Absolutely fascinating look at radiation and nuclear weapons

"Alice Stewart demonstrated in 1956 that a single diagnostic X-ray to the abdomen of a pregnant woman increases the incidence of childhood leukemia in her offspring by 50 to 100 percent."

https://thebulletin.org/2021/10/how-do- ... y_10072021

My father worked at a nuclear plant and one day, as he was going through the guard station, the radiation alarm went off. Workers get scanned as the go into the plant and when they leave.

It turns out the alarm was triggered by his pack of cigarettes. They set the alarm threshold lower than required so the pack wasn't glowing or anything crazy but tobacco and a lot of other plants and things can be naturally radioactive. Try not to sit in front of the television too long.

What really pissed my dad off was the fact they confiscated his cigarettes. :-)

Most of the radioactive waste currently awaiting a permanent site like Yucca Flats comes from hospitals.

Statistics are fun: buying two lottery tickets will increase your chances of winning by 100%!

^^^Eek!

Nuclear power has always intrigued me. It seems so dangerous but is so powerful.

Dad worked for IBM and would have to go work inside the offices at Grand Gulf nuclear. Talked about the guards with M-16s and security being really tight. And that every time he left they always scanned with radiation detectors, even though he never got near the reactor.

I would love to tour a nuclear plant and see the reactor. Hell, I would love to tour Chernobyl.

biglove wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 21, 2021 4:47 am

I would love to tour a nuclear plant and see the reactor. Hell, I would love to tour Chernobyl.

^^^

???

Nothing shows for me??

biglove wrote: ↑

Thu Oct 21, 2021 10:19 am

^^^

???

Nothing shows for me??

It was a clip from the HBO series Chernobyl, where a couple of the plant workers are sent to check out the damage of the exploded reactor; it shows them looking down into the blazing, churning nuclear core, and then retreating, realizing that they are probably already dead.

^^^Ah!

Have read of accounts of such things. Exposure to radiation so intense that they are walking dead.

Found the clip...DAMN! Yeah, those white suits and hats aren't going to help. If that scene is true I would imagine they lived only minutes to hours.

Will have to check that series out.

biglove wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 22, 2021 4:42 am

^^^Ah!
......
Will have to check that series out.

You should, it's fantastic. The episode with the three divers who went in to avoid a further explosion was amazing.

Racer-X wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 22, 2021 4:14 pm

biglove wrote: ↑

Fri Oct 22, 2021 4:42 am

^^^Ah!
......
Will have to check that series out.

You should, it's fantastic. The episode with the three divers who went in to avoid a further explosion was amazing.

A lot of this miniseries was difficult to watch (indeed, there were a few scenes of Russian military conscripts, sent into the vacant city to kill left-behind pets with rifles, that I couldn't watch at all). Interestingly, it concentrates on many issues, like the end days of Communism in Russia, cowardice and stupidity of science hijacked by politics, and simple and almost unspeakable bravery. At one time, HBO set the standard for excellence in TV drama, and Chernobyl continues the trend.