What a bullshit article - very misleading. This sentence is outright false:
a worker slipped into what is essentially a pool of uranium
They use water in those pools because it’s very effective for cool, and also super good at shielding the radiation. The pools are like 30’ deep, and you only need like 6’ of water to block basically all the radiation. If the guy fell in and was under water near the surface, he was probably getting less radiation exposure than if he had just been standing outside in the sun. He “somehow survived” because he wasn’t in any danger.
There’s either an XKCD or MinutePhysics video out there that illustrates this concept put there. I don’t remember which, just that I watched it recently. The punchline was that if you were to attempt to swim in a radiation pool you’d more likely end up dead from being shot by a guard than by the radiation
Looks like XKCD. Good memory.
Reactor pools are surprisingly safe. Water acts as a strong insulator for radiation, and you have to dive down pretty deep to reach dangerous levels of radiation. It’s not a good idea to jump in, but people do fall into the pools and usually survive.
I know nothing about this, but it seems like there should be a way to isolate the pool, by a cover, or a wall or fence, that would make it impossible to accidentally fall in. And, if a worker needs to reach down to the pool for some reason, they could be tied off. Is there some reason it needs to be open, making this possible?
Someone fucked up, that simple.
The article claims they were following all safety rules. My bet is this guy did something (like disconnect a monkey tail) to get something done and then slipped in.
If there’s no rail around the pool it’s likely because it wasn’t there to accomplish the work, or it’s not required because people are never permitted in the pool area.
Since Vice (as is typical of them) didn’t do their job, we have no idea about anything that transpired or what safety systems were in place.
Since Vice didn’t bother to include any of that info to ensure a clear understanding, one questions their agenda.
