- 2 months ago
- #fatalengineering
- #realityinsighthub
Fatal Engineering (2025) Season 1 Episode 6 - Nuclear Plant Disasters
#FatalEngineering
#RealityInsightHub
🎞 Please subscribe to our official channel to watch the full movie for free, as soon as possible. ❤️Reality Insight Hub❤️
👉 Official Channel: https://www.dailymotion.com/TrailerBolt
👉 THANK YOU ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
#FatalEngineering
#RealityInsightHub
🎞 Please subscribe to our official channel to watch the full movie for free, as soon as possible. ❤️Reality Insight Hub❤️
👉 Official Channel: https://www.dailymotion.com/TrailerBolt
👉 THANK YOU ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00In 1938, in Berlin, Germany, nuclear fission was born.
00:07The nuclear age had arrived, promising both greatness and peril.
00:13In 1957, an uncontrollable fire at Windscale, the UK's largest nuclear power station.
00:21We saw to our horror four channels of fuel glowing bright cherry red.
00:27Nearly 30 years later, at Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant,
00:32mechanical failures and human errors trigger a partial meltdown at the practically new plant, built for $700 million.
00:42The Three Mile Island accident is marking a real turning point in the perception and the development of this technology.
00:50But in 1986, the world is stunned by the most terrifying of all explosions.
00:56The meltdown at the Chernobyl power plant, in what was then the Soviet Union.
01:01A certain number of children, people and adolescents living near the Chernobyl accident will be eradicated dramatically.
01:12Have these tragedies taught us to approach this powerful energy source with greater caution?
01:19Or will humanity's relentless pursuit of nuclear supremacy lead once again to a chilling example of fatal engineering?
01:2850,000 residents are enjoying the beginning of their weekend in Pripyat, a city located in what was then northern Soviet Ukraine.
01:51With spacious apartments, schools, hospitals, cultural centers, sports facilities and an amusement park, it's considered a modern and pleasant place to live.
02:06Life in Pripyat is pretty good until one night when an accident at the nearby power plant would prove to be fatal.
02:17One that happened at a place that everybody's heard of, Chernobyl.
02:21The first blast rips off the reactor's roof, a structure weighing 1000 tons.
02:37Two or three seconds later, a second larger blast sends huge lumps of toxic debris flying in all directions and a cloud of radioactive material high into the atmosphere.
02:52These explosions will send absolutely incandescent debris everywhere on the installation.
02:59So there will be almost 30 fires of fire all around the core of the reactor.
03:10While the explosion itself leaves two dead, the firefighters who immediately respond to the site fall victim to acute radiation syndrome.
03:19Caused by high dose full body exposure.
03:24Vomiting, weakness and fever would quickly take hold as the radiation enters the body, attacking the DNA, turning healthy cells into cancerous ones.
03:3528 firefighters and plant workers die of acute radiation syndrome in the weeks following the accident.
03:42For some, it's a brutal, fast acting poison.
03:46For others, a creeping, silent killer.
03:51A number of people will develop cancer, especially thyroid cancer.
03:59Scientific organizations put the death toll at 4,000.
04:05Chernobyl's exclusion zone now spans 4760 square kilometers,
04:14four times the size of New York City.
04:17It may take thousands of years for it to be safely habitable.
04:23When we talk about the famous Echelle Ines, who tries to explain to the public's danger of an accident,
04:33Chernobyl is really above all.
04:35It is actually called unclassable, because it was absolutely dramatic.
04:41Was this a preventable disaster?
04:46Or was Reactor 4 doomed to be a case of fatal engineering?
04:51To understand, we must return to the day before the explosion.
04:55Constructed between 1970 and 1977, the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant was the largest and most powerful in the USSR.
05:11A symbol of Soviet nuclear ambition, the plant's four reactor cores converted the thermal energy generated from uranium fission into electricity.
05:20On the eve of the disaster, all four reactors had been running at full capacity for years,
05:26supplying electricity to roughly 5 million people, which was 10% of Ukraine's population.
05:32At the heart of each reactor sits a giant graphite core.
05:37C'est un gros massif avec ce qu'on appelle les tubes de force dans lesquels il va y avoir de l'eau qui va passer pour évacuer la chaleur produite dans le combustible par les fissions.
05:53Every hour, more than 45 million litres of water, the equivalent of 18 Olympic-sized swimming pools,
06:02were pumped through the system to cool the 1661 uranium fuel rods.
06:09These water pumps were essential.
06:11Without them, the reactor core would overheat with potentially devastating consequences.
06:16It is precisely these pumps that will play a critical role in the unfolding catastrophe.
06:25L'élément déclencheur, c'est un essai qu'ils doivent faire.
06:31C'est un essai électrique, ce qu'on appelle des essais de redondance.
06:34C'est-à-dire que s'il y a une coupure d'électricité générale, il faut s'assurer qu'il y a des systèmes qui vont prendre le relais.
06:411 p.m. The shutdown process for reactor 4 begins.
06:48To carry out the test, the operators begin to drop the control rods into the reactor
06:54to slow down the nuclear reaction.
06:57Control rods. These massive tubes are made to absorb neutrons,
07:02the particles that split uranium atoms. They release energy and create electricity.
07:08By manipulating the position of the rods in the core, operators could increase or decrease the reactor's power output.
07:17Control rods are inserted into the core to reduce its power by half, down to 1600 megawatts thermal.
07:24All is going according to plan, until one unexpected delay.
07:33Elsewhere in Ukraine, another regional power plant has unexplainably gone offline.
07:38And Kiev's electrical grid controller requests Chernobyl postpone its power reduction, as power is needed to satisfy the peak evening demand.
07:47This continues throughout the day until it becomes nighttime when the electricity demand isn't as high.
07:54It's now deemed a safe time to continue the test of the backup generators until a turning point in history where everything would change for the families who live there.
08:06Chernobyl nuclear power plant was the largest and most powerful in the USSR.
08:20On the eve of the disaster, all four reactors had been running at full capacity for years.
08:25It's now deemed a safe time to continue the test of the backup generators until a turning point in history where everything would change for the families who live there.
08:45A shift change. While the day crew has experience with these tests, the night crew does not.
08:53At around 12 am, the team receives permission to continue the test and react to core four.
08:59Then, something goes wrong. Without fully understanding why, the operators see the reactor's power drop rapidly.
09:06The reactor is in a unstable zone, and the power will decrease too quickly. It will go to 30 MW, so almost no power.
09:19So they want to make this power up again.
09:23To bring the power back up, they begin pulling the control rods out of the core.
09:28They have no way of knowing it, but this action further destabilizes the reactor.
09:33Too many control rods have been removed, and now there's a risk the chain reaction becomes uncontrollable.
09:44As the rods are withdrawn, the power begins to rise again, eventually stabilizing after around 20 minutes.
09:51Although this is far below the megawatts thermal required for the test, they decide to proceed anyway.
09:57Part of the pre-planned test is to increase the water flow rate around the core, and two additional pumps are activated.
10:05But this has a risk of lowering the temperature and the power again.
10:10And with it already low, the operators decide to remove even more of the control rods.
10:151.23 a.m.
10:21Despite the reactor's low power, the operators continue the test.
10:252.23 a.m.
10:262.23 a.m.
10:273.m.
10:281.23 a.m.
10:291.25 a.m.
10:302.25 a.m.
10:313.m.
10:322.25 a.m.
10:331.25 a.m.
10:342.25 a.m.
10:353.25 a.m.
10:363.25 a.m.
10:372.25 a.m.
10:383.25 a.m.
10:392.5 a.m.
10:403.25 a.m.
10:413.25 a.m.
10:424.m.
10:43As the water flow slows down, it heats up more than usual.
10:47Steam bubbles rapidly form inside the core.
10:50for the Chernobyl reactor design this is a dangerous effect due to them being positive
10:56void coefficients a positive void coefficient means the reactor becomes more reactive as water
11:05turns to steam as the operators realize that the heat is becoming out of control they decide to
11:13drop the control rods back into the core shutting down the chain reaction and bringing the temperatures
11:20back under their control 40 seconds past 1 23 a.m unlike the control rods in any other reactor the
11:34control rods at Chernobyl have graphite tips the rods themselves are made of boron carbide which
11:40absorb neutrons and slows the reaction but their graphite tips do the opposite they speed it up
11:47it's so graphite au lieu d'absorber les neutrons il va empirer la situation
11:54when the control rods travel the full height of the seven meter tall reactor core equivalent to a
12:00three-story building the graphite tips come into contact with the steam and the core itself
12:05had the control rods not been fitted with those graphite tips it is likely that the Chernobyl
12:12disaster would never have occurred the accumulative effect causes an unexpected and alarming spike in
12:22reactivity instead of a gradual control decrease the fission reaction causes a surge in power
12:29within seconds power output skyrockets reaching 30 000 megawatts thermal 10 times the reactor's normal
12:41capacity this is the last measurement ever recorded 44 seconds past 1 23 a.m just four seconds after the
12:50rods are inserted the core becomes an unstoppable pressure cooker superheated steam blows apart the reactor
12:59sending the roof flying a second explosion follows scattering chunks of radioactive graphite across the
13:08site and igniting dozens of fires including a towering blaze directly above the gaping hole in the reactor
13:15c'est bien l'incendie de graphite parce que c'est à cause de cet incendie qu'on va avoir énormément de de
13:23cendres et de produits radioactifs qui vont partir très haut dans l'atmosphère qui vont faire en fait ce fameux
13:31nuage radioactif de tchernobyl qui a inondé quasiment toute l'europe
13:35the reactor core begins to melt forming corium an extremely radioactive lava-like substance
13:46it burns through 1.8 meters of reinforced concrete inevitably moving into the ground
13:54anyone within several kilometers is in mortal danger
13:59100 000 people are forced to abandon their homes and their lives
14:08animals who have become highly radioactive are killed to prevent them from spreading the radiation
14:16back at the ruined reactor efforts are made to clear up and contain the exposed radioactive material
14:22from leaking further during the operation a helicopter struck a crane cable and crashed
14:29killing all four crew the moment caught on camera became an iconic image of the chernobyl disaster
14:36response in total 5 000 tons of sand clay boron and lead are dropped onto the reactor it will take 20
14:47days to extinguish the fire and stop the corium from reaching underground water sources
14:51two months after the disaster a concrete and steel structure known as the sarcophagus is built to encase the
15:01reactor and contain its lethal radioactive particles 30 years later in 2016 a new more durable structure
15:11replaces it it's a shield designed to one day allow for the safe dismantling of the reactor
15:18even with the remains of chernobyl reactor number four gone the legacy of the world's worst example of fatal
15:26engineering will tragically remain for thousands of years to come
15:30this disaster remains one of the darkest moments in the history of nuclear energy marking a real shift in
15:42the perception and the development of this technology but just seven years earlier another incident a nuclear plant
15:51on the east coast of the usa where once again nuclear fission is in question would become the focus of the world's attention
16:01three mile island power plant
16:03it's march 28 1979 on the banks of the susquehanna river in the quiet borough of middletown pennsylvania
16:25it's 9 000 residents are fast asleep
16:27a crisis has started at the three mile island nuclear power plant it's 4 a.m
16:38a potentially deadly accident has occurred overnight in the reactor tmi-2
16:44and radioactive material has been released into the atmosphere above them three mile island plant an accident did occur
16:51it is my feeling that the people within the radius of a few miles especially pregnant women should be told
17:05that there is a significantly increased risk to their babies
17:12to understand what happened we have to go back 10 years to a time when electricity demand in the united
17:18states was surging
17:22by the late 1960s domestic energy consumption was booming
17:29less polluting than coal and capable of generating massive amounts of electricity at low cost
17:34nuclear energy seemed full of promise
17:39on may 18 1968 construction began on a next generation nuclear power plant
17:46built on an island just three miles from middletown pennsylvania three mile island
17:52at three mile island on choisi une technology qui est de plus en plus sponsorisé on va
17:59dire par l'industrie nucléaire parce qu'elle semble être extrêmement sûre deux réacteurs à eau pressurisé
18:08together its two reactors produce 1700 megawatts of electricity
18:12enough energy to power a city of 300 000 people
18:18like all pressurized water reactors the reactors use steam generated by the heat produced in their core
18:24through uranium nuclear fission to spin a turbine and generate electricity
18:31this takes place in the two main circuits of each reactor the primary and secondary circuits
18:36the primary circuit transports liquid water through the reactor core acting as both a moderator and
18:44coolant it absorbs the heat from fission and transfers it to the steam generators
18:54the steam then powers a turbine which in turn generates electricity
18:58in the event of a worst case scenario engineers have designed three
19:05protective shields to contain the radioactive materials inside each reactor core an ultra-resistant
19:11zircaloy cladding that encases the uranium fuel rods a fully sealed water-based primary cooling system
19:19and a reinforced concrete containment structure built to withstand extreme pressure and temperature
19:25but for the system to function safely one critical condition must be met the heat produced must be
19:33effectively removed if the reactor becomes too hot the uranium inside can cause overheating potentially
19:41causing a nuclear meltdown and releasing lethal radioactive materials capable of endangering thousands
19:48a key component at the heart of the disaster will prove fatal for three mile island the pressurizer
19:57inside the reactor core water heats up to nearly 300 degrees celsius a temperature at which water
20:04naturally changes its state at such high temperatures as we all know water would normally boil but in the
20:11design of a reactor like tmi it's crucial that the water remains in a liquid state the pressurizer keeps the
20:18pressure in the primary loop at one hundred fifty five bars preventing it from boiling a proven system
20:24that is used in around sixty percent of nuclear reactors worldwide
20:33it is 4 hours of the morning and the operators in the command room see that there is a
20:39panne sur l'alimentation des générateurs de vapeur du fait que il ya plus refroidissement par le
20:45générateur de vapeur et bien il va y avoir une hausse de température dans le circuit primaire donc une hausse
20:52de pression a pressurizer valve opens to lower the pressure by releasing water into a relief tank located
20:59inside the reactor's containment structure eight seconds later the reactor core shuts down
21:06automatically while at the same time the emergency feed water system for the steam generator is activated
21:12along with the turbine shutdown stabilizing the secondary side of the plant nuclear fission comes
21:19to a stop du fait de l'arrêt du recteur la température de l'eau du circuit primaire va descendre et donc
21:27dans ces cas-là il ya une procédure automatique de fermeture de cette fameuse van lorsque la température
21:34et la pression reviennent tous les deux dans des conditions normales d'exploitation so far for this
21:42type of situation everything is proceeding as expected the operators follow protocol and engage the control to
21:49close the valve the operators believe that having pressed the button the valve has indeed closed
21:56but that's not the case but they've no way of knowing that it's 401 a.m with the reactor shut down
22:04heat is no longer being produced by fission reactions but residual heat is still being generated by the
22:11radioactivity of the fission products water from the primary circuit escapes through an open valve
22:17and as a result the pressure begins to drop le combustible est à l'air libre petit à petit va être ce
22:24qu'on appelle des noyer ça veut dire que vous avez le niveau qui descend comme ça et les barres de
22:30combustible qui continue à produire de la chaleur et ça c'est catastrophique at all costs this heat must be
22:40removed to prevent the temperature from rising inside the core 402 a.m the water leak through
22:47the open valve causes the pressure in the primary circuit to drop to 110 bars automatically triggering
22:54the high pressure safety injection system to cool the core but because the operators have an
23:00inaccurate view of the system's condition they misinterpret what they're seeing they're monitoring the
23:06water level in the pressurizer rather than in the reactor core when they saw it rise they assumed they
23:12had injected too much water and manually closed the safety injection after five minutes this was the
23:18point of no return 405 a.m for over two hours about 60 percent of the water in the primary circuit is
23:28discharged into the relief tank inside the containment building and the operators have no idea with the
23:35valve still open the second of three protective shields designed to prevent radiation from escaping
23:41is not working as the level of the water is rising in the core the heat of the combustible continues to
23:51increase and so there is no heat of the heat because there is no water so we have a heat of the
23:57combustible which is at the air libre dont la température va commencer à augmenter at 6 a.m the day shift takes
24:05over one operator fully realizes the seriousness of the situation and closes the valve the second
24:12containment barrier is now able to function properly again l'eau ne s'écoule plus dans l'enceinte de
24:18confinement mais finalement il est trop tard 6 14 a.m the radiation alarm goes off in the reactor to
24:31building at three mile island et on va aller vers ce qu'on appelle l'accident de fusion de coeur c'est
24:37un des accidents les plus redoutés dans la filière nucléaire il est absolument catastrophique
24:43a core meltdown inevitably means the destruction of a reactor worth several hundred million dollars
24:50worse still if the final containment barrier fails radioactive materials will spread through the
24:57underground structures and escape through the exhaust tax of the three mile island plant
25:01et ensuite on arrive à un moment où on atteint la fameuse température de fusion de l'oxyde d'uranium
25:09autour de 2800 degrés et là donc on a aussi fusion du combustible donc il ya une fusion de tous les
25:16structures métalliques et le combustible ce qu'on appelle le corium corium is highly radioactive if it
25:24isn't contained in time this man-made ruthless indestructible magma can burn through even the toughest
25:30structures meanwhile in the control room the operators are trying to regain control of the cooling of the
25:37damaged core as the pressure continues to rise the operators decide to reopen the valve where the
25:44entire issue began it's 6 54 am this opening allows the now radioactive water from the primary circuit
25:57to flow into the pressurizer storage tank located within the containment structure
26:03is made of one meter thick pre-stressed concrete that concrete is now the final
26:33barrier and the last chance to prevent a major disaster from devastating middletown and possibly the whole
26:39state of pennsylvania et cette eau et bien elle va être envoyée dans un bâtiment auxiliaire à côté du
26:47bâtiment réacteur qui lui est directement en contact par une cheminée avec l'atmosphère il ya des filtres
26:56évidemment mais ils sont pas assez efficaces et là on va donc avoir un rejet à l'atmosphère d'une certaine
27:03quantité de radioactivity at this point the alarm is raised more generally alerting those in the area what is happening
27:16it's 7 20 am within hours fear grips the small town schools close many people take shelter in their
27:26basements 200 000 people take to the roads fleeing something they can't see but fear more than anything
27:34else meanwhile plant operators begin to regain control they restart the high pressure safety injection
27:42system which refills the reactor vessel in just seven minutes the water enters the molten corium
27:48and begins to cool it it's almost like when you see lava flow from a volcano meet the ocean and it's
27:55cooled quickly when water comes in contact with corium it produces an extremely light chemical element
28:02that can form an explosive mixture with air hydrogen but at around 1 30 pm nearly nine and a half
28:10hours after the start of the accident the hydrogen that built up inside the containment triggers an explosion
28:18the final shield holds this is what saves the people of pennsylvania from a catastrophic outcome in the
28:26days that follow cooling systems are gradually stabilized the remaining hydrogen is expelled and the
28:32corium begins to cool at the bottom of the reactor vessel on march 28 1979 at 8 pm the immediate crisis is over
28:42nobody died as a direct result of the situation at three mile island but it forced a new perspective
28:52for the general population on how it saw nuclear power slowing down progress with this technology for years to
29:00come reactor number two is a total loss 700 million us dollars gone just four months after it started and yet
29:09against all odds reactor one returns to operation and continues to produce electricity for nearly 30
29:15more years it is finally shut down in 2019 seemingly marking the end of the nuclear era at three mile island
29:23then in 2023 a surprising new chapter begins a giant tech company buys the site to build a massive data
29:30center partially powered by nuclear energy a new life for a site where the current of history never truly faded
29:39a three mile island poor control room design led to human error but at wind scale a basic lack of
29:49understanding in fire containment was evident
29:51in 1945 as the fires of world war ii were finally beginning to die down and the world entered a long
30:11process of reconstruction a new era was emerging
30:14the nuclear era the americans have already developed their own technology and means of producing atomic bombs and
30:26the british were involved in that development but now the race is on as the russians are also developing their technology
30:34britain asked its ally the u.s to share their manufacturing secrets but president eisenhower and the u.s congress were
30:46reluctant to reveal information about a weapon that cost them today's equivalence of 28 billion u.s dollars
30:54a u.s law was passed making it illegal to share nuclear knowledge outside the united states
30:59britain is undeterred by this shirking of the united states and so decide to develop their own means
31:07their own technology their own facilities to produce their own atomic weapons
31:15the british had to act quickly fearing that the russians would develop the bomb first
31:19the british authorities decided to build their nuclear facility on the site of the former sellifield munitions factory
31:32and this site will become known as wind scale a name that will go on to be associated with the first
31:38nuclear accident that would change the way the world viewed nuclear technology it was composed of two
31:45air cooled reactors known as pile one and pile two designed to transform uranium rods into weapons grade
31:55plutonium the core of each reactor consists of thousands of small channels drilled into a massive
32:012 000 ton graphite block graphite is a really important material used at wind scale reactors it serves
32:11to moderate to moderate the speed of neutrons as they're fired out of the fission reactions taking
32:16place and secondly is able to absorb large amounts of excess heat and energy created during the nuclear
32:22reaction as the uranium rods move through the channels a nuclear reaction takes place this is how plutonium
32:31is created when each rod reaches the end of its channel it drops into a water tank where it is cooled
32:41the problem with the process is immense amounts of heat if not evacuated can build up and cause a
32:48disaster to evacuate the heat massive fans are activated to continuously blow cold air over all
32:56the channels they expel the heat through 120 meter high chimneys on the other side of the reactor core
33:03british nobel prize-winning physicist sir john cockcroft designed a protective shield specifically for the
33:12plant to be placed at the top of these chimneys in the event of radioactive leaks outside the reactor
33:18a 50-ton filter composed of successive layers of gravel and sand they became known as cockcroft's
33:26follies in the end because many didn't feel that they were needed seven years after the nuclear
33:33plants opening these filters would prove to be life-saving monday october 7 1957 1 13 a.m the windscale
33:46plant operators must carry out a delicate operation to the core of reactor pile one
33:51this is what is known as wigner energy if not gradually released it can dangerously accumulate
34:14and cause severe overheating of the core to release the potentially critical build up of wigner energy
34:20engineers and on-site physicists develop an empirical method known as annealing
34:25they force qu'on appelle un chauffage nucléaire on vérifie que toutes les mesures sont bien bien
34:33précises et que tout va bien donc un petit peu de de chaleur va être produite doucement pas trop
34:40eau en température de manière à ce que l'énergie wigner soit relâchée instead of triggering a gradual release of
34:48wigner energy the increased power causes a sudden and rapid spike in temperature
34:55on wednesday october 9 at 10 pm the graphite reaches an abnormal temperature of 405 degrees celsius
35:03scientists attempt a second nuclear heating process to release the energy but it does not have the
35:09intended effect
35:10the graphite accumulates too much energy and quickly reaches critical levels the situation is unprecedented
35:19but the worst is yet to come at this point the decision is made to evacuate the site with only
35:27the key work is left to try and bring the situation back under control
35:35thursday october 10 4 pm the reactor supervisor tom hughes and another staff member put on
35:42protective clothing and visit the site to assess the graphite's condition
35:46as they approach the reactor core they are horrified by the situation he inspects the core himself and
35:55understands that one of the cartridges has split open the aluminum cladding surrounding the uranium
36:02is a crucial protective layer that ensures a safe nuclear reaction if it is ruptured it means the
36:08uranium is exposed to open air this is where the cockcroft filters prove their worth thanks to their
36:17design no radiation escapes from the windscale plant at least for now but the situation is deteriorating fast
36:29at windscale a fire in the reactor core threatens to trigger the greatest nuclear disaster the world has
36:36ever known with radioactive releases potentially spreading across the united kingdom and europe
36:43in an attempt to cool the core the fans are set to their maximum speed
36:50tom tui the deputy site manager at windscale takes over he begins trying to push the burning
36:57cartridges out of the core using scaffolding poles however at that moment the core is burning hot
37:03and the fuel cartridges cannot be moved as the heat has caused them to deform
37:10what started out as an incident where one cartridge is on fire develops into an uncontrollable
37:17catastrophe where multiple cartridges are on fire and the temperature is raising out of control
37:25this is not normal and it's never been seen before
37:28on friday october 11 at midnight the fire reaches temperatures up to 1300 degrees celsius
37:39the men on site need a way to extinguish the blaze but all options carry risks
37:44so what on our right la ventilation is a moment-là c'est le graphite qui peut prendre feu et ça c'est
37:51catastrophique soit on continue la circulation d'air avec les ventilateurs et là c'est l'uranium
38:00qui continue à brûler with time running out this team have two options left the first option is to smother the flames
38:09with carbon dioxide they hope this will cut off the oxygen supply and suffocate the fire again it
38:15doesn't work the temperatures are now out of control and even the co2 has no effect their last hope to
38:23extinguish the fire turns out to be the most controversial water water is well known for putting
38:30out flames but when used on a heat source exceeding 400 degrees celsius in such a confined space it could
38:37trigger an unprecedented explosion
38:4311 tons of uranium have already burned tom tui and the fire chief are the last men on site to handle
38:50the situation despite the risks involved they pump huge volumes of water through the reactor core
38:58trying to bring down the temperature 8 55 am 1400 liters of water per minute are injected into
39:08two channels above the top of the fire with no significant effect the flow is increased to 3600 liters
39:15per minute outside staff can now see smoke rising from the chimney tom tui climbs into the reactor again
39:23to check if the water is having the desired effect once again there's no effect the core is still
39:30radiating with heat the situation seems hopeless tom tui makes a final decision
39:40it's 10 10 a.m the decision's made to switch off the fans because they're not having an effect on the on
39:47the core to their complete surprise the very fans installed to keep the course safe from overheating
39:57have been one of the main reasons they've been unable to get control of the situation the fans have
40:02been fueling the fire all along like bellows on a wood fire by turning off the fans they'd reduced the
40:09oxygen that was supplied the fires went out and the temperatures eventually became back under control
40:17by noon two more hoses are installed and the water flow is increased to 4500 liters per minute
40:25this flow continues until 3 pm the following day and the pile is finally cooled
40:34the site was decontaminated over the following weeks and months
40:37but the reactor is left with 1700 damaged cartridges within its core
40:42the reactor is sealed off and remains to this day sealed with approximately 15 000 tons of uranium
40:52still inside it pile two is also shut down as a precaution and air-cooled reactors have not been built
40:59since following this accident the british nuclear industry underwent significant reorganization with the
41:07creation of national agencies to oversee operational and safety measures
41:15the accidents at windscale three mile island and chernobyl is clear evidence that there are risks
41:22involved with nuclear energy thankfully every disaster has contributed to global reform
41:29within the sector and lessons continue to shape the nuclear industry
41:35today as awareness of the devastating impact of fossil fuels continues to grow
41:42nuclear energy remains a promising alternative but it's still dangerous if not properly controlled
41:48we must remain constantly vigilant if we don't want our nuclear power plants to turn into another case of fatal engineering
Be the first to comment