Chernobyl

For awhile there was a website of a Ukranian woman who took her sportbike to the city of Chernobyl. Her father was sufficiently placed to allow her to do so. She was emphatic that she wouldn't ride pillion, and that she wouldn't ride behind anyone else. Damnedest thing. The place is still really radioactive. Apparently the wildlife doesn't care, as there has been a resurgence with the departure of humanity.

Great post. Thanks.
 
steingar said:
For awhile there was a website of a Ukranian woman who took her sportbike to the city of Chernobyl. Her father was sufficiently placed to allow her to do so. She was emphatic that she wouldn't ride pillion, and that she wouldn't ride behind anyone else. Damnedest thing. The place is still really radioactive. Apparently the wildlife doesn't care, as there has been a resurgence with the departure of humanity.

Great post. Thanks.
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Her site(s) are still around if you search for them. She's got a couple of great stories, and I think she's got a book out.

One site is a mirror (and not complete), but a little research can get you to the right spot.

EDIT: I think this video was done by her as I recall seeing it on one of the sites attributed to her.
 
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Here's the picture site. There was some debate over whether she rode in there alone or with a group. It doesn't really matter, the photos are real and are extremely creepy.

http://www.kiddofspeed.com/chernobyl-revisited/

EDIT: That was a scary video...at 6:12 you can see white dots appearing when he was filming the reactor. That's high energy gamma rays hitting the film and exposing it.
 
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And all that dust. With no protection. If the gammas didn't get you, or the neutrons, the alphas would, once inside your body...

Sigh
 
Jack Spectre said:
Here's the picture site. There was some debate over whether she rode in there alone or with a group. It doesn't really matter, the photos are real and are extremely creepy.

http://www.kiddofspeed.com/chernobyl-revisited/

EDIT: That was a scary video...at 6:12 you can see white dots appearing when he was filming the reactor. That's high energy gamma rays hitting the film and exposing it.
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The photos on that website still chill me to the bone. :sad:
 
So if you were passing through the region today on your own motorcycle/crash gear that you intend to keep using, how far would you be willing to go into the area?
And you're not suicidal and intend to remain healthy.
 
fgcason said:
So if you were passing through the region today on your own motorcycle/crash gear that you intend to keep using, how far would you be willing to go into the area?
And you're not suicidal and intend to remain healthy.
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Actually, if I had a decent Geiger/Roentgen counter, I wouldn't worry about it. The mail worry in terms of gear is radioactive dust settling on leathers, and that can be cleaned and checked. Alpha particles are not particularly worrysome so long as they're not ingested. Beta a little more so. I'd do the ride in a heartbeat if I had the opportunity.
 
steingar said:
I'd do the ride in a heartbeat if I had the opportunity.
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I don't know enough about radioactivity to judge the risk but I would like to do the ride too even though it's been years since I have driven a motorcycle.
 
If her numbers are correct, most of it isn't that bad. I wouldn't make a habit of visiting, though...
 
1 mRem/hr and you had to wear dosimetry equipment at the shipyard. That was were you got to 2 Rem/year in a 2000 hour work year, the maximum allowed without special permission. 5 mRem/year was the max - period. I agree, many of these numbers are not outragious. On the other hand, some of the other number are horrifying.
 
Ghery said:
1 mRem/hr and you had to wear dosimetry equipment at the shipyard. That was were you got to 2 Rem/year in a 2000 hour work year, the maximum allowed without special permission. 5 mRem/year was the max - period. I agree, many of these numbers are not outragious. On the other hand, some of the other number are horrifying.
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from http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/bio-effects-radiation.html

The average annual radiation exposure from natural sources is about 310 millirem (3.1 millisieverts or mSv).

Man-made sources of radiation from medical, commercial, and industrial activities contribute about another 310 mrem.

Consumer products such as tobacco, fertilizer, welding rods, exit signs, luminous watch dials, and smoke detectors contribute about another 10 mrem.

At the yards I worked at, and at the power plants, the limit for occupational radiation exposure was 5,000 mRem (50 mSv) per year. I once got more in one shift in the sub reactor compartment on one job than I did in 20 yrs elsewhere in controlled radiation areas but that was still well below any prescribed limits.

For lifetime exposure the rule was 5(N-18) with N being age in years. That rule has been since been deleted. In other words, they quit allowing older workers to "bank" dose that could be used on high dose jobs or to extend their stay time. There are special rules to allow certain exceptions to the limits in case there is an urgent need to exceed the nominal limits.

We had "low", "high" and "very high" level controls. In general terms, the break point was 100 mR/hr or greater to be considered a "high" area and 500 mR/hr for a "very high". Various means of controlling exposure, and thereby absorbed dose, were employed to minimize energy deposition. Made for some interesting work constraints at times.
 
I heard Pripyat' is going to be reopened this year. Not the Chernobyil proper though.
 
steingar said:
I'd do the ride in a heartbeat if I had the opportunity.
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I would too. That's why I asked. All I know about radiation was what I learned at university working in the physics accelerator labs and I forgot most of that.

Lost and forgotten places are really interesting to visit and photograph. The ghosts can be a bit rough on your nerves sometimes though.
 
Steve said:
from http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/bio-effects-radiation.html

The average annual radiation exposure from natural sources is about 310 millirem (3.1 millisieverts or mSv).

Man-made sources of radiation from medical, commercial, and industrial activities contribute about another 310 mrem.

Consumer products such as tobacco, fertilizer, welding rods, exit signs, luminous watch dials, and smoke detectors contribute about another 10 mrem.

At the yards I worked at, and at the power plants, the limit for occupational radiation exposure was 5,000 mRem (50 mSv) per year. I once got more in one shift in the sub reactor compartment on one job than I did in 20 yrs elsewhere in controlled radiation areas but that was still well below any prescribed limits.

For lifetime exposure the rule was 5(N-18) with N being age in years. That rule has been since been deleted. In other words, they quit allowing older workers to "bank" dose that could be used on high dose jobs or to extend their stay time. There are special rules to allow certain exceptions to the limits in case there is an urgent need to exceed the nominal limits.

We had "low", "high" and "very high" level controls. In general terms, the break point was 100 mR/hr or greater to be considered a "high" area and 500 mR/hr for a "very high". Various means of controlling exposure, and thereby absorbed dose, were employed to minimize energy deposition. Made for some interesting work constraints at times.
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Well, I was at MINSY in nuclear engineering for a year, 1975 to 1976. The yard tried to cut you off at 2000 mRem/year, knowing that the ultimate limit was 5,000 mRem/year. Academic to me, I picked up 0 bugs the year I worked nuc. Trained radiation worker, but never had the need to use the training. Enjoyed my job at NAVELEX VJO much more.
 
steingar said:
Actually, if I had a decent Geiger/Roentgen counter, I wouldn't worry about it. The mail worry in terms of gear is radioactive dust settling on leathers, and that can be cleaned and checked. Alpha particles are not particularly worrysome so long as they're not ingested. Beta a little more so. I'd do the ride in a heartbeat if I had the opportunity.
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And you notice she says she ALWAYS rides alone... that way she isn't riding in the dust kicked up by a preceding vehicle. Shes being smart about her risky endeavor.
 
Ghery said:
Well, I was at MINSY in nuclear engineering for a year, 1975 to 1976. The yard tried to cut you off at 2000 mRem/year, knowing that the ultimate limit was 5,000 mRem/year. Academic to me, I picked up 0 bugs the year I worked nuc. Trained radiation worker, but never had the need to use the training. Enjoyed my job at NAVELEX VJO much more.
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I guess you probably know that one of MINSY's claim to fame was sinking a sub pierside. :)

http://www.history.navy.mil/library/special/guitarro.htm
 
This is fascinating. Her website/ride was utterly eerie. Modern day Pompeii, indeed.

To see all those buildings, and think of the ghosts... you know they are empty... but I imagine your minds could play tricks with you - going there in the middle of the night - brave! I don't think I could overcome the heebie jeebies...
 
Design, operating culture, and an inadequate testing procedure conspired to doom the #4 reactor at Chernobyl.
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My God, they had a nuclear reactor in service, and did not have a completely functioning safety system.

That's what the wiki link says they were doing which caused the event - testing a new safety system design (powering pumps off a spooling-down turbine).....on a functioning reactor, when there was no existing safety system!

And during the test, so many things happened that seemed to scream "stand-down" to me.

I am going to have to read up on 3MI now!
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
My God, they had a nuclear reactor in service, and did not have a completely functioning safety system.

That's what the wiki link says they were doing which caused the event - testing a new safety system design (powering pumps off a spooling-down turbine).....on a functioning reactor, when there was no existing safety system!

And during the test, so many things happened that seemed to scream "stand-down" to me.

I am going to have to read up on 3MI now!
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And then read about Hanford. Hanford? Who ever heard about Hanford? What's Hanford?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanford_Site
 
woodstock said:
Regulations, shmegulations.
There clearly is a market solution to all this.
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Dump it all into the river and let the people downstream deal with it while the CEO's cash in bigtime? :loco:
 
woodstock said:
Smithers is Mr. Burn's sidekick on the Simpsons.
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Ahh. I never actually saw the show. I lasted all of 2 minutes watching it once which was about 1 minute 59.9 seconds too long.
 
steingar said:
Damnedest thing. The place is still really radioactive. Apparently the wildlife doesn't care, as there has been a resurgence with the departure of humanity.

.
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And hence we have the Chernobyl Chicken. Just wrap them in aluminum foil and they cook themselves......:D
 
I have many friends in the south of France, Switzerland, Germany and Italy that are still worried about the radiation from Chernobyl that spilled onto their lands, got into their food and water supplies and who knows what else. The effects of this were far more than local.
 
That reminds me when I was 15, I chose to do a project or essay on nuclear power for science class. Went into great detail and did a pretty fair job, I was an A student.
Well turns out teach was a tree-hugger and hated nuclear!
Talk about a shock when I got that grade back!
 
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