Happy Chernobyl Remembrance Day

[Wolverine]

Happy Chernobyl Remembrance Day!  April 26th, 1986.

It was 30 years ago today that the one drunk Russian Reactor Operator said to the other drunk Russian Reactor Operator, " Hey comrade, hold my vodka and watch this!  I take all protection off unit and make sparkler.  HAHAHAHA....." (fwooom)

At my office at a large southeastern utility with a significant presence in the state and a very distinct building in downtown Atlanta with windows that look right out onto Piedmont Avenue , we have protestors across the street today.

I F#*$&% LOVE protestors!

I drove around the block at least one extra time to make sure I fully got the message.  On the front of their big sign it said "REMEMBER CHERNOBYL".  On the back it said "NO NUKES! NO COAL! NO FRACKING!"  They are all decked out in white jumpsuits and yellow hardhats, which makes them look totally legit.

So I went out there with my own little sign and stood next to the cute little hippie girl with the dreds that looked like she hadn't showered in a month.  My sign said:

(1) SOLAR UNIT = 0.1 MW X 20% CAPACITY FACTOR

(1) WIND UNIT = 1.0 MW X 40% CAPACITY FACTOR

(1) NUKE UNIT = 1,000 MW X 99.4% CAPACITY FACTOR

I think I showed them!

^ ^ ^Ok, I was lying about that part

 

[Road Guy]

Has Obama apologized for Chernobyl yet? Somehow that had to be the US fault?

 

[Supe]

It's not too late, Wolvie!  The ignorance is just staggering.

 

[csb]

But they're cool with oil? 

 

[Wolverine]

So I went back and reread the sequence of events that led to the reactor core breach, and while I must admit I can scarcely comprehend the finer details of atomic fission, I still insist there was vodka involved somewhere in the mix.

Perhaps I shouldn't be so judgmental of Drunk Russian Reactor Operators though, since I myself have never had to resolve a screw-up inside a screw up, inside the screw-up of a screw-up of a rotten procedure. дерьмо happens!

 

[Road Guy]

I did my two week annual training for the National Guard in Former Soviet Georgia in 1998(ish)  all I remember is:

1) They F'n hated the Russians and 2) Vodka was a breakfast, lunch and dinner "thing"

 

[knight1fox3]

Also keep in mind that the reactor at the Chernobyl facility didn't employ a vessel.  That's like smoking near a gasoline spill and hoping nothing bad happens (watka or no).

And according to my power plant technology course from my recent masters program, the CF for wind has actually gone up.  I'm not an advocate against nukes, I think it is by far one of the most sustainable energy production methods that meet the ever-increasing demands.  However, wind energy has actually developed enough where it is now fairly economical. 

 

[Supe]

Well, you know, until they catch fire.  

 

[Flyer_PE]

Not only did that design not use a vessel, the control rods (used to regulate the reaction) were made of graphite.  Protip: Don't use flamable material to control a nuclear chain reaction.

 

[csb]

We have a wind farm nearby that they've shut down. https://www.xcelenergy.com/Energy_Portfolio/Electricity/Ponnequin_Wind_Farm

[COLOR= rgb(58, 58, 58)]Since Ponnequin has been in operation, time, economics and advances in wind technology have led the company to pursue other options for its wind portfolio. [/COLOR]

This seems like code for "the tax benefits dried up." 

Can't you EEs make a wind generator that isn't ugly, loud, and bird killing? 

 

[Slugger926]

Also keep in mind that the reactor at the Chernobyl facility didn't employ a vessel.  That's like smoking near a gasoline spill and hoping nothing bad happens (watka or no).

And accordingly my power plant technology course from my recent masters program, the CF for wind has actually gone up.  I'm not an advocate against nukes, I think it is by far one of the most sustainable energy production methods that meet the ever-increasing demands.  However, wind energy has actually developed enough where it is now fairly economical. 

Liquid Thorium reactors sound more interesting, and safer.  What is the big reason besides the output can not be weaponized as to why they haven't caught on yet?

 

[knight1fox3]

Are those like LWR's?  Before I got out of the nuke industry, it was all PWR/BWR, but I was starting to hear more about LWRs.  

 

[Slugger926]

Are those like LWR's?  Before I got out of the nuke industry, it was all PWR/BWR, but I was starting to hear more about LWRs.  

No.  They use Liquid Thorium as the fuel.  If it goes into an emergency situation, it automatically shuts itself down without damage to the system or environment.  

 

[Wolverine]

We had a guy give us a presentation on molten salt thorium reactors and he said basically that there is no downside, except that someone has to plunk down the capital to start the engineering process, which will be long and tedious to perfect, but will be better than traditional boiling water reactors.

He said (paraphrasing), they built one at Oak Ridge in the early days, but the gubment opted for the version that created weaponizable by-products, and now the scientists that developed it are scattered to the wind and the research lost.  But this guy was gung-ho for small modular thorium reactors.  I love it and have been feeding the idea to my son (Mr. Physics major at Ga Tech) every chance I get.

But I'm sure thorium is on the hippies list, right next to coal, gas, and U238.

 

[snickerd3]

Thorium isn't without its draw backs.  IL is still trying to clean up after a spill from decades ago.  Once that stuff hits water it is really mobile.  

 

[Slugger926]

Thorium isn't without its draw backs.  IL is still trying to clean up after a spill from decades ago.  Once that stuff hits water it is really mobile.  

But the stuff is in the soil all over NE Oklahoma, and in the Ozarks in SW Missouri, and NW Arkansas.  I could get rich mining my backyard.  My golden retriever already has it looking like a pit mine, so the surface damage is already present.

 

[csb]

You're going to need to reclaim that.