About That Ukraine Nuclear Reactor… It Was Never Going to ‘Blow Up’
First, this station can’t “blow up” because the “fuel” used to create steam is enriched uranium, “nuclear” – there are two types of nuclear reactions, fission, and fusion. One splits the atom the other allows the atoms to bump into each other creating heat.Nuclear power plants use the “bumping” atoms, bombs use the “splitting” atoms
Moderated by Tomas Kauer 
From a reader who received it from a friend of theirs. “I watched last night as several “talking heads” and I’m still watching, as they talk about the attack on the nuclear power station could be 10 x the Chernobyl disaster … these “experts” talk about the plant “blowing up” because of the Russian attack.”
Lightly edited.
First, this station can’t “blow up” because the “fuel” used to create steam is enriched uranium, “nuclear” – there are two types of nuclear reactions, fission, and fusion. One splits the atom the other allows the atoms to bump into each other creating heat.
Nuclear power plants use the “bumping” atoms, bombs use the “splitting” atoms.
Second , the building that houses the nuclear stuff is not a regular building, it’s a “firmed” structure with more concrete to protect the nuclear material.
I’m not sure about the criteria used in Ukraine but in the US, EU, and Canada the building is referred ad the “containment structure” and is made from reinforced concrete supposedly strong enough to take a direct “hit” from a missile or bomb.
Third, Chernobyl wasn’t a nuclear explosion. Because of its physical location, the cooling agent used to cool the reactor vessels was graphite, not water … because of a miscalculation the operators tried to “stretch” the capability of the plant design pushing the heat in the cooling section to exceed design capacity.. this caused the graphite to ignite and this caused an explosion .. the cooling structure was adjacent to the reactor building and because this building wasn’t constructed with reinforced concrete, etc the building was compromised from the graphite explosion, causing a radioactive release …
Fourth, the current nuclear power station involved in an attack in southern Ukraine is located on the ocean, so I assume water is the cooling agent, not graphite, so water can’t catch fire and I also know the construction criteria for the containment structure is not like it was when Chernobyl was built ..
It infuriates me when talking heads do this.
I lack the knowledge to support or refute this but it makes sense.
Thoughts?
Is this a non-threat created by idiots in the media or Russians hoping no one will know better, or is there some actual risk on a level that might be of actual concern?
Steve is a long-time New Hampshire resident, blogger, and a member of the Board of directors of The 603 Alliance. He is the Managing Editor and co-owner of GraniteGrok.com, a former board member of the Republican Liberty Caucus of New Hampshire, and a past contributor to the Franklin Center for Public Policy.
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