I am confused-you read reports of people driving through Chernobyl, and wildlife is returning to the abaondoned areas. If you were to drive up to the reactor building, how long would it take to get a lethal radiation dose?
How much of the radioactive fallout (that contaminated the area) has decayed away by now?
Here are some data from last year: 猫咪app官网社区-猫咪app官网下载-猫咪app官网下载地址-猫咪app官网永久地址入口
So even right next to the Sarcophagus you wouldn’t get acute radiation poisoning. You would however get up to 150 000 the average background dose/time.
Right in the core, though, things are still plenty “hot”. In fact, there’s a species of fungus that’s evolved to actually feed on the radiation. OK, not entirely relevant, but that’s a cool enough fact that I can never resist dropping it.
If you see the Elephant’s Foot without a suit on I suspect you’ll be very unhappy. As Chronos says, the area around and under the core is still quite hot.
Not just the awesome fungus that Chronos mentioned is thriving, but plant life seems to find it ok, having no other choice but to sprout and then stick it out (BBC linky 1);
One thing, the scientists in that article were shown wearing gloves, masks and goggles. Would those be goggles to cover the eyes entirely, to prevent anything radioactive sticking to the moist surface of the eye?
And mammals find it a little bit harder to cope (BBC linky 2)
Those articles are from September and July of this year respectively.
Wasn’t there some woman who took her motorcycle to Chernobyl a few years ago and photographed the whole thing; with meter readings and everything? She was interested in how the city was being taken over by the natural world again…Let me see if I can dig it up - there was a thread on it too.
Ahh, hereit is.
For comparison, a chest x-ray exposes a patient to 0.2 milliSieverts, and a CT scan gives somewhere between 1 and 10 milliSieverts. So standing around the administration building, according to your numbers, is like getting an x-ray every three minutes. Like other posters mention, that won’t cause any acute radiation poisoning, but if you stick around for long you’re facing a markedly increased cancer risk.
Is that good or bad? I mean if the fungi doesn’t metabolize or change the radiation then it’s still there right? If so it could be even worse, as something higher up on the food chain wouldn’t eat the radiation but may eat the fungi which is now radioactive?
I’m sure it just is, not particularly good or bad.
Most likely the goggles are to prevent beta exposure. Beta radiation is actually an electron. Since its a charged particle it doesn’t travel very far, maybe a few inches in air. Beta radiation is pretty common but is mostly ignored because your clothing will stop it. But your eyes are susceptible to beta exposure and since you don’t wear clothes on your eyes, goggles or safety glasses are recommended.
The fungus wouldn’t attenuate the radiation to any significant degree; the vast majority of it would just pass right through. It’s just that the tiny proportion which does get absorbed is enough to fuel the fungus’ metabolic processes. And while the fungus is likely rendered radioactive, that would be from neutron radiation and from absorption of radioactive material in the environment, not from the gamma rays that it “eats”. Anything that might eat the fungus, if it were eating something else instead, would get a comparable dose of radioactivity.
That fungus (several species actually) is actually absorbing the gamma radiation and harnessing the energy for its metabolism. The process is analogous to photosynthesis. It’s probably also full of all sorts of radioactive isotopes though. It grows inside the sarcophogous, though, where it’s the only living thing*, so there’s nothing eating it.
- That we know of at least-- the fungus was completely unexpected until someone brought out samples a few years ago…
Cite?
That is just too cool…
Never mind, I found some cites. Wow.
By the way, that girl’s website IIRC was found to be a hoax - she was just taking the regular tour, not heading off on her own.
Martin Cruz Smith wrote an interesting 2004 crime novel with Chernobyl as its setting: “Wolves Eat Dogs.”
I have no idea if it is accurate regarding the science regarding the effects on humans or other life, but it was interesting from the POV that nature seems to be reclaiming the area fairly quickly.
What that means in the long-term probably outlives our lives. Interesting book, though.
Interesting. I recall in a thread about the possibility of life in other worlds the stated requirement that a planet have shielding from external radiation, among other things. Apparently that isn’t important after all.
Wasn’t she proven a hoax? Or at least some things about her.
I guess it’s fairly safe in the area nowadays, as they arrange trips there. As soon as I get some money together, I’m so there :eek:
But … The goggles! They do nothing!
Sorry, could not resist.
I’d be interested in understanding this better. The radiation “fuels” the metabolic process? Meaning what, exactly? Fungi get their nutrients from material around them and then metabolize them chemically in their cells, right? Much like animals. The energy the organism needs and uses comes from the transformation of chemical energy inside the cells, doesn’t it? So how does radiation fit into this scheme? Can you clarify this? Are you saying that the fungus has adapted to survive in high levels of radiation? It sounds as if you are suggesting that the radiation is part of the metabolic process. “It feeds on radiation.” (from your earlier post.) Can you explain?