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Geoff Brumfiel Profile picture
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Mar 9 • 8 tweets • 5 min read
BREAKING: The Chernobyl nuclear site has lost power, according to the state regulator. Key points:

✅The site lost power at 11:22 this morning local.

✅ Emergency generators can keep safety systems running for 48 hours.

✅Ongoing combat operations are making repair impossible.
Yesterday the @iaeaorg reported that it was increasingly concerned about conditions at the site. 210 workers have now gone 14 days without being rotated. And the IAEA has lost remote radiation monitoring data.

iaea.org/newscenter/pre…
@iaeaorg There are 20,000 old nuclear fuel rods are at Chernobyl that are kept in a spent fuel pool facility there. These fuel rods accumulated during the plant's operation from 1977-2000.

The pools require water to circulate the keep the fuel cool. HOWEVER...

world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Permi…
@iaeaorg Normally spent fuel is kept in cooling pools for just 12-18 months before its transfered to dry cask storage.

Chernobyl's spent fuel seems to be there because there wasn't anywhere else to put it. So it's unlikely there's much heat in the fuel.

nrc.gov/waste/spent-fu…
@iaeaorg Moreover, fuel pools don't just rely on water. Fuel configuration and neutron blocking screens reduce the chance of unwanted nuclear reactions.

(Working from memory about Fukushima here, @CherylRofer @nuclearkatie anyone else correct me).
@iaeaorg @CherylRofer @nuclearkatie UPDATE: Ed Lyman of @UCSUSA says the main concern is heat. Over a period of days or longer, the water could evaporate, exposing the tops of the fuel rods.

But he believes that might take many days AFTER the loss of backup power to happen. Also the pool can be refilled.
UPDATE 2: @iaeaorg says that the water volume in the pool is sufficient for heat removal even after power loss (which hasn’t happened, they’re on backup).
CORRECTION: Spent fuel must be kept in a pool for at least 5 years.

The fuel in Chernobyl is more than 20 years old, so this doesn't change the implications, but important to get it right!

(H/T @james_acton32)

Source: nrc.gov/docs/ML1209/ML…
nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc…

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More from @gbrumfiel

Geoff Brumfiel Profile picture
Mar 4
NEW: This video shows clear damage from heavy weapons on the elevated walkways between the reactor buildings at Zaporizhzhya NPP. This is well inside the plant perimeter.
It appears to have been shot at approximately [47°30'35.50"N, 34°35'13.34"E]. Image
And an undated on-the-ground photo showing the walkway system. Image
Read 6 tweets
Geoff Brumfiel Profile picture
Mar 4
Good morning! I think? I haven't slept much.

Here's the latest on what's happening at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, with some observations.

First a recap: overnight, Russian troops engaged Ukrainian security forces at the plant.
An administrative building used for training caught fire during the fighting. The building [47°30'17.52"N 34°35'19.25"] is approximately half a kilometer from the unit one reactor.

That fire is now out according to both Ukrainian authorities and the @iaeaorg.
@iaeaorg According to @iaeaorg radiation levels remain normal and critical safety systems are in operation at the plant.
However, a statement from Ukraine's regulator says that the plant's Unit 1 reactor, which was closest to the fighting, did sustain some battle damage.
Read 17 tweets
Geoff Brumfiel Profile picture
Mar 4
BREAKING: This webcam, geolocated to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, main gate appears to show combat vehicles engaged in active fighting around the plant. (H/T @GeorgeWHerbert)
@GeorgeWHerbert Can anybody identify these vehicles? Look like APC/IFVs of some kind?
The @iaeaorg has also put out a statement that a large number of Russian armor and troops have broken through a barricade near the plant. The plants operators describe the situation as critical:
iaea.org/newscenter/pre…
Read 12 tweets
Geoff Brumfiel Profile picture
Mar 1
NEW: Could the war in Ukraine turn into a nuclear conflict? Probably not, but it's not as implausible as you think. Here's why.

npr.org/2022/03/01/108…
First, Putin has brought nuclear weapons into the conversation multiple times. Once at the start of the conflict, he made veiled mention of them and again on Sunday, when he ordered his nuclear forces into a “special mode of combat duty.”
What’s a special mode of combat duty? Probably not a higher alert level. @russianforces suggests it may be an order to activate the Russian command and control system, which can’t be used to launch weapons in peacetime. Or it may just be a matter of adding more personnel.
Read 10 tweets
Geoff Brumfiel Profile picture
Feb 9
I'm actually really glad you've brought this up, because it wasn't covered in my story out earlier today:
npr.org/sections/healt…

But I do think it's important to talk about some of the potentially troubling impacts of these prescriptions... (another 🧵)
Ben Bergquam gave a pretty full account of what happened to him in his facebook video. He became sick before Christmas and started taking alternative therapies including hydroxychloroquine, zinc, vitamin D, and other unspecified treatments (possibly ivermectin).
But according to his own account they didn't work. His fever spiked at 105, and he had serious trouble breathing.

He then went in on Day 8 to seek monoclonal antibody treatment (a proven therapy) and antibiotics for COVID-induced bilateral pneumonia. Also proven...
Read 10 tweets
Geoff Brumfiel Profile picture
Feb 9
NEW: When conservative media figure Ben Bergquam become seriously ill with COVID-19 earlier this year, he video blogged about his experience.

In doing so, he provided a rare look at a shadowy world of COVID telemedicine. Here's what we found 🧵

npr.org/sections/healt…
A little background on what's going on. For much of the pandemic, ati-vaccine groups have been pushing alternative therapies for COVID-19. These groups claim vaccines are dangerous, and that drugs like ivermectin can cure COVID.

They also sell prescriptions for 💵💵💵.
These unproven therapies are promoted by conservative media figures, including Steve Bannon (for whom Bergquam has worked).

CDC data shows ivermectin prescriptions have surged in the pandemic.

Most doctors won't prescribe it, so where are these prescriptions coming from?
Read 17 tweets

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