Do you know how many bananas you need to eat to die of radiation? 😱
That's right, you can die of radiation by eating 🍌. But don't worry! I don’t actually think anyone would dare to do it.
So, here is a guide on: What to know before you go bananas about #NuclearRadiation?
In 2017 the @UofCalifornia read our minds by answering a question that we all have:
How much #radiation is too much radiation? And well, the answer is more simple than we thought 👉it’s just a bunch of bananas.
But first, we need to get familiar and understand some terms. Are you ready?
Everything is composed of atoms (Yep, the periodic table). Some of these atoms are unstable & decay or break apart, & when this happens it emits what we call #Radiation.
Yep, everything is radioactive 🤯 BUT DON’T PANIC!
Extent of exposure is critical and that is dependent on the nature of the radioactive element in question, the amount, the distance we are from the radioactive material & the shielding that may be between us and the source.
Now, the feeling that we all get when we hear ‘#NuclearRadiation’ is that any amount is too much, BUT the truth is:
We’re all exposed to radiation everyday! & for this example, we’ll use a banana for comparison.
Ok Hazelnut, but what does that number even represent?
Great question 🤓- Let’s put it on perspective:
Yes, bananas are radioactive, but… so are you!
Nope, I am not kidding 👇
A typical adult contains around 140g of K, of which about 16mg is K-40, making you x280 more radioactive than a banana. 🤯
Eating one 🍌 increases your total amount of K-40 by 0.4%, which is detectable with a sensitive Geiger counter, but this is temporary since your metabolism closely regulates the amount of K in your body, &… you will 🚽 💩the excess within a few hours.
As we said before, with radiation (and bananas 🍌) both dose & duration matter: You could eat 1,000 bananas in a decade, but you don't want to eat them all at once.
So: You can’t become radioactive by eating bananas, because you already are radioactive!
First of all, fuel assemblies remain submerged during all handling operations. The minimum shielding requirement is ~3m of water for a high burn-up, & they use special cranes for handling operations
Check out one of the main differences between #BWRs and #PWRs spent fuel pools👇
BWR pools are filled with demineralized water, and PWR pools are normally filled with a dilute (~0.2M) boric acid solution💧
The role of boric acid in nuclear power plant is basically to control nuclear fission rate (among other uses)
A containment building of a #NuclearPowerPlant is a thick structure design to resist earthquakes, overpressure and hurricane winds.🌪
But, have you ever wonder what would happen if a jet crashed into it? Let’s find out together 🛩
Lucky for us, @SandiaLabs solved this question way back in 1988.
They launched a supersonic jet against a concrete wall to test its resistance. 🤯 Crazy, right? BUT, to our surprise, it only caused cracks of 60mm deep in the concrete.
As part of the probabilistic risk analysis done for the #NPPs, the risk of a jet ACCIDENTALLY striking a plant is considered, but NOT an intentional attack.
Let’s ask the experts about the risk of an impact in a Containment Building👇🏻