence of various kinds of cancer and respiratory problems. They kill people. But it's silent, subtle, and easily ignored except by statisticians that note the increased death and health problems in those areas. Those are real casualties, ongoing every year, and almost totally ignored because they don't make for riveting entertainment on the evening news.

Most of our nuke plants are very old, most date from the 60s & 70s. Many of them are at or beyond their designed life. Technology and designs have improved in the interim, and while nuclear reactors MUST be handled carefully, they are the best current hope we have for clean, safe power. We're currently pushing natural gas fueled powerplants, which are safer than oil and coal, but there's not enough natural gas to generate the power we need, and gas is more useful for heating and other things that we also must have. And even those are not polution-free.

I lived for years downwind of a nuke plant in Illinois, and that didn't bother me. I'd have been a lot more concerned if it were one of the coal-powered plants. Would be nice if they could use something like geothermal or solar universally, but we're not there yet.