2006 - 20th Anniversary of Chernobyl - What it is like now..

[TonyCooper]

For an interesting account of what life and land is like in and around Chernobyl after 20 years - read this...

A very interesting account by Elena... You find this read facinating, sad, and terribly insightful.

Here is her story

[davel]

Really interesting. Makes you really think about the safety of nuclear power. Can we ever be safe enough.

[SteveH]

Interesting, and very depressing.

[GeorgeTelford]

Hi

I am trying to find the debunk site relating to this, truth is she went with the organised tours and took her crash hat! damn fine spoof site though.

Here is a small spot from Wilkepedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elena_Filatova

Here is another debunk

http://www.uer.ca/forum_showthread.asp? ... eadid=8951

I must admit I was enthralled when I first found the original elena site and saddened to find it not true (pretty certainly made up)

[TonyCooper]

WOW! It is a good spoof if it is one... Still a sad story about what happened there... Pulled the wool WAY over my eyes....

[GeorgeTelford]

Hi Tony

yes even if you discount the girl riding a bike around, its a very interesting site. The pictures are really gripping however they got taken (tour or not)

The best debunk site went through step by step, showing how certain pictures were staged, even interviewed the tour guides.

[mikeschn]

I really enjoyed reading the article. I learned a lot of good things about Chernobyl, spoof or not!

Mike...

[TonyCooper]

The only reason I went looking for accounts on Chernobyl was that I happened to see a "Modern Marvels"... or was it "Nat'l Geo" episode on Engineering disasters and they went over the Chernobyl incident. It drew my curiosity and I did a search and found her account.

Sigh...

[davel]

Even if it's a spoof site. Chernobyl did happen and the area was ruined for habitation. Chernobyl happen while I was still a Decon Tech at Comanche Peak Nuclear Power Plant and we followed it very closely. Chernobyl was what Three Mile Island could have been if the NRC didn't have as many procedures and regulations to follow as they do. Since Three Mile Island the Nuclear Industry here in the US has become probably the safest place to work. But we are still generating waste from these plants that will have to be carefully handled from now on.

[mikeschn]

Do you have a good URL for the Three Mile Island thing?

We have a nuclear power plant in Monroe, MI, and if that thing ever goes up, this portion of the country will be a real mess...

BTW, what do you know about pebble reactors?

Mike...

[davel]

Mike,

Here's the offical NRC release http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/3mile-isle.html

I've never heard of a Pebble Reactor till now, there is lots on it on the internet.

[TonyCooper]

Is it true the life of an average nuclear reactor is 40 years? And if that is so, are several approaching or have exceeded that age?