RE: How Does an RBMK Reactor Explode
09-04-2019, 07:48 PM (This post was last modified: 09-04-2019, 07:48 PM by Black Aeronaut.)
09-04-2019, 07:48 PM (This post was last modified: 09-04-2019, 07:48 PM by Black Aeronaut.)
Man, and it all happened so quickly. The stuff that I've read all made it seem like there was this slow and steady buildup where they knew they were screwed but were trying to regain control.
Now I know differently - that they thought everything was fine and honestly had no reason to suspect something might be wrong... and then it suddenly blows up in their faces.
No wonder why there was so much confusion. Not even the people in charge knew for sure what had just happened, let alone why.
It really is a shame. If not for this one rather esoteric safety flaw, the RBMK Reactor seems like the platonic ideal of fission reactors. Powerful, runs off of a fuel that is cheap and plentiful, and can breed even more powerful fuel during normal operation (if, ya know, you were up to running a reactor off of weapons-grade fuel... Which the US Navy does, IIRC - this is how they make such powerful reactors in that small size).
Annnnnd I just checked up on the status of the remaining RBMK reactors in Russia. Most of them are - surprise surprise - still operating now. Of course, there's been some rather extensive refits for safety reasons, and it seems like those will be phased out midway this century in favor of the new RBMK-derived design, the MKER, which incorporates more redundancies and passive safety systems.
We can't do anything like that here in the US due to a combination of NIMBY and corporate enterprise not seeing any profit in it anymore. Though I'll leave that particular topic for the Politics forum.
Now I know differently - that they thought everything was fine and honestly had no reason to suspect something might be wrong... and then it suddenly blows up in their faces.
No wonder why there was so much confusion. Not even the people in charge knew for sure what had just happened, let alone why.
It really is a shame. If not for this one rather esoteric safety flaw, the RBMK Reactor seems like the platonic ideal of fission reactors. Powerful, runs off of a fuel that is cheap and plentiful, and can breed even more powerful fuel during normal operation (if, ya know, you were up to running a reactor off of weapons-grade fuel... Which the US Navy does, IIRC - this is how they make such powerful reactors in that small size).
Annnnnd I just checked up on the status of the remaining RBMK reactors in Russia. Most of them are - surprise surprise - still operating now. Of course, there's been some rather extensive refits for safety reasons, and it seems like those will be phased out midway this century in favor of the new RBMK-derived design, the MKER, which incorporates more redundancies and passive safety systems.
We can't do anything like that here in the US due to a combination of NIMBY and corporate enterprise not seeing any profit in it anymore. Though I'll leave that particular topic for the Politics forum.