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Originally Posted by Medusa
GAH! Thank you for this - I have many questions.
So, I deduced that this shit is hot by the fact that they were saying it would take sevreral days to cool down and was wondering how hot we are talking about? I mean, are we talking several hundred degrees or are we talking nitro molten lava?
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At the danger zone we're talking temps in the 1500 - 3000 F (815 - 1648 C) range. Hot enough to melt most metals and cause some to burnst into flame! (molten lava is typically in the 1300 - 2400 F (~700 - 1300 C) range)
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The other thing Im wondering is that we noticed it was snowing as all of this was happening. If they are venting steam from the stacks and there have been explosions, could the snow be carrying radioactivity down to the ground and into the water table?
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Yes, that absolutely could happen. That is one of the dangers of a meltdown is that the containment vessel will be ruptured and radioactivity will get out into the atmosphere. In fact, one of the reasons why Chernobyl was magnitudes worse than TMI was the *fire*. All of that smoke was radioactive as hell and that is why the entire city of Pripyat had to be abandoned.
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And what makes radioactivity dissipate? Does it actually go away or does it just get broken up into particles so small that they are no longer dangerous?
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Over time, the radioactive material will break down and get absorbed back into the atmosphere. Depending upon the nature and extent of contamination this can take varying amounts of time.
Cheers
Aj