Nuke Phyisics People: What would happen...

[GTaudiophile]

I have always wondered...

What would happen if someone took a swim in this really enticingly pretty blue water:

Seriously, what would happen?

 

[dighn]

I think you die.

 

[SunnyD]

Well, given that the entire purpose of a nuclear reactor is to harvest heat energy via steam to power a turbine, I think you're scald yourself to death before anything else were to happen. That said, it also depends on the reactor. The outer body of water is coolant while the reactor itself is inside a pressurized container (PWR). I'm sure the outer body is still pretty hot, but not to the point of boiling. It would still likely be rather uncomfortable if not minor burns.

 

[dighn]

Well, given that the entire purpose of a nuclear reactor is to harvest heat energy via steam to power a turbine, I think you're scald yourself to death before anything else were to happen. That said, it also depends on the reactor. The outer body of water is coolant while the reactor itself is inside a pressurized container (PWR). I'm sure the outer body is still pretty hot, but not to the point of boiling. It would still likely be rather uncomfortable if not minor burns.

The radiation will probably get you. That blue glow is cherenkov radiation so there are a lot of very fast particles going through that water.

 

[Ika]

grow three arms and a horn. not on your head.

 

[Hacp]

Its perfectly safe. You could swim in there for 1 hour and still probably live till you're 80.

 

[edro]

The radiation will probably get you. That blue glow is cherenkov radiation so there are a lot of very fast particles going through that water.

You obviously have no idea what you're talking about.
The blue light is from the blue LEDs that are required on all modern reactors.

 

[dighn]

You obviously have no idea what you're talking about.
The blue light is from the blue LEDs that are required on all modern reactors.

damn must have missed that memo. ok perfectly safe then.

anyway it probably wouldn't be too bad if you stayed near the surface, otherwise I think they'd have more safety precautions around that giant pool you could fall into.

 

[Mark R]

Well, given that the entire purpose of a nuclear reactor is to harvest heat energy via steam to power a turbine, I think you're scald yourself to death before anything else were to happen. That said, it also depends on the reactor. The outer body of water is coolant while the reactor itself is inside a pressurized container (PWR). I'm sure the outer body is still pretty hot, but not to the point of boiling. It would still likely be rather uncomfortable if not minor burns.

The reactor pictured is a research 'pool' reactor. These are not power reactors, but are designed for study of nuclear reactions or for small scale manufacture of special isotopes (e.g. Molybdenum-99 which is a vital medical isotope, for which the only practical source is this type of reactor).

The purpose of the water in a 'pool' reactor is twofold. First, to keep the fuel cool, 2nd to act as a radiation shield to protect staff working above it.

The advantage of using a thick layer of water (about 30 feet) is that it's cheap, simple to maintain, inherently safe and makes servicing and fueling the reactor very simple.

Chances are that the water isn't particularly hot, as the reactor power is such a reactor is low, and they rarely operate for prolonged periods.

So, if you swam in the surface water, you probably would get a small radiation exposure only - the bulk of the water would still be providing shielding. Obviously, if you dived down, then the radiation exposure would increase exponentially. The water may, however, be contaminated with trace amounts of heavy water (not radioactive, but minimally toxic- due to the different chemical properties of deuterium, compared to hydrogen) and tritiated-water (radioactive). Contamination of the water by other isotopes would be unlikely, as the nuclear fuel (weapons-grade, or near weapons-grade uranium) is tightly enclosed in sealed metal rods.

Falling into the reactor pool is a recognised hazard when working around this type of reactor. So, you do sometimes see life preservers at the side of the pool in photos.

 

[SphinxnihpS]

I have always wondered...

What would happen if someone took a swim in this really enticingly pretty blue water:

Seriously, what would happen?

Alexei Ananenko, Valeri Bezpalov, and Boris Baranov are the only people who knew.

 

[QuantumPion]

Alexei Ananenko, Valeri Bezpalov, and Boris Baranov are the only people who knew.

I don't know who any of those people are but at Penn State's reactor, someone did once did fall in the pool. He did not receive any measurable dose.

Furthermore at power reactors, divers are sometimes employed for underwater maintenance in the reactor cavity during refueling. I presume they do get a decent dose from that but it is within administrative limits.

 

[lupi]

My experience is all in pwr so can't say for sure, but probably not good.

 

[LtPage1]

Alexei Ananenko, Valeri Bezpalov, and Boris Baranov are the only people who knew.

Had to google it- wow.

 

[joesmoke]

wow, an interesting thread.

 

[disappoint]

Its perfectly safe. You could swim in there for 1 hour and still probably live till you're 80.

80 what? Celsius?

 

[SphinxnihpS]

Had to google it- wow.

I was purposefully vague so that googling is required. Yes WOW!

 

[BurnItDwn]

The reactor pictured is a research 'pool' reactor. These are not power reactors, but are designed for study of nuclear reactions or for small scale manufacture of special isotopes (e.g. Molybdenum-99 which is a vital medical isotope, for which the only practical source is this type of reactor).

The purpose of the water in a 'pool' reactor is twofold. First, to keep the fuel cool, 2nd to act as a radiation shield to protect staff working above it.

The advantage of using a thick layer of water (about 30 feet) is that it's cheap, simple to maintain, inherently safe and makes servicing and fueling the reactor very simple.

Chances are that the water isn't particularly hot, as the reactor power is such a reactor is low, and they rarely operate for prolonged periods.

So, if you swam in the surface water, you probably would get a small radiation exposure only - the bulk of the water would still be providing shielding. Obviously, if you dived down, then the radiation exposure would increase exponentially. The water may, however, be contaminated with trace amounts of heavy water (not radioactive, but minimally toxic- due to the different chemical properties of deuterium, compared to hydrogen) and tritiated-water (radioactive). Contamination of the water by other isotopes would be unlikely, as the nuclear fuel (weapons-grade, or near weapons-grade uranium) is tightly enclosed in sealed metal rods.

Falling into the reactor pool is a recognised hazard when working around this type of reactor. So, you do sometimes see life preservers at the side of the pool in photos.

Mr Smart guy had to come in and ruin all the fun with "facts" and "knowledge" .... And .. he did it before Rubycon got a reply in .... I'm impressed!

 

[rivan]

I was purposefully vague so that googling is required. Yes WOW!

I too googled and after some link surfing came across this site:

http://www.kiddofspeed.com/chapter1.html

It's a photo narrative of a motorcycle trip to the area around Chernobyl.

 

[Jeff7]

You start having hallucinations of Eiffel 65 swimming with you.

 

[rcpratt]

Basically what Mark R said. In a research reactor like that, it's unlikely that the water would be warm enough to be uncomfortable. If the reactor were high enough power to be that hot, there is probably a mechanical (non-passive) cooling system in the room as well.

Swimming at the surface of the water would hardly be more dangerous than being right above the water. As mentioned, there may be trace amounts of deuterium and tritium in the water, but not enough to be a serious health risk. I wouldn't recommend drinking it, though.

If you decided to dive down, your dose would increase exponentially due to both the lessening of the shielding (water) between you and the core, and the increasing solid angle that your body would occupy with respect to the core. You could dive in lower-power reactors for a few minutes without any impacts to your health, but there were certainly be a measurable dose. Wouldn't recommend it though.