Jeremy Gordon Profile picture
Apr 6 4 tweets 2 min read
Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear...

Some evidence that Russians were indeed dumb enough to dig trenches near #Chernobyl.
See here some previous tweets on why I (and others) think Acute Radiation Syndrome is unlikely, but that doing this is definitely 'not good' and could have health effects in the long term.
Breathing and ingesting dust, smoke, or food from the area stands to raise their statistical lifetime chance of cancer.

Probably no immediate effects, however, because ARS needs a huge radiation shower in one hit, which is unlikely 36y after the accident.
Hard to feel any sympathy for Russian soldiers at the moment, isn't it? But them being ordered to do this is yet another disgrace on Russian leadership.

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More from @jrmygrdn

Mar 31
Some collected thoughts on what's going on with Russian troops in the #Chernobyl Exclusion Zone and whether they have gotten themselves sick 🧵

(Spoiler: No)
Earlier today the idea that Russian troops around #Chernobyl had developed Acute Radiation Sickness was going viral. I did this thread to explain why that struck me as highly unlikely.
Now, looking into the story more, I find there's no real substance to it. Here's why:
Read 14 tweets
Mar 31
There have been a lot of questions about nuclear issues in Ukraine since the war began. Here's a thread of my explanations if anyone wants to catch up.

[These are offered as what I put out at the time. I don't promise they are 100% complete or up to date.]
3 March
A run-down of nuclear power plant construction and essential safety systems in the context of troops approaching Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant
3 March
In response to worries about the vulnerability of used nuclear fuel, some general info – what is it, how is it stored?
Read 12 tweets
Mar 31
This story is going round, but I think it is unlikely that Russian soldiers developed Acute Radiation Syndrome while messing around in the #Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. I'll explain my thinking in a short 🧵
Acute Radiation Syndrome is a very rare thing caused by a super-intense dose of radiation to the whole body.

It happened to some plant operators and firefighters during the #Chernobyl accident in 1986, but I'm doubtful it happened to Russian troops in 2022 for three reasons:
1. The most intense radiation comes from nuclear material with a short half-life – decaying fast and giving off all its radiation in a hurry. We're talking seconds, minutes and hours. More than 35 years after the accident, that stuff is gone.
Read 14 tweets
Mar 18
China's Hongyanhe nuclear power plant is to heat 20,000 people's homes in a project that will begin by cut coal use by over 12,000 tonnes.

Here is a little 🧵 on this growing trend cutting China's coal pollution, saving lives and $$$ billions.
world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Distr…
Hongyanhe is a big nuclear power plant in northwestern China. It has five reactors that have been built since 2009, while the sixth will start up in the next few months.
Connecting it to the regional district heating system will take warmth from the reactors to Hongyanhe Town, Wafangdian City and Dalian City. Work on the connection will start in June, in time to heat the towns next winter. Dalian looks pretty cool.
Read 11 tweets
Mar 15
UK opposition party Labour is just as solidly behind nuclear to cut fossil fuels as the Conservatives in power. No timidity from either party in saying the word any more. ImageImage
In fairness both have long been pro-nuclear. Conservatives naturally so, while Labour actually launched the original UK nuclear R&D push and its first power plants back in the day. Labour did go a bit soft on it under Jeremy Corbyn, however, and shied away from saying the word.
Here's current Labour leader Keir Starmer actually mentioning nuclear first.
Read 5 tweets
Mar 6
There are reports that #Kharkiv Institute of Physics in #Ukraine has been hit by rockets. It contains a small #nuclear research facility. I'll tell you what I understand about it and what's going on in this thread:
#Kharkiv has a 'sub-critical assembly'. That means that by design it does not have an ongoing chain reaction. Reactions only occur when triggered by an external source. This whole setup has been switched off since the invasion began.
At #Kharkiv scientists need to use a small particle accelerator to activate the subcritical assembly. It's not something that can happen by accident. We can be sure it will stay fully shut down.
Read 10 tweets

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