# Life after nuclear fallout



## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

Found a documentary about Chernobyl






Contrary to perception, the world is "not dead" around that area, in fact, scientists believe it is doing very well given the circumstances. You have to watch it to understand what the radiation is doing to the plant, animal and fish-life within 1000 miles of the nuclear explosion.


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## GrinnanBarrett (Aug 31, 2012)

It was interesting how contaminated the soil was after nearly 30 years. Makes me feel funny since I had to work across the river from Three Mile Island a year after the accident there. GB


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## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

I found another documentary - that starts right at the day of the original explosion. Starting from actual footage from 1986 and discussions with some of the high-level military and government ...


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

[No message]


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

[No message]


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## BillS (May 30, 2011)

That video isn't accurate. There aren't any mutations at all in the areas around Chernobyl. This is the episode of Nature called "Radioactive Wolves."






If you watch the video you'll have to rethink all we were told about the long term dangers of radioactivity.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

http://www.angelfire.com/extreme4/kiddofspeed/chapter1.html



> I have ridden all my life and over the years I have owned several different motorbikes. I ended my search for a perfect bike with a big ninja, that boasts a mature 147 horse power, some serious bark, is fast as a bullet and comfortable for a long trips.
> 
> I travel a lot and one of my favorite destinations leads North from Kiev, towards so called Chernobyl "dead zone", which is 130kms from my home. Why my favorite? Because one can take long rides there on empty roads.
> 
> ...


http://elenafilatova.com/


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## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

Thanks for postin' that story. Wow ... great read and amazing pictures! :2thumb:


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## Magus (Dec 1, 2008)

This is all very nice, BUT many radioactive particles take time to accumulate in one's system and a bit longer to start tinkering with one's DNA, humans live quire a bit longer than wolves, not to mention they weren't exposed to all the chemicals and gasses released after a good sized city gets incinerated which ALSO do real bad things to one's health, and in conclusion, They were NOT treated to the same type of fallout a weapon produces which would have contained cobalt and plutonium which can begin wrecking a body in hours.I still think "The day after" was fairly accurate. after WW3, all your kids will be six boobed, furry cyclopes. LOL


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## ThePrepDerp (Apr 19, 2014)

Ya guys have been playing too much Fallout 3, you stand in a nuke crater, you DIE in minutes/seconds. It's horrid and can rot your skin, actually similar to creatures from fallout 3 (this no brainier brought to you by the idiot corporation of 'Murica) 


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## labotomi (Feb 14, 2010)

ThePrepDerp said:


> Ya guys have been playing too much Fallout 3, you stand in a nuke crater, you DIE in minutes/seconds. It's horrid and can rot your skin, actually similar to creatures from fallout 3 (this no brainier brought to you by the idiot corporation of 'Murica)


Care to back up your statements with facts?


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## ThePrepDerp (Apr 19, 2014)

labotomi said:


> Care to back up your statements with facts?


I'm sorry, partially taking a stab at it. But I know what radiation is capable of.

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## FrankW (Mar 10, 2012)

ThePrepDerp said:


> Ya guys have been playing too much Fallout 3, you stand in a nuke crater, you DIE in minutes/seconds. It's horrid and can rot your skin, actually similar to creatures from fallout 3 (this no brainier brought to you by the idiot corporation of 'Murica)





labotomi said:


> Care to back up your statements with facts?





ThePrepDerp said:


> I'm sorry, partially taking a stab at it. But I know what radiation is capable of.
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Survival Forum


this thread is hilarious


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## camo2460 (Feb 10, 2013)

ThePrepDerp said:


> Ya guys have been playing too much Fallout 3, you stand in a nuke crater, you DIE in minutes/seconds. It's horrid and can rot your skin, actually similar to creatures from fallout 3 (this no brainier brought to you by the idiot corporation of 'Murica)
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Survival Forum


WTF, are you from another planet? Why don't you step away from your play station and provide some serious, provable facts for a serious thread.


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## labotomi (Feb 14, 2010)

ThePrepDerp said:


> I'm sorry, partially taking a stab at it. But I know what radiation is capable of.


I used to operate a reactor.

Cells exposed to radiation will either:
Die
Repair themselves and reproduce normal cells
Reproduce mutated cells that will die before reproducing. 
Reproduce mutated cells that will continue to reproduce mutated cells (this is called cancer)

That's it. PERIOD.

There are no video game type results that result from radiation. Live normally, die because of excessive cell death, or develop cancer.

An acute dose will result in more cell death over a shorter time increasing the chance of death. A chronic dose allows the body more chance to repair itself.


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## ThePrepDerp (Apr 19, 2014)

labotomi said:


> I used to operate a reactor.
> 
> Cells exposed to radiation will either:
> Die
> ...


I'm sorry it was a joke.

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## rugster (Mar 2, 2014)

People see it as something dramatic. Truth is you could walk through a heavy radiated area, eat radiation contaminated food 
and never know it.

We are told not to worry about Fukishima and the food supply that it's safe to eat sea food comparing the 
potassium 40 in bananas to Caeisum 137 in food. 

The thing about some radionuclides like Caesium-137 is they aren't natural they are man made and the half live is 30 years because it's unstable and emits allot of Gama and beta radiation in a short time. 


The Gama energy emissions in Mev for Caesium-137 : 32. 

For Potassium 40 in Bananas 0.16 with a 1.3 billion year half life


The simple point is ingesting small amounts of Cessium is more dangerous than people are led to believe 
the malignancies these cause don't show up for days or weeks but years and decades.


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## ThePrepDerp (Apr 19, 2014)

rugster said:


> People see it as something dramatic. Truth is you could walk through a heavy radiated area, eat radiation contaminated food
> and never know it.
> 
> We are told not to worry about Fukishima and the food supply that it's safe to eat sea food comparing the
> ...


Thanks 

Sent from my iPhone using Survival Forum


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## NaeKid (Oct 17, 2008)

Can there be life inside the reactor, even now after so many years?

It seems that life can happen inside there and, it seems to be thriving.

http://unitedcats.wordpress.com/2007/05/29/major-biological-discoveryinside-the-chernobyl-reactor/



> There has been an exciting new biological discovery inside the tomb of the Chernobyl reactor. Like out of some B-grade sci fi movie, a robot sent into the reactor discovered a thick coat of black slime growing on the walls. Since it is highly radioactive in there, scientists didn't expect to find anything living, let alone thriving. The robot was instructed to obtain samples of the slime, which it did, and upon examination&#8230;the slime was even more amazing than was thought at first glance.
> 
> This slime, a collection of several fungi actually, was more than just surviving in a radioactive environment, it was actually using gamma radiation as a food source. Samples of these fungi grew significantly faster when exposed to gamma radiation at 500 times the normal background radiation level. The fungi appear to use melanin, a chemical found in human skin as well, in the same fashion as plants use chlorophyll. That is to say, the melanin molecule gets struck by a gamma ray and its chemistry is altered. This is an amazing discovery, no one had even suspected that something like this was possible.
> 
> ...


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## FrankW (Mar 10, 2012)

Quote:
_"Fortunately the Chernobyl reactor was an old and unsafe design, only one other reactor in the world was built the same way. It was right here in Berkeley, a research reactor built on campus in the fifties. It was sagely decided to quietly shut it down after Chernobyl; while it couldn't have had an accident on the scale of Chernobyl, the locals were a little concerned anyhow"_

I dont know where this came from but the statement is patently false.

The RBMK-1000 design on the "Chernobyl reactor" is a common and wide spread design.
With some modifications many RBMK 1000 still operate.
The primary modifications a) affect the tip of the controls rods (which werea big contributor to the accident as the tip of the control rods actually served as a Neutron Moderator rather than as a Neutron absorber, thus actually accelerating the reaction) b) the speed at which control rods can now enter during a SCRAM and c) The addition of some better control equipment.

The advantages inherent in the RBMK design (refueling while operating, ease of Plutonium production, low contrcution cost and large power delivery for an RBMK 1000) have kept many those reactors online.


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## LincTex (Apr 1, 2011)

BlueZ said:


> The RBMK-1000 design on the "Chernobyl reactor" is a common and wide spread design. With some modifications many RBMK 1000 still operate.
> .


Interesting read:

http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/Nuclear-Fuel-Cycle/Power-Reactors/Appendices/RBMK-Reactors/


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## justme (Jul 29, 2013)

This all good info but I'm concerned about the soil after a fallout. How long till the soil is useable to grow food? I'm thinking of adding soil to my preps at a BOL for just such an event. What are your thoughts?


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## FrankW (Mar 10, 2012)

justme said:


> This all good info but I'm concerned about the soil after a fallout. How long till the soil is useable to grow food? I'm thinking of adding soil to my preps at a BOL for just such an event. What are your thoughts?


It really depends on the nature and amount of fallout.
Small amounts are essentially harmless.

Having extra topsoil would be nice but you would need a good amount of it and it would only be useful if you are in a major fallout path that also rains down in your area


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## helicopter5472 (Feb 25, 2013)

justme said:


> This all good info but I'm concerned about the soil after a fallout. How long till the soil is useable to grow food? I'm thinking of adding soil to my preps at a BOL for just such an event. What are your thoughts?


You will definitely need "Miracle Grow"


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## readytogo (Apr 6, 2013)

justme said:


> This all good info but I'm concerned about the soil after a fallout. How long till the soil is useable to grow food? I'm thinking of adding soil to my preps at a BOL for just such an event. What are your thoughts?


In no time at all you will have fruits and vegetables just don`t eat them for 500 years or so or just canned them for glow in the dark lighting.:laugh:


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## Country Living (Dec 15, 2009)

justme said:


> This all good info but I'm concerned about the soil after a fallout. How long till the soil is useable to grow food? I'm thinking of adding soil to my preps at a BOL for just such an event. What are your thoughts?


If there is a strong enough fallout to damage the soil for many years, putting some soil aside won't be of much help because 

You would need a lot of soil to have a garden large enough to feed your family 
The water you need would also be contaminated


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## labotomi (Feb 14, 2010)

Any good prepper will have topsoil in a faraday cage.


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