The Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine, in the Soviet era on April 26, 1986, a nuclear accident, the nuclear power plant No. 4 nuclear reactor explosion, resulting in serious radiation contamination, in order to prevent the continued spread of radioactive contamination to the atmosphere, the authorities built a huge reinforced concrete structure “sarcophagus” to cover the No. 4 nuclear reactor, but Scientists have found that the residual nuclear fuel in the basement of the reactor building is suspected to have a nuclear fission reaction, fearing that another wave of explosions.
According to LiveScience, the Chernobyl nuclear power plant after the explosion of the No. 4 nuclear reactor, the core of the reactor debris can be in the reactor around, and other dust and lava-like “fuel-containing materials” (fuel-containing materials, FCM After the accident, authorities built a huge reinforced concrete structure called a “sarcophagus” to cover the No. 4 reactor to stop the spread of radioactive material outside.
Scientists find spike in neutrons inside sarcophagus
However, scientists monitoring the sarcophagus found that the number of neutrons in the enclosed basement had increased dramatically. The rise in the number of neutrons means that these FCMs are undergoing new nuclear fissions, which are generated by the impact of neutrons, and the resulting multiple free neutrons will hit other nuclei, which will initiate more nuclear fissions.
Neil Hyatt, a nuclear material chemist at The University of Sheffield, said the radioactive waste is smoldering like embers, which could ignite completely if left unchecked for a long time, leading to another explosion.
According to Maxim Saveliev, a senior researcher at the Institute for Nuclear Power Safety, such an explosion would not be as devastating as in 1986, when it was probably inside the “sarcophagus,” but even though it would be a closed explosion, it would make the long-term task of removing the FCM more difficult The FCM was not a part of the sarcophagus, and even destroyed the old “sarcophagus” structure.
The old sarcophagus was overwhelmed and the new sarcophagus was covered in 2016
From June to November 1986, the Soviet government built a concrete enclosure and lid called the “sarcophagus” to cover the damaged Unit 4 to prevent the spread of radiation, and after a long period of severe weathering and high humidity caused by the large amount of radioactive waste water inside corroded the concrete and steel in the old sarcophagus, construction of the new sarcophagus began in 2012. The new sarcophagus cost 935 million euros, most of the funds were donated by governments around the world, and was completed in November 2016.
Savelyev, the number of neutrons in the basement has been rising steadily for four years, and although it is possible that it will continue to rise for several years without any accidents, the number of neutrons continues to rise and scientists still have to intervene, although the radiation intensity inside the sarcophagus is unbearable for humans and must rely on robotic remote operation, Ukraine wants to present a detailed plan to remove by September the FCM inside the Chernobyl nuclear power plant that is still smoldering FCM.
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