Re: Chernobyl Shelter Run off RE(2): Dateline NBC TMI story A different evaluation

["Raymond A. Hoover" <rayhoover@HOTMAIL.COM>]

Stabilizing the structure was the primary goal of the operation I was 

envolved with.  We were charged with studying the situation and planning 

necessary steps to stabilize the structure, and then implementing those 

steps.  Our time frame was to stabilize long enough for someone to develop a 

final plan for the site.  Determining whether water seeping from the 

basement and whether it was contaminated was part of the study phase.



Since there a great many number of openings in the Shelter (on the roof and 

in the sides, sealing the roof may not help a whole lot in keeping the water 

out.



The structure surrounding the ruins of the Chernobyl reactor was built with 

great haste and under extremely difficult conditions.  That there are 

problems should not be a surprise to anyone.  That it was built at all is a 

minor miracle.  But it needs a lot of repairs.  Before those repairs are 

begun, priorities need to be set and a strategy for doing the work needs to 

be worked out.  To do that a great deal of information needs to be gathered.



Believe it or not, some of our contrators looked at some of the consequences 

of a collapse of the shelter.  The results of the study were that one or two 

workers might be killed and no significant contamination would escape the 

exclusion zone.  To me that suggested that a collapse would not be a major 

disaster.



>From: Emil Murat <kerrembaev@yahoo.com>

>To: "Raymond A. Hoover" <rayhoover@hotmail.com>

>CC: radsafe <radsafe@list.vanderbilt.edu>

>Subject: Chernobyl Shelter Run off RE(2): Dateline NBC TMI story A 

>different evaluation

>Date: Wed, 22 Aug 2001 05:00:22 -0700 (PDT)

>

>1. Shouldn't be our attention on sealing the roof

>of the shelter, rather, then investigating to

>where the water is running out?

>That roof never was sealed.

>

>2. My concern is not the contaminants in the

>possibly, run thru water but the safety of

>supportive construction of the Shelter.

>With the after accident filling of the Reactor

>building Unit 4 with the liquid concrete /

>additional stress on the Shelter walls, a high

>humidity/high corrosion rate and specific

>chemical ambient inside,...the shelter can

>collapse any moment...

>

>3. On the other hand if water is already inside

>may be it is better to have those holes as

>ventilation to keep the temperature down.

>

>Emil.

>

>

>  --- "Raymond A. Hoover" <rayhoover@hotmail.com>

>wrote:

> > As far as I know, the observed level of

> > contamination in the waters of the

> > Dneper are about what you would expect to see

> > from the surface runoff.  That

> > is not to say that there is nothing escaping

> > the Shelter.  We know that

> > there is quite a bit of water going in, but no

> > one is quite sure where it is

> > going.  Of course things might have changed

> > since I left.

> >

>

>

>

>__________________________________________________

>Do You Yahoo!?

>Make international calls for as low as $.04/minute with Yahoo! Messenger

>http://phonecard.yahoo.com/





_________________________________________________________________

Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp



************************************************************************

You are currently subscribed to the Radsafe mailing list. To unsubscribe,

send an e-mail to Majordomo@list.vanderbilt.edu  Put the text "unsubscribe

radsafe" (no quote marks) in the body of the e-mail, with no subject line.