Showing posts with label Chernobyl. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chernobyl. Show all posts

Monday, May 04, 2026

Big Picture Science for May. 04, Shadow of Chernobyl

Abandoned bumper cars in an overgrown amusement park. Several small bumper cars sit on a cracked, weed-covered concrete surface, with faded and peeling paint in dull yellow, green, and red. Plants and moss are growing around and inside the cars, and a small tree branch leans into the foreground. In the background are more bumper cars scattered around, also decayed and surrounded by dense trees and bushes. Above them is a rusted metal framework of what used to be a roof or canopy structure, now empty and partly covered by vegetation.








Big Picture Science: Shadow of Chernobyl

Forty years later, the exclusion zone surrounding the infamous Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant remains uninhabited by humans. But among the radioactive remnants, wildlife is flourishing, including endangered species. In the second of our two-part series, we look at the state of the disaster site today, consider what lessons we’ve learned during clean up efforts, hear about a strange story about radioactive shellfish, and consider whether small modular reactors could reinvigorate dreams of a nuclear-powered future and bring nuclear energy out of Chernobyl’s shadow.

Guests:

  • Steven Biegalski – Chair of Nuclear and Radiological Engineering and Medical Physics program at Georgia Institute of Technology
  • Tom Scott – Professor of Nuclear Materials and Devices at the University of Bristol
  • Jacopo Buongiorno – Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering at MIT, Director of the Center for Advanced Nuclear Energy Systems (CANES), and Director of Science and Technology of the MIT Nuclear Reactor Laboratory

Download podcast at - https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/shadow-of-chernobyl

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://bigpicturescience.org/

Get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support!

Monday, April 27, 2026

Big Picture Science for April. 27, 2026: 40 Years After Chernobyl

Heavily damaged industrial building with its upper structure torn open. The image is black and white and shows a large rectangular complex viewed from above at an angle. The central portion has a huge gaping hole and the roof and upper levels are shredded, with twisted metal, exposed beams, and collapsed sections scattered around. Many exterior walls are broken away, leaving open window bays and jagged concrete edges. Nearby sections of the complex are partially intact but still show severe structural damage. A road or paved area runs along one side of the building, relatively clear compared to the chaotic destruction of the main structure.









Big Picture Science: 40 Years After Chernobyl

On April 26th, 1986, an explosion at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the Soviet Union blasted a plume of radioactive debris a half mile into the sky, blanketing Europe. Witnesses described a laser of blue light eerily shooting up from the reactor core. Built to represent the bright future of nuclear power, Chernobyl instead became the biggest nuclear disaster in history. In the first of a two-part series, we retell the story of the accident, the role that design flaws and human error played, and the futile attempts at radiation containment. We also consider the long shadow the catastrophe cast over nuclear power, and the significant political fallout of the Soviet coverup; the Ukrainian vote for independence and the fall of the U.S.S.R.

Guest:

 

Download podcast at - https://bigpicturescience.org/episodes/40-years-after-chernobyl 

You can listen to this and other episodes at http://bigpicturescience.org/

Get early access to ad-free versions of every episode by joining us on Patreon. Thanks for your support!