The atomic age was supposed to be the future of mankind. The power of the atom would provide us with virtually limitless and essentially clean energy. Reactor designs were thought of as basically impervious to failure, a meltdown unthinkable. Technology and engineering would prevail.

On April 26, 1986, during what was supposed to be a routine test, the number 4 reactor at the Vladimir Ilyich Lenin Nuclear Power Plant (better known as Chernobyl) started to melt down, culminating in a series of explosions and a sustained fire that leaked radiation and radioactive particles into the air and surrounding land.

During the test, the temperature in the reactor core had gotten so high that water started turning into steam, which meant it could no longer cool the reactor, and the graphite rods, used to moderate and slow the reaction, were inserted too late, unable to stop the runaway reaction. More cooling water was pumped into the reactor, which also turned into steam, eventually leading to the first explosion, which ruptured the reactor vessel, and spread irradiated pieces of the vessel around the reactor. Now exposed to the air, the graphite rods started to burn, sending radiation plumes into the air.

Eventually, Soviet authorities established an exclusion zone around the reactor, forcing the evacuation of the nearby towns of Pripyat and Chernobyl¹. The radioactive plume spread radioactivity over much of the western Soviet Union and Europe. Workers (called liquidators) were sent in to remove the radioactive rubble², under extreme conditions. Some parts of the reactor were so radioactive, liquidators could only work there for 40 seconds, lest they receive more than the maximum authorized radiation for a human being in their entire life.

Chernobyl proved to be a turning point for nuclear reactors, calling their safety and economy into question. New safety systems as well as the political costs meant that far fewer new reactors were designed and built after the disaster. Soviet nuclear engineering also had to answer for their cavalier attitude to safety³.

The legacy of Chernobyl is still causing headaches today. Even though a sarcophagus was built to contain the destroyed reactor, it soon started showing signs of fatigue. So a newer sarcophagus is now being built by an international team. But even that might not contain everything, as the “elephant’s foot”, a molten mixture of sand, concrete, and uranium, continues to generate heat, threatening to melt trough the ground. If it reaches ground water, it could create another steam explosion, or just poison the drinking water of the area. So it too must be contained.

Humanity will have to deal with the fallout from this and other nuclear reactors for millennia. Even a reactor that worked perfectly until it is decommissioned leaves behind a lot of radioactive waste that is still extremely dangerous to humans, as well as a reactor vessel that too has to be dealt with somehow. The atomic age has brought us not just a lot of energy, but a lot of problems as well.

There is one small upside to the whole Chernobyl disaster though: Thanks to the exclusion zone, very few humans set foot in the area, making it an unintentional wildlife refuge, allowing species to thrive that were on the verge of extinction before.

Wrong Guy, Right Advice

Sometimes, if you want to avoid something, ask the person whose job is to deal with the fallout from that. So if you want to stay married, a divorce lawyer’s guide to staying together is what you want.

Too Productive

Danielle Steele has written 179 books, at a rate of 7 per year. On the one hand, she sounds fantastically productive, and everyone could learn from her. On the other: Steele has a problem, and workaholism is not something to be celebrated for.

A Private Bubble

At which point does a rich person become disconnected from what “normal” people are like? Abigail Disney (yes, she is related to that Disney) has a theory on what that point is: once they start flying private jets. And she should know: What It’s Like to Grow Up With More Money Than You’ll Ever Spend

Highest Queue in the World

When Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first people to reach the summit of Mount Everest, it was a triumph of mountaineering. Nowadays, not so much: Pay enough money, and you‘re all but carried to the top. And a lot of people are paying that kind of money — with disastrous consequences in an environment that is not forgiving to humans: Everest is crowded.

Teaching an artificial brain

AI is all over the news. It powers everything from content moderation to self driving cars. But how does an AI learn? It‘s a bit easier to understand once you see how a neural network learns to drive around a racetrack.

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