NEWS: Second Chernobyl Incident Possible, page 1

posted on Apr, 28 2005 @ 09:22 PM

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A top Russian scientist is claiming that the sarcophagus that encloses what is left of the reactor is highly degraded and prone to collapse. If the sarcophagus does collapse a cloud of irradiated dust will spew into the atomosphere and will cause a catastrophe on the same scale as the first nearly 20 years ago.

news.independent.co.uk
"If it collapses, there will be no explosion, as this is not a bomb, but a pillar of dust containing irradiated particles will shoot 1.5 kilometres into the air and will be spread by the wind." Depending on how the wind is blowing, Russia or Belarus would bear the brunt of such a dust cloud. Ukraine, where Chernobyl is located, would also be affected.

The sarcophagus is designed to keep a lid on what is left of the nuclear reactor that exploded with such dire consequences during an unauthorised test in April 1986 and is supposed to stop the mass of unspent nuclear fuel that lies beneath from entering the atmosphere.

It is estimated that only between 3 and 15 per cent of that fuel actually escaped during the explosion meaning that most of it is still trapped inside. Dr Yablokov, a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences and a one-time adviser to former president Boris Yeltsin, said nuclear reactions were actually taking place - spontaneously - inside the sarcophagus as rain and snow fell on the unspent fuel through cracks in the decaying shell.

Please visit the link provided for the complete story.

It seems that this disaster can be prevented however, with the state of affairs in the Ukraine currently it is impossible to know how high up on the priority list this problem would be. Also if there is still 85% of the nuclear material within the collapsed reactor a breakdown could end up being a world wide issue.

Hellmutt

posted on Apr, 28 2005 @ 09:43 PM

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This is very disturbing news indeed. One part of that article got my attention.

Professor Alexei Yablokov, President of the Centre for Russian Environmental Policy, said the concrete and metal sarcophagus was riven with cracks, already leaking radiation and at risk of collapse

Already leaking radiation? Leaking radiation, I guess is of more concern for those who live nearby. But a collapse of the sarcophagus would make radiation spread over a huge area like it did 20 years ago.

Eye Of Ra

posted on May, 1 2005 @ 03:53 PM

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Actually the sarcophagus was never meant to last forever. If I remember rightly they always knew it wouldn't last

About six months ago I read a fantastic fascinating pictorial online about chernobyl that moved me to tears.

www.angelfire.com...

www.kiddofspeed.com...

Hellmutt

posted on Jun, 11 2005 @ 06:53 PM

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The Belarus KGB are investigating a group which claimed responsibility for an accident at the Chenobyl nuclear power plant in late May.

MosNews - Belarus KGB Probes Terrorists’ Claim of Chernobyl Attack

June 10, 2005

Belarussian security services have set out to establish the origin of a group called the National Liberation Army, which, according to information available on the Internet, claimed responsibility for an accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant that allegedly occurred in late May. “We were very alarmed by these rumors, we already have information about where the statement was put on the Internet from. We are doing all we can to investigate,” First Deputy KGB Chairman Vasily Dementei told journalists on Thursday. “It is hard to say how serious the aims of those who distributed this information were,” Dementei was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.

Wow, there was an "accident" there recently? I haven´t heard or seen anything about this. This is rumours they say, but they didn´t tell us the last time she blew either (in 1986). Not until some other countries detected the radiation from that accident.

drfunk

posted on Jun, 11 2005 @ 07:28 PM

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it's time for the global community to step in and give Ukraine the funds needed to fix this problem.

thanks,
drfunk

amarenell

posted on Jun, 11 2005 @ 09:47 PM

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According to a link off of the main story

With the inauguration last month of President Yushchenko, a pro-Western former opposition leader, new authorities have taken power in Ukraine who enjoy enormous American and European goodwill. As a result, financial backing for the project came from abroad

www.mosnews.com...

I guess the global community is stepping up.

This link tells about the repair work on the sarcophagus that has been started.

Edit: add title.

[edit on 11-6-2005 by amarenell]

SE7EN

posted on Jun, 13 2005 @ 09:48 AM

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I'm not surrprised at this considering that a nuke suit will only last you about an hour before it start's to degrade and giveing that over 20 years of abuse the sarcophagus has had I wonder if it could be possible to build anouther sarcophagus over the top of the old one?

amarenell

posted on Jun, 13 2005 @ 10:32 AM

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That is part of the article mentioned above. They are building "Shelter 2" off site and will slip it into place to reduce workers exposure to radiation. "Shelter 2" is supposed to last 100 years. Not quite long enough, but better than the current structure which is likely to fall apart at any moment.

Zipdot

posted on Jun, 13 2005 @ 10:53 AM

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Originally posted by Hellmutt
Already leaking radiation? Leaking radiation, I guess is of more concern for those who live nearby. But a collapse of the sarcophagus would make radiation spread over a huge area like it did 20 years ago.

Nobody lives nearby. The radiation that may be leaking from the plant's remains does not compare to the massive amount of radiation that was absorbed and trapped by the trees, buildings, and asphault within several kilometers of the plant after the initial disaster.

Inside the sarcophagus, the plant is a complete mess. There is unspent nuclear fuel everywhere, that has melted with furniture and structural parts, becoming nuclear metal soup, and it is strewn about all over the plant. The Soviet cleanup of the plant involved little more than pouring concrete all over everything, from cranes.

Chernobyl will be a problem for many years to come. Remember that the glowing nuclear dust cloud of Chernobyl kicked up into the atmosphere the equivilent of 90 TIMES the amount of irradiated material thrown into the atmosphere from the bombing of Hiroshima.

Zip