- #1
member659127
- TL;DR Summary
- Some questions regarding the physics that lead to the disaster. Mostly influenced by the HBO series.
Just finished that amazing HBO series "Chernobyl". As a physicist I am very much impressed by the explanation given by Legasov in the last episode. Especially the part he clarifies how the reactor was in an unstable equilibrium minutes before the event with nearly all the rods pulled out but choked by Xenon at the same time.
Most of the stuff maked sense. (It is so detailed though that I would not be able to understand from wikipedia on its own without simplified and nicely categorized explanation in the last episode.) But still some questions remain.
1. He says water reduces reactivity but steam increases it. How does this really work?
2. He says heat reduces reactivity. (Completely hypothesizing here, is it something to do with phonons interacting with neutrons? I might be out of context though, if so please correct.)
3. The deadly flaw about the rods: their graphite tips. He says graphite increases reactivity. But isn't it used for "moderating" purposes in the reactors all over the globe? An elaborate explanation I would appreciate.
Most of the stuff maked sense. (It is so detailed though that I would not be able to understand from wikipedia on its own without simplified and nicely categorized explanation in the last episode.) But still some questions remain.
1. He says water reduces reactivity but steam increases it. How does this really work?
2. He says heat reduces reactivity. (Completely hypothesizing here, is it something to do with phonons interacting with neutrons? I might be out of context though, if so please correct.)
3. The deadly flaw about the rods: their graphite tips. He says graphite increases reactivity. But isn't it used for "moderating" purposes in the reactors all over the globe? An elaborate explanation I would appreciate.