#i probably come off sounding pretentious when i get excited about radiation incidents#like. uhm actually hiroshima was an airburst explosion so the fallout is minimal. chernobyl however exploded on the ground and included...#hot particles which blah blah blah

I Would Like To Hear More

@chasm-connected

Okay gosh uhm

I am not an expert in any way, but basically what I was referencing is how the different types of explosions (Hiroshima atom bomb air burst vs Chernobyl reactor meltdown) had drastically different levels of fallout

Let me preface by saying that this in no way is meant to minimize the real destruction, pain and suffering caused by the Hiroshima bombing - that is unspeakably heinous, but that is another post. This is specifically about the science of nuclear fallout

When the Hiroshima bomb exploded, it had not yet reached the ground. The heat and shockwave it produced were extreme and deadly, but the radiation did not stick around as long as one may expect. When that kind of explosion goes off in the air, radioactive particles disperse in the atmosphere and die out relatively quickly. Hiroshima today is a thriving metropolis - forever changed by its nuclear history but safe and livable!

Chernobyl, however, is another story entirely. The exclusion zone is still considered uninhabitable. One could visit and even spend a day or two in the area, but living there every day (as some people do, but again, that's another post) could have serious health effects. The ambient radiation levels are unsafe, even miles from ground zero.

Why?

Well. When the reactor exploded, it sent actual pieces of radioactive fuel into the atmosphere, which rained down all over the immediate area. Not particles that would disperse in the air, whole pieces of active fuel rods just... everywhere. There are still tiny bits of these rods and similarly radioactive materials from the explosion just... hanging out on and in the ground in Chernobyl, continuing to put out radiation. This is in addition to the core of the reactor that actually melted down, but that has been largely enclosed and shielded (though as it continues to slowly degrade there is a risk of further contamination to the ground/groundwater - another post!) The little hot particles everywhere? How do you shield or enclose them? How do you even find them all without putting people in danger? If you could, how long would it take?

There's more to it, of course, and if you want to learn more I highly recommend the Half Life Histories series of videos on YouTube by Kyle Hill. He's an actual scientist who can explain this stuff SO much better than I ever could.

On the negative 21st day of christmas my true love gave to me,

Caesium 137

oh, more nuclear fun facts: did yall know that approximately one orphan source is reported each day :D

I want to see the. Movies

“you’re autistic? you must have some cute hyperfixation like hello kitty or frogs!!”

no

i love radiation

i ESPECIALLY love the SL-1 incident and i can tell you all the few details available to my little neurodivergent brain

anyways thinking about how Bruce always reacts the worst way possible any time Dick is injured like dude I know you care but yelling isn’t the way to go ;-; bruh it’s so toxic and fucked up and probably contributes to Dick’s perfectionism complex i’m...

My Uncle: scientists don’t make huge mistakes multiple times, they learn from the past! That’s what they do!

Me about to explain the Demon Core Incidents for the 4th time that conversation: 👁️👁️

hey jed just thought i'd let you know the radiation video update is totally fake. there's more explanation in the reblogs but that's not how you'd treat radiation for starters.

It's fine, like the second to last reblog says, it doesn't matter if the original is fake or not, the message of "don't fuck around with radiation" is still a good one, and the stuff about the actual historical event was the reason I reblogged it

If I have something akin to a special interest I think it must be radiation sickness and the incidents/accidents/disasters that cause it

The Goiana Incident. The Radium Girls. Three Mile Island. Chernobyl. The Demon Core. The SL-1. The Therac-25. I could go on

I don't know what it is but reading and watching everything I possibly can on the science behind, the causes of, and end results of radiation-related incidents is absolutely fascinating to me

I hate blood and gore and injury but if an article or video shows what radiation does to someone's skin or bone marrow? I am studying that shit

What is wrong with my brain

8 by 6 mm steel capsule posting

going to the middle of nowhere to exchange nuclear secrets this weekend, if u dont hear from me again its because ive fallen in love and eloped with godzilla

feeling weirdly defensive over nuclear energy tonight crazy what being on your period does to you

Sharing the full version of this in screenshots since OP turned off reblogs after getting fact-checked

DON'T SEND HATE

special interests for me are sometimes infodump zone and sometimes it is i am going to think SO HARD about this FOREVER and keep rereading the wikipedia page until i have it damn near memorized

made an oc for jonny that isn't newman bc i love him but saoirse wants to be The Star jfklsdfs

had to unfollow someone I really liked cause they support nuclear power and kept ragging on people who didn’t believe in it calling them ignorant and as bad as antivaxxers and it’s like man. I’m not dumb because I disagree with you. Radiation is fucking terrifying, and the idea that being scared of something that will proveably kill you in horrific ways is the same as being scared of proveably safe vaccines that save lives is a cruel mischaracterization.