Chernobyl Sarcophagus Construction Workers

[StellarBlue1]

COLLAPSE of the Sarcophagus? Isn't a little too soon for the construction of this cover to start coming apart?

[chernobyldoc]

@StellarBlue1 Well, it was very hastily built. They were more concerned with getting the radiation contained than with the quality and durability of the sarcophagus. Additionally, the army was conscripted to do the construction, so it wasn't even built by construction workers. Add to that 25 years of weathering and it's reaching the point that a new confinement is needed. All the aforementioned problems have been corrected in the ongoing construction of the new safe confinement.

[StellarBlue1]

@chernobyldoc Your point is well made, doc. BTW, what do you think of the "Newest Chernobyl" in Japan?

It really is something quite terrible, isn't it?

[toffeescouse]

I have a few qeustions if anyone can help

1. How long will the sarcophagus last?

2. Their not going to just keep building a new sarcophagus over the old one every time it begins to arode are they? theres only so much you can build,

3. What would hapen if the sarcophagus failed, and will they ever be able to stop the reactor or radiation?

Thanks

[incarnedine]

@toffeescouse 1. quite a while still. It only needs repairs for now.

2. Possibly.

3. it's not too bad. If it fails then radiation will begin to spread in the air, but the levels aren't that bad. The main issue is with the radioactive fuel still in the reactor core. That is still active and is quite hot (enough to melt cement) so that is the part that really need to be contained because it can cause another meltdown if it melts thought to the water below it.

[toffeescouse]

@incarnedine Thankyou :)

[kreaturen]

Fucking hate this! These men are heroes! They should be paid well above what should be expected, not LESS!! Shame on them!!! Ukrain won't get out of it's abyss unless Chernobyl is resolved properly. Ukrain as a nation has a huge image problem, so their leaders should use the Chernobyl tragedy as an opportunity to hone their moral standards, so that they can grow as a nation! And gain cudos internationally!

[argonne5]

so men and women are going to work on sarcophagus?

you see a girl getting examined as well at 1:32

[chernobyldoc]

I think that it's possible that women could work on it, but the only women I met or saw only worked near it as nurses. The girl being examined was the daughter of a Liquidator who helped build the original sarcophagus.

[angelicsnoww]

???

[americanpolitic1]

How much money do they make?

[chernobyldoc]

They said that they end up making the same amount that most construction workers made at any job in that area of Ukraine, about $300 per month.

[americanpolitic1]

That sucks. I'd definitely demand doubletime! Hazardous conditions and materials...-then again it is voluntary.

[chernobyldoc]

Yeah, it is voluntary. They can volunteer to do it, or they can try to find a lower paying job and struggle even more to live. Gotta love Laissez Faire Capitalism

[alextheromanian]

@americanpolitic1 its not america....those poeople will work and say thank you for that little money they are paid. yes they know its a crap job but think getting it done and getting by is more important than sitting around protesting the low wages.

[forsharry]

Actually it CAN. Cherenkov Radiation is visible radiation due to the speed of the gamma waves being slowed down to subliminal speeds (slower than the speed of light.) In the case of after the accident the air was filled with moisture from the explosion as well as water from the initial firefighter response. With the amt. of radiation pouring out there were many reports of seing a column of light blue light. That was the Cherekov radiation.

[imanidiot911truther]

I stand corrected then. :-)

[GorgStoffs]

Very informative, but what is this about a blue glow you can see around the plant?

[wakeboardkid13]

ive heard that it glows red instead of blue

[dexxtteer]

Please, can somone explain to me where you see a blue glow?

[blade736]

its the radiation

[si65classics]

thanks so much for the response. i came across the word samosely in a wikipedia article about the zone of alienation, there is no entry for the term itself, and little information elsewhere on the net. thanks again, and any further info would much appreciated

[si65classics]

hello there, i recently heard of the samosely, a mixture of returnees and various marginalised persons who inhabit the zone of alienation, but can find very little information about the population. do you have any knowledge of these people yourself?

[chernobyldoc]

I hadn't heard of the name or term "samosely" but I do know of people who live in the Forbidden Zone. It's primarily senior citizens who wanted to return to their homes. The government hasn't minded letting them return. The health risk from radiation is minimal at this point. Even if it were high, they wouldn't experience health effects from it for 20 years or more, so they make exceptions for seniors. I'll try to get more information on this.

[chernobyldoc]

Yes and No. I had permission from the Research Center for Radiation Medicine to film, but I was trying to be as covert as possible so as to not distract or disturb the people and processes I was filming.

[goodsnservices]

why are the workers not given respirators instead of "little dust masks"?

[chernobyldoc]

Mainly because of the lack of money. And in reality, if the dust masks are worn properly they are very effective.

[goodsnservices]

I suppose you are right, even though a respirator is an airtight fit around the nose and mouth, and a dust mask always has gaps. It is still better than nothing. A respirator would convey more clearly to the workers that there is a danger present, though, and they would have been less likely to just take them off for smoke breaks...

The radiation was so strong after the explosion that I have heard that it ionized even the air above it, causing a blue glow.

[chernobyldoc]

I think that is just an urban legend. I spoke with many people who were there and no one ever described anything like it. Thus far, other than the severe increase in thyroid cancer (which has a 98%+ survival rate when treated) the general public hasn't had any radiation induced health effects. Other public health effects are mainly stress induced. The workers who had to clean-up the reactor and build the sarcophagus immediately after the disaster have a large change of getting leukemia.

[goodsnservices]

The person who claimed there was a blue glow was one of the people who worked in the plant the night it exploded, one of the few who survived. It is possible that he saw the thing he reports, but that it was a short-duration phenomenon. He reported it in the national geographic special about the accident.

[goodsnservices]

also, please see this wiki article with photograph showing the blue glow of ionizing radiation in a laboratory setting:

enDOTwikipediaDOTorgSLASHwikiS­LASHCriticality_accident

[chernobyldoc]

Yeah, I know that it can happen, I have a degree in Biomedical Physics and have taken many courses on radiation. I could see it happening for a very short duration in the very close vicinity of the reactor, but not it making the whole sky glow blue.

[goodsnservices]

Yeah. I said "air" though, not sky. I suppose it could also have been Cherenkov radiation, since the air was filled with dust particles at the time of the reported sighting of the blue glow.

[chernobyldoc]

Sorry, I didn't mean to sound accusatory. I just get a lot of people talking about things that they often don't understand. I've had people ask about the glowing sky and the glowing forest and trees. Since this is public and people will be reading it, I wanted to dispel that rumor.

[goodsnservices]

Not a problem.  I'm all for giving people the facts.

[Germandoggg]

nice vid..thx for the work

[Tomek1985]

What song was used in this video?

[chernobyldoc]

Is this a hint to include music? Unless there was a song playing in the background of one of the shots, there was no song.

[youcrazy91]

very detailed Video!

[Aberroyc]

I enjoyed this very much. Thank you for posting. Most appreciated!

[Glitterqueen09]

very interesting and sad really. - thanks for posting

[AngryWhiteGurl]

This is interesting. Thanks for posting it.