# Do nuke plants have toilets? If they do... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 27, 2011, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-nuke-plants-have-toilets-if-they-do/579918 "2011-04-27T17:46:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-nuke-plants-have-toilets-if-they-do/579918/1 "2011-04-27T17:46:41Z")
Dear Cecil, Where does nuclear poo go? Let’s say you just took a dump at the local nuke plant and there was a serious radiation leak. Would your radioactive poo escape the facility? If not, how do nuke plant toilets handle that scenario? Your loving admirer always, Lev ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-nuke-plants-have-toilets-if-they-do/579918/2 "2011-04-27T17:55:36Z")
Why in the name of Ogar The Unseemly would poo be radioactive? ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-nuke-plants-have-toilets-if-they-do/579918/3 "2011-04-27T17:59:20Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > Why in the name of Ogar The Unseemly would poo be radioactive? Maybe they ate at White Castle that day. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-nuke-plants-have-toilets-if-they-do/579918/4 "2011-04-27T18:03:46Z")
Is this the yellowcake everyone was making such a fuss over? ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-nuke-plants-have-toilets-if-they-do/579918/5 "2011-04-27T18:30:31Z")
I think the waste-water system would be completely different from the cooling systems. I hope. Of course, if some one were exposed to a large amount of radiation and took a dump, I dunno… ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-nuke-plants-have-toilets-if-they-do/579918/6 "2011-04-27T18:33:57Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > Why in the name of Ogar The Unseemly would poo be radioactive? I’m imagining a scenario where you’re sitting on whatever can is closest to the reactor. The guys in that area do have to poo sometimes, don’t they? There is a radiation leak, everything gets contaminated, you flush, then the alarms go off. Is Mr. Hanky on his merry way outside the plant? ---
**Author:** ![howye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9adbd/32.png) [@howye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/howye)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-nuke-plants-have-toilets-if-they-do/579918/7 "2011-04-27T18:38:07Z")
Look - if the design of your nuclear power plant puts the shitter next to the reactor, you are going to have some other issues to worry about than whether or not one turd is radioactive. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-nuke-plants-have-toilets-if-they-do/579918/8 "2011-04-27T18:39:45Z")
One builds pone’s plants on the assumption that there is not going to be a nuclear accident. I’m sure all the water from water fountains, urinals, toilets, and floor drains gets treated as normal sewage. If you have nuclear waste going down your drain, then you have a serious problem, and, more likely than not the radiation will get into the system in some other way than being flushed down the toilet, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![lazybratsche](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@lazybratsche](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lazybratsche)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-nuke-plants-have-toilets-if-they-do/579918/9 "2011-04-27T18:44:10Z")
I’m more concerned with the safety of the plant operators than their waste, frankly. If they’re poo is radioactive enough to be of any concern to anyone outside the plant, then they’ve already been exposed to tremendous quantities of radiation for many days. And there’s certainly been a much larger release already. Compared to the rest of the challenges of nuclear plant safety, detecting radioactive releases is trivial. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-nuke-plants-have-toilets-if-they-do/579918/10 "2011-04-27T19:03:16Z")
I doubt Cecil is going to be interested in taking this one on, but you never know. Yes…nuclear power plants have toilets. No…the toilets aren’t in the reactor vessels, or even right next to them…they are in the control areas of the plant (where the people are). If you were taking a poo when the reactor was breached sufficient enough that your poo would be radiated then, yes, it would probably get out of the plant and into whatever they are using as a sewer or water treatment facility for such wastes. At that point, some radioactive poo would be the least of your worries, however. -XT ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-nuke-plants-have-toilets-if-they-do/579918/11 "2011-04-27T19:08:24Z")
Yeah, the toilets will necessarily be in the human-occupied portions of the plant, and therefore _outside_ all of the shielding and safety systems. Flushing radioactive poop won’t cause a problem, because if you have radioactive poop, then by that time, the problem has _already_ been caused. One might as well ask how the toilet in your house would handle radioactive poop, since that toilet, like the one at the power plant, is outside the shielding. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-nuke-plants-have-toilets-if-they-do/579918/12 "2011-04-27T19:11:21Z")
Nuclear plants are enormous and complete. I took a tour of one and the scale is impressive. There are hundreds of workers. They were not all punching out and running to the closest gas station. ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-nuke-plants-have-toilets-if-they-do/579918/13 "2011-04-27T19:15:17Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > I’m imagining a scenario where you’re sitting on whatever can is closest to the reactor. The guys in that area do have to poo sometimes, don’t they? There is a radiation leak, everything gets contaminated, you flush, then the alarms go off. > > Is Mr. Hanky on his merry way outside the plant? How do you think Mr. Hanky came to life in the first place? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-nuke-plants-have-toilets-if-they-do/579918/14 "2011-04-27T19:21:43Z")
Need answer fast? ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-nuke-plants-have-toilets-if-they-do/579918/15 "2011-04-27T19:56:50Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Need answer fast? Dang! Forgot to add that. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-nuke-plants-have-toilets-if-they-do/579918/16 "2011-04-27T20:33:39Z")
> [@xtisme](#): > > If you were taking a poo when the reactor was breached If the reactor is breached, there’s no “if” about it. [QUOTE=Bill Cosby] First you say it, then you do it. [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-nuke-plants-have-toilets-if-they-do/579918/17 "2011-04-27T22:10:43Z")
[QUOTE=Steve MB] If the reactor is breached, there’s no “if” about it. [/QUOTE] Sure, but we all carry around with us a containment vessel for that eventuality…it’s called your pants. 😉 -XT ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-nuke-plants-have-toilets-if-they-do/579918/18 "2011-04-27T23:03:17Z")
And, what about pee? Is it safe to drink Mt. Dew??? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-nuke-plants-have-toilets-if-they-do/579918/19 "2011-04-27T23:08:37Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > Why in the name of Ogar The Unseemly would poo be radioactive? Because they are a race of Atomic Supermen who will _rule the world!!_ ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2011, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-nuke-plants-have-toilets-if-they-do/579918/20 "2011-04-27T23:13:38Z")
> [@lieu](#): > > Is this the yellowcake everyone was making such a fuss over? They’re in the urinals. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-nuke-plants-have-toilets-if-they-do/579918.md?page=2)