Chernobyl forest fire closing in on plant

[planetgeli]

Wildfires 'edge closer to Chernobyl nuclear plant'

The blazes, burning for several days, also threaten the storage depot for the most dangerous waste.

www.bbc.co.uk

Forest fires that have been burning for several days in northern Ukraine are now no more than a few kilometres from the abandoned Chernobyl nuclear plant, reports say.

Tour operator Yaroslav Emelianenko said one had reached the abandoned town of Pripyat, which used to serve the plant.

He said it was now just 2km (1.24 miles) from where the most dangerous waste from the plant was stored.

I think 2hats warned about the dangers of this happening on the TV thread.

Well now it's happening. Good job the world hasn't got anything else to worry about right now.

 

[elbows]

I wasnt surprised to see this detail either:

On 5 April Yegor Firsov, acting head of Ukraine’s state ecological inspection service, said in a Facebook post that radiation levels in the area had risen substantially above normal.

Government officials later rejected this finding, and said the levels in the area were “within normal limits”. Mr Firsov also withdrew his remarks.

 

[Pickman's model]

This will end well

 

[2hats]

Well, we've all got face masks now, haven't we?

 

[weltweit]

So far in 2020 I have been flooded, locked down and now potentially this .. as years go 2020 is certainly looking to be memorable but not exactly for the right reasons.

 

[SpookyFrank]

Maybe radiation cures Covid-19. Maybe this will be one of those great fire of London/black death type things.

 

[2hats]

Maybe radiation cures Covid-19. Maybe this is one of those gret fire of London/black death type things.

Or perhaps ups the mutagenic rate?

On all sides.

 

[SpookyFrank]

Or perhaps ups the mutagenic rate?

On all sides.

As long as humans can reproduce quicker than viruses we should maintain the upper hand.

 

[BoxRoom]

As long as humans can reproduce quicker than viruses we should maintain the upper hand.

I'll get cracking

 

[8ball]

On a brighter note - I read somewhere that the global killer asteroid is pretty certain to miss us (is that next week?).

 

[2hats]

I think 2hats warned about the dangers of this happening on the TV thread.

Earlier. But the fires are a regular event.

 

[SpookyFrank]

On a brighter note - I read somewhere that the global killer asteroid is pretty certain to miss us (is that next week?).

Can't catch a fucking break can we

 

[planetgeli]

Earlier. But the fires are a regular event.

Is this one not getting a bit closer than usual?

Mr Emelianenko also said that if the fire engulfed Pripyat it would be an economic disaster, as supervised tourist visits provided valuable revenue.

I must admit, that was my first concern too.

 

[SpookyFrank]

Tourists. Jesus christ if you want to see an abandoned amusement park and rats with three eyes just go to fucking Blackpool.

 

[NoXion]

Oh nose, my chances of getting cancer have increased by 0.01%. I'm shaking right now. Maybe I should have a cigarette to calm my nerves.

 

[CNT36]

Oh nose, my chances of getting cancer have increased by 0.01%. I'm shaking right now. Maybe I should have a cigarette to calm my nerves.

Relax you're still more likely to die of seasonal flu.

 

[klang]

Nothing to worry about folks - nuclear energy is safe.

 

[NoXion]

Nothing to worry about folks - nuclear energy is safe.

It's about as safe as renewables.

 

[CNT36]

It's about as safe as renewables.

I threw my solar powered calculator at the math teacher once and nearly left the south west uninhabitable.

 

[prunus]

I threw my solar powered calculator at the math teacher once and nearly left the south west uninhabitable.

“Nearly”?

 

[NoXion]

I threw my solar powered calculator at the math teacher once and nearly left the south west uninhabitable.

Renewables have an even bigger environmental footprint per unit of energy generated. It's a direct consequence of having less energy density. They should still be part of the solution along with fission, but it's something to bear in mind.

 

[8ball]

I threw my solar powered calculator at the math teacher once and nearly left the south west uninhabitable.

I think more people get killed in accidents involving solar power than any other means of energy generation. At least in Europe...

edit: that's probably wrong - looking at some other figures solar is pretty good. Just much worse than nuclear. If you're worried about people dying, that is. People would probably be fine about nuclear and much more wary about solar if the worst weapon of mass destruction used in anger had been a giant magnifying glass.

 

[CNT36]

I think more people get killed in accidents involving solar power than any other means of energy generation. At least in Europe...

Yeah, lives have been saved by having nuclear power sources rather than either coal or renewables. The risks of a nuclear accident even on the scale of Chernobyl are pretty low but I don't think we can afford to be too flippant given the worst case scenarios.

 

[8ball]

Yeah, lives have been saved by having nuclear power sources rather than either coal or renewables. The risks of a nuclear accident even on the scale of Chernobyl are pretty low but I don't think we can afford to be too flippant given the worst case scenarios.

It's kind of a "low risk, big mess" thing.
Whereas over a wide area you can chuck people off roofs til the cows come home and its only the council cleanup guys and the bean counters who notice.

 

[pesh]

2020 needs to pick 1 disaster movie and just stick with it, all this jumping around is doing my head in.

 

[keybored]

So far in 2020 I have been flooded, locked down and now potentially this .. as years go 2020 is certainly looking to be memorable but not exactly for the right reasons.

You just need a plague of locusts now for a full house.

 

[Manter]

You just need a plague of locusts now for a full house.

There is already a record-breakingly bad locust swarm in East Africa

 

[Manter]

What happens if the fire reaches the reactor? I’ve seen lots of ‘eek, nuclear forest on fire’ stuff but nothing that says what that means.

 

[NoXion]

What happens if the fire reaches the reactor? I’ve seen lots of ‘eek, nuclear forest on fire’ stuff but nothing that says what that means.

It's covered in a big concrete sarcophagus, and I doubt that anyone has restocked the place with flammable materials after the initial accident. I don't think much will happen. Could be wrong though.

 

[pesh]

the main problem is the burning of an enormous and very radioactive forest. there were reports a few days ago saying local radiation levels had risen to 16 times the 'normal' level already.