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BOOM.
This is a nuclear reactor test pulse.
It is very cool.
Wanna know what's going on? Read on!
1/n https://twitter.com/GovNuclear/status/1326138342342332419
This is a nuclear reactor test pulse.
It is very cool.
Wanna know what's going on? Read on!
1/n https://twitter.com/GovNuclear/status/1326138342342332419
This is a research reactor. Something called the TRIGA design. That stands for "Training, Research, Isotopes, General Atomics." It's a swimming pool reactor type designed by General Atomics for research purposes.
This particular video is showing a test pulse. These are
2/n
This particular video is showing a test pulse. These are
2/n
typically done once a year or so as a sort of baseline safety test.
To initiate the test, a central control rod is pulled out of the reactor very quickly, triggering a sudden burst of reactivity.
These test bursts go from 0 to 1,000 MW or more in just a few microseconds!
3/n
To initiate the test, a central control rod is pulled out of the reactor very quickly, triggering a sudden burst of reactivity.
These test bursts go from 0 to 1,000 MW or more in just a few microseconds!
3/n
So what's the blue flash, you say?
Cherenkov radiation!
What's Cherenkov radiation, you say?
It's like a sonic boom of light, in water.
It happens when beta particles from the reaction exceed the speed of light in the surrounding water. The result
4/n
Cherenkov radiation!
What's Cherenkov radiation, you say?
It's like a sonic boom of light, in water.
It happens when beta particles from the reaction exceed the speed of light in the surrounding water. The result
4/n
is that huge flash of light. Just like the sonic boom you hear when a plane exceeds the speed of sound in air.
BUT WAIT YOU LIAR! You say. NOTHING CAN GO FASTER THAN THE SPEED OF LIGHT!
Well, in a vacuum that's true. But light actually travels more slowly through
5/n
BUT WAIT YOU LIAR! You say. NOTHING CAN GO FASTER THAN THE SPEED OF LIGHT!
Well, in a vacuum that's true. But light actually travels more slowly through
5/n
other media like water. Meaning that the speed of light in water is no longer an absolute speed limit.
So all of a sudden you've got these particles moving faster than that limit, leaving a trail of light BEHIND them that builds up into an "optical boom!"
Pretty cool eh?
6/n
So all of a sudden you've got these particles moving faster than that limit, leaving a trail of light BEHIND them that builds up into an "optical boom!"
Pretty cool eh?
6/n
So, in short, the researchers pull the central rod out super quickly, leading to a massive spike in nuclear power.
That power emits a huge particle flux, which exceeds the speed of light in water.
THAT causes a "light boom" of Cherenkov radiation, which is the
7/n
That power emits a huge particle flux, which exceeds the speed of light in water.
THAT causes a "light boom" of Cherenkov radiation, which is the
7/n
flash that you see.
Then all of this is followed by a more steady emission of Cherenkov radiation until the control rods are re-inserted, quenching the reaction.
Pretty cool, eh?
Oh, one more thing...
8/n
Then all of this is followed by a more steady emission of Cherenkov radiation until the control rods are re-inserted, quenching the reaction.
Pretty cool, eh?
Oh, one more thing...
8/n
Believe it or not, it's completely safe for whoever filmed this to be standing up there above the reactor.
Water is REALLY good protection against radiation.
You could actually swim in that pool safely as long as you didn't go too deep.
(I wouldn't recommend it though.)
/end
Water is REALLY good protection against radiation.
You could actually swim in that pool safely as long as you didn't go too deep.
(I wouldn't recommend it though.)
/end
