A shuttered Southern California nuclear plant that now stores nuclear waste accidentally sent about 5,000 gallons of wastewater containing radioactive material toward the Pacific Ocean, according to a report the…
2 comments
airhangerf155 days ago
Honestly 5,000 gallons from a nuclear plant into the ocean is not all that much. When refueling occurs in a reactor outage, people aren't in there wearing full suits like in the movies. They have coveralls that have to be disposed of afterwards, but the biggest thing that protects them from the radiation is the water in the reactor vessel itself.
You could probably swim on the surface of that reactor pool and be perfectly fine.
yellowapple4 days ago
> You could probably swim on the surface of that reactor pool and be perfectly fine.
Relevant XKCD “What If?” article on this exact topic: https://what-if.xkcd.com/29/
And in video form: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFRUL7vKdU8
Read the full thread on Hacker News →
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