Happy new year everyone! Thanks for the support! As always any subject suggestions are always welcome below!
@coopbrown78663 жыл бұрын
Nedelin?
@sniperdustify3 жыл бұрын
Happy new year I know it's not nuclear but it's a good one I remember when it happened because it woke me up and I lived in Milton Keynes at the time which is about 30 miles away The Buncefield fire was a major fire at an oil storage facility on 11 December 2005 at the Hertfordshire Oil Storage Terminal, located near the M1 motorway, Hemel Hempstead, in Hertfordshire, England
@kristinepfs3 жыл бұрын
Happy New Year!!!!
@cpt.rogers13963 жыл бұрын
I'd like to mention the SNAP-10-A or 'SNAPSHOT' satellite experienced shedding whilst still in orbit in 1979 losing more than 50 pieces of debris. (Hopefully none of that came down here!) It also was equipped if I'm not mistake with a Cesium Ion Thruster making it the first electrical propulsion systems ever used in space on top of the first nuclear power plant. Might be worth adding this to the video at a later date I found this data on wiki however so it may need some source checking.
@Volodimar3 жыл бұрын
Happy New Year! Please consider making an episode about Anatoli Petrovich Bugorski, who stuck his head in particle accelerator.
@heintmeyer22963 жыл бұрын
the 60's were a special time: "we're going to blow up some reactors, should we do it inside a containment building?" "Nah, Idaho will be just fine"
@mrillis92593 жыл бұрын
Someone made a timeline of all the nuclear explosion tests on earth an ran the years up as explosions happened all over the world. Once China got involved it really became a fireworks show 60+ crazy how we react so fiercely to a little melt down when half the world has had large unregulated "tests"
@evelynh62233 жыл бұрын
@@mrillis9259 You are aware that the United States has done more nuclear tests than almost all of the rest of the world combined, in addition to being the only nation to use nuclear weapons on civilians (twice), right? The United States did 1030 tests, USSR did 715, France did 217, the UK did 88, and China did 47 (note that some of the UK's tests were done with America on American territory. If you count those as American tests, the UK did 45).
@mrillis92593 жыл бұрын
@@evelynh6223 an we are all fine right?
@WindTurbineSyndrome3 жыл бұрын
This is why Hanford is one giant superfund site
@WindTurbineSyndrome3 жыл бұрын
Tsar bombs size was so insane (my bomb is bigger than your bomb) it started below ground testing treaty talks. When you think of how many of the countries own people were injured or killed in USSR kazakhstan and Nevada... lunacy
@TonyEmond3 жыл бұрын
"the radiation was measured at 2.7 ro/hr" I immediately thought "it's not great but it's not terrible".
@PlainlyDifficult3 жыл бұрын
😂
@OAleathaO2 жыл бұрын
Just remember, you didn't see any graphite on the roof after the test. ;)
@spvillano2 жыл бұрын
@@OAleathaO compared to the SL-1, which had a worker pinned to the concrete ceiling with a control rod bushing. Same flaw in that reactor as was in the Chernobyl unit, a moderator at the tip of the control rods and a positive void coefficient.
@lettuce73782 жыл бұрын
@@spvillano the fault in that reactor was the fact that ONE CONTROL ROD could cause a criticality accident.
@tyttuut Жыл бұрын
@@loganmeline9233 "Oh, so NOW you don't want to see me juggle four screwdrivers. Yeah, run away."
@wickedgrinaz3 жыл бұрын
"#2 on the Plainly Difficult scale" Points to '1' Which is the second digit on the scale *Mind Blown*
@PlainlyDifficult3 жыл бұрын
Boom
@d.cypher29203 жыл бұрын
@@PlainlyDifficult 😂👍
@z_polarcat3 жыл бұрын
Damn, now he have to update the older videos to follow the correct values on the scale.
@ShroudedWolf513 жыл бұрын
Yep. Computers and programmers count from 0, not 1. Mainly because it makes all sorts of calculations and formulas just significantly easier.
@Arctiblaine2 жыл бұрын
indexing
@Chainsaw-ASMR3 жыл бұрын
"three dollars sixty cents above critical" Well it was about that time I noticed Plainly Difficult was a giant crustacean from the paleolithic era, I said "dammit monster you ain't getting my tree fiddy"
@cavemanlovesmoke43943 жыл бұрын
😂😭
@quinnzykir3 жыл бұрын
How about Too Fiddy then
@MomMom4Cubs3 жыл бұрын
💘 I wish I could like your comment 💯 times!
@plasmahead23 жыл бұрын
Thats what I thought this he was referencing LoL
@gowdsake71033 жыл бұрын
More accurately "free dollars sixty cents"!
@wallabra3 жыл бұрын
Compared to the usual nuclear video, this actually feels kind of wholesome for some reason I can't quite put my finger on. I mean, it's nuclear explosions, and probably contributed to thyroid cancer levels, but I can't help but imagine how fun it must've been for the operators to have the reactors go boom. It must've been like some nuclear episode of Mythbusters!
@jacobb76082 жыл бұрын
It's not a nuclear explosion jsyk.
@TimPerfetto11 ай бұрын
you are old and thinking, in terms of reactors and nuclear things. There is only one holistic system of neutrinos.
@tanall59593 жыл бұрын
The rerecording of the roentgen lines makes me wonder.. you accidentally said 'rads' the first time, didn't you?
@yakacm3 жыл бұрын
I thought maybe someone had told him his was saying it wrong so he re-recorded it, I would say that this video marks the first time he has pronounced it what I would say is correctly in any of his videos.
@Krmpfpks3 жыл бұрын
he was flamed pronouncing roentgen as "rotegen" in previous videos, I think this is his way of saying hello to the pedantics
@Daydreaminginmono3 жыл бұрын
ONE. MILLION. ANTS. Kind of reminds me of that, if you get the reference :)
@BronsonTheCat3 жыл бұрын
This is like the overdubbing of Taco Bell for Pizza Hut in Demolition Man.
@not_nerp3 жыл бұрын
@@yakacm "rontegen"
@JosephFuller3 жыл бұрын
"They Live!" A classic movie whose memorable lines are not often mentioned in the context of nuclear tests.
@PlainlyDifficult3 жыл бұрын
😂😂I’m glad someone got it!
@silmarian3 жыл бұрын
Yup! Also, "I'm here to chew bubblegum and blow up reactors, and I'm all out of bubblegum." ;)
@janhoudek46783 жыл бұрын
@@PlainlyDifficult I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick Plainly Difficult's ass for chewing plain ordinary gum instead of bubblegum
@dillonhunt17203 жыл бұрын
Makes a lot more sense if you imagine Duke Nukem saying it
@korbenbutterworth34793 жыл бұрын
@@dillonhunt1720 Piece of cake
@AKAtheA3 жыл бұрын
Being able to go from 500W od design power to 74GW (*way* more then reactor 4 in Chernobyl when it tossed the lid through the roof) shows you just how much power there is in nuclear energy
@victr74873 жыл бұрын
Weeeell... The actual energy produced at the moment of the explosion is not known, 32-33000 Mw mark was just the last recorded output of the reactor, could have been more and i wouldn't be surprised if that was the case. 74000 is still pretty impressive for a tiny, spacecraft reactor (compared to the huge RBMK from Chernobyl)
@stephenverchinski4093 жыл бұрын
Some kids never listened to mom when she said don't play with matches. Let's see how fast the curtains (reactors) burn! No wonder we have the Price-Anderson Act.
@Chainsaw-ASMR3 жыл бұрын
@@victr7487 I was thinking something similar. If a cute little 500W reactor can reach 74 GW, then reactor 4 must have reached a truly scary number before disassembly.
@lettuce73782 жыл бұрын
@@Chainsaw-ASMR several petawatts maybe
@R56TurboCharged3 жыл бұрын
Spend millions testing the reactor to destruction, use cheap voltage regulators from radio shack.
@cmotdibbler44543 жыл бұрын
Does it look like we have Radio Shack money? those were salvaged from the back of a wireless set.
@cumguzzler85373 жыл бұрын
@@cmotdibbler4454 you think we have wireless set money? Those were of an intern's custom make!
@piotrcurious11313 жыл бұрын
Well, you have to take all this data with grain of salt. You are dealing with highly classified military projects, whose real purpose will remain mystery. Read inbetween lines though. 1) Tests of getting reactor critical up to point of destruction were made. But those were not real failure tests - in reality such item would be destroyed during re-entry, or in worst case - during impact. So ask Yourself - why they tested how to blow this thing up? 2)Having device wchich could explode in orbit , polluting it with highly radioactive waste is one of elements of setting dominance over space. It is terrorism - play nice or orbit will be defunct for 50 or more years. Touch us and 40 such sattelites will just fall down on earth . 3)Do you really believe it is defunct on graveyard orbit? Having 500W device, able to explode, without any panels (size) sets dominance there too. That is loads of power in a place where billion dollar devices are parked. We know next to nil on military program of graveyard "junk" recycling, but sooner or later something will need to be done - once things will start colliding there, it will become graveyard asteroid belt, useless for thousands of years. Right now it is not possible to put really powerfull devices, like 20MW transmitters to "graveyard", but in 60's they did not know humankind will collapse in endless cold war, culminating with series of pandemics, destruction of goobal ecosysyem and population boom up to 7billion. Look up what was the population on earth in 1960. It was bad, but still offered some hope. They had sci-fi about dyson spheres and colonies on mars. They had no internet, worldometers.info or thousands of nation-state crime copycats building nuclear warheads like there is no tommorow. Marylin-manson was not even born back then, this did happen 9 years later 😅
@ultimaIXultima3 жыл бұрын
@@piotrcurious1131 Uh, you realize nuclear anything (whether a bomb or a reactor) decays over time right? You can't just put stuff like that in space, and threaten people with it 60 years later. Half-life is a thing. NASA has always required those tests, not just for nuclear reactors, but for anything that goes up. Conspiracy theory nonsense
@piotrcurious11313 жыл бұрын
@@ultimaIXultima Well, sure not after 60 years 😅 But You also need to get the diplomacy - much better to say "voltage regulator failed" than "WE HAVE EXPLOSiVeS!" . Oficially there is no proof sat is active. But Your enemy cannot be sure if it cannot go back online. seemingly win-win, but a lie is a lie. You lie to Yourself, and Your children. and note this is not only sat of this type on the orbit 😅 Not much conspiracy theory there, note We are generations left with this trash up. Both diplomacy-wise and just junk on the orbits. Would You not want Tomsk being open city again? thousands of people being freed and being able to just talk about their jobs without fear some weirdo will use the knowledge to disrupt global communications? Just mass of the sattelite is disturbing. Also i am not going to whitewash NASA for wasting taxpayers money on useless tests, while leaving homeless on the streets, under-equipping soldiers and so on. People have right to feel screwed. Who is going to pay now for cleaning this s* out of the orbit? Who is going to pay for diplomatic relations wreckage? One needs to assume responsibility for own actions, otherwise it is another diplomacy fail. Noone trusts someone who lied once. And whole space and nuclear program is a chain of lies. There must be a point when this changes.
@axeman3d3 жыл бұрын
Seamless ADR work there, you'd never notice the drop ins.
@dannooo5483 жыл бұрын
I'm amazed ADR can ever work
@LoneTiger3 жыл бұрын
I would have used "Daniel" TTS voice for those voice-overs. 😁
@WhiteWolf-lm7gj Жыл бұрын
I was listening but not really paying attention, and it made me jump when I heard it
@Unb3arablePain3 жыл бұрын
The wild west days of nuclear power were always interesting. Nuclear Physicist: "Let's blow up this reactor to see what happens." Nuclear Engineer: "Sounds good to me."
@PlainlyDifficult3 жыл бұрын
Oh the good old days before the thyroid cancer took hold!
@lewisdoherty76213 жыл бұрын
@@PlainlyDifficult Take your iodine tablets and stop complaining.
@TBone-bz9mp3 жыл бұрын
How the fuck has this species made it to seven billion.
@WindTurbineSyndrome3 жыл бұрын
Answer breed like rabbits, invented penicillin.
@matiasfpm3 жыл бұрын
@@WindTurbineSyndrome HEHEEE BOI
@nobodynoone25003 жыл бұрын
Please do a quick, or long, video on what all the different radiation measurments mean. Thank you!
@janb.36002 жыл бұрын
I agree, this is a constant flaw of the series which drives me mad: Using a dozen different units to measure radioactivity and explaining none of them.
@Snaily3 жыл бұрын
I just want to point out how much I appreciate that you put the black and white bar before adverts. One of the few UK based KZbinrs to actually do that, and it gives me warning that I need to turn down the volume since adverts are always deafeningly loud.
@ramblingrob4693 Жыл бұрын
I just adblock, i c no ads on YT, it skips them for me.
@carleckel28773 жыл бұрын
MONTY PYTHONS FLYING REACTOR!
@henkbarnard15533 жыл бұрын
All 14 tones of it.
@PlainlyDifficult3 жыл бұрын
@jenniferbaldini35273 жыл бұрын
I thought Monty Python as soon as I saw the cartoon foot!! 🦶 *raspberry*
@neuralmute3 жыл бұрын
This whole series of tests has a very Monty Python feel...
@StruggleButtons3 жыл бұрын
I was hoping I wasn’t the only one who got excited by the Monty Python reference!
@ajfurnari24483 жыл бұрын
If some guy in a lab coat and tie, carrying a clip board shows up to my work..... I'm outta there!
@PlainlyDifficult3 жыл бұрын
If you've already seen him you are already F**ked
@cris_2613 жыл бұрын
"Take it away boys!"
@burtbacarach50343 жыл бұрын
Specially if he's wearing elbow length rubber gloves...
@WindTurbineSyndrome3 жыл бұрын
And a respirator, rubber boots, and rad badge.
@morongovalley9403 жыл бұрын
I just looked this up on wiki, and there's actually 30 nuclear reactors in orbit.
@j.f.fisher53183 жыл бұрын
wow, I had no idea.
@morongovalley9403 жыл бұрын
Only 1 American, 29 Russian
@tramplamps3 жыл бұрын
I was just about to go off site, but here you are in the comments doing that good work, you sage. Also, well, Actually Question should we all be terrified? Or would the atomic energy coop of the post- WWII era have had the “get under your desk”- atomic school-age kids see videos of all these those 30 or so realtors as more of little satellites? Such as a psa school video to lull them into a feeling of safety. Something with a narrator dub over basic kids looking through a clip art telescope, with an upbeat innovation jingle playing underneath , and him saying: “Hey look little Johnny! See way up there Sally? That’s no transatlantic PanAm flight, no, but you’re close. Just imagine all around you , in outer space, as you sleep, Nuclear power is circling the Earth! Isn’t it just the cats pajamas? Yes, just look up on any clear night sky from the safety of your American homes, and who knows? With the help of a high to medium powered telescope, you might see your friend- Little SNAP, ah yes, what a fella! Would wouldn’t believe the like he has had , and he is only the same age as you boys and girls! But don’t worry, wait to you find out how long he is projected to live! Is he lonely? Poppycock! Would you believe that he is just One of 30 our many brave orbiters, making their nightly trips, check ups I call them, around our world, and especially around the USofA? Little SNAP loves baseball and as he passes his orbit each day, he does so is a an adorable baseball uniform and a small Louisville slugger NASA designed just for him in space, and each night you could see him in the sky, as he rounds third base for what will be another home run on the scoreboard, you can see him sliding into home plate for the all American team! Now get out there and play ball with Nuclear power kids, because if you don’t, the communist will pick up this very bat, and who knows? They might just stay to get good at our game, and the next thing you and I know... they will win! (In this psa vid it shows a baseball/physicist guy swinging a bat and knocking the small test Nuclear Snap device clear into the stratosphere and the 2 kids are at his side looking up in amazement) - I don’t make the rules, I just make this stuff up..
One of the Soviet reactors is scattered across northern Canada. If you're hiking in the Great White North and run across grizzly bears with tentacles you'll know why.
@mcblaggart85653 жыл бұрын
I remember a similar destructive test of a nuclear reactor. The US government stuck a reactor in an artificial cave and simulated various incidents and emergency shut-downs. When they were finished, they ramped the reactor up, then ejected all the control rods. The reactor violently "disassembled itself." I tried to look it up to refresh my memory, but can't find anything. Does anyone know the incident I'm talking about?
@MrMontanaNights3 жыл бұрын
BORAX-I and BORAX-II were both tested to destruction as well, though neither was in a cave or underground.
@derekp26743 жыл бұрын
The SPERT tests came later than the BORAX ones (see www.osti.gov/opennet/servlets/purl/907610.pdf ) but also may not have been in a cave underground.
@mcblaggart85653 жыл бұрын
@@derekp2674 The SPERT tests sound similar to what I remember. They mention earth-shielded bunkers, and ejecting control rods. If it's not exactly the same, that might be my faulty memory. Or it could be a different test program.
@JAMESWUERTELE Жыл бұрын
I seriously love your sense of humor. I’m watching old episodes and the whole stepping stone has me cracking up in the middle of the night.
@MTG694 ай бұрын
This channel makes me laugh my ass off. The Ford Pinto video demonstration, with a Coke can, piece of paper, and John's size 12 boot, made me cry.
@antoineroquentin22973 жыл бұрын
i rate this a 10 on the plainly difficult viewer scale
@PlainlyDifficult3 жыл бұрын
Thank you!
@jss76683 жыл бұрын
Considering 4 kg uranium in orbit for thousands of years , yeah.
@cpt_nordbart3 жыл бұрын
Roentgen is a hard word.
@PlainlyDifficult3 жыл бұрын
I never get it right
@lairdcummings90923 жыл бұрын
I prefer the older "REM" - Roentgen Equivalent Man, or the equivalent dose a man would receive from one Roentgen of Cobalt-60 gamma rays; it's easier to say, and calibrated for equivalent biological damage, no matter the radiosource, be it neutrons, gamma, beta, or alpha rays. These days it's all about Seiverts and Grays. Gimme the old-school measures, thank you.
@colchronic3 жыл бұрын
@@PlainlyDifficult it wasn't great but not terrible either
@cpt_nordbart3 жыл бұрын
I liked Rotegen. I know that German is a weird language since I am.
@andie_pants3 жыл бұрын
Yeah, once they start smooshing vowels together, all bets are off in the obvious pronunciation department.
@lairdcummings90923 жыл бұрын
Destructive testing can be very informative. When dealing with nuclear power, more knowledge is *always* better.
@kumaahito39272 жыл бұрын
Yeah, better blow it up intentionally in advance than guess the outcome of falling in the middle of a city (extremely slim chance I know, but imagine if one did fall in the middle of eg. NY or Washington)
@Akideoni3 жыл бұрын
Love the last line "it will be up there for 4000 years".
@WouldntULikeToKnow.3 жыл бұрын
Hopefully
@Akideoni3 жыл бұрын
Yup, technically it means hopefully not in any then human lifetime. And those 80 generations that follows.
@reubensandwich92493 жыл бұрын
Being the first to send something nuclear into space is... Maybe Dr. Strangelove wasn't as much of a satire as its made out to be.
@PlainlyDifficult3 жыл бұрын
It was a documentary!
@Mr_T_Badger3 жыл бұрын
Funny story about that. George C. Scott wanted to play the character of General Turgidson more seriously than Kubrick wanted. Kubrick convinced him to go over the top with his actions, claiming that these were demo reels and wouldn’t be used in the actual movie. Of course they were and Scott, very annoyed at this, swore never to work with Kubrick again.
@tyrannosaurusimperator2 жыл бұрын
It was satire? I thought it was a cold war era torture device. Worst movie I've ever seen.
@rodypony3 жыл бұрын
If humanity manages to survive 4000 years, the people of that time will be in for quite a surprise.
@tahustvedt3 жыл бұрын
Future earthlings will wonder where that radioactive meteorite came from.
@williamdunnamjr9723 жыл бұрын
Another wonderful Plainly Diffi-Cult production.
@bjarkeistruppedersen82133 жыл бұрын
Noo, our foot-stepping hero didn't appear 🤣
@PlainlyDifficult3 жыл бұрын
They needed a rest to go to a Podiatry health care professional
@tncorgi923 жыл бұрын
Forget the reactor, I just wanna see what happens when a few kg of hot NAK hit a tank of water.
@neuralmute3 жыл бұрын
Hell, who *doesn't?*
@StefanoBorini3 жыл бұрын
As a first degree approximation, I'd say... boom?
@paulhawkins64153 жыл бұрын
@@StefanoBorini you are an order of magnitude out. It was kaboom kzbin.info/www/bejne/qmranoqQl9eSrbM
@AcornElectron3 жыл бұрын
Happy New Year PD! Here’s to a better year!
@PlainlyDifficult3 жыл бұрын
Thank you!
@DKTAz003 жыл бұрын
The voice overlay made me smile :D
@FlyingSavannahs3 жыл бұрын
"Ok, gentlemen, we have determined that we need to test crashes into the ocean, in the desert, and in a large city, but the contracts office says we only have the budget for two test scenarios. So, let's decide which scenario is the least important and can be cancelled."
@kotori87gaming893 жыл бұрын
Any chance we could see a video about the SPERT experiments? the Special Power Excursion Reactor Test program had a very similar idea to SNAPTRAN, with the plan of testing the effects of prompt criticality on power reactors. Unlike SNAPTRAN, however, SPERT was intended for land-based reactors. And here's another plug for the USS Thresher and USS Scorpion incidents. Thresher's story has never been properly explained in detail before, and the Scorpion's true cause of loss was only discovered in the past few years.
@j.f.fisher53183 жыл бұрын
These all sound interesting. Hope we get them someday. :) And the U.S. subs are discussed far less, at least in the U.S. than the Soviet subs that sank.
@50_foot_punch993 жыл бұрын
50-80s probably the best time to be an American, just living you had a good chance to be part of major history.
@binkycatfish3 жыл бұрын
very fresh, fresher than the manhattan project in nuclear history.
@darran3113 жыл бұрын
enjoying binging your videos ,not sure how hard they were to make but based on the quality i can say for sure it was plainly difficult
@Ratzfourtyfour3 жыл бұрын
0:34 and now for something completely different Or as nowadays kids would put it: I see you're a man of culture as well.
@staticbob20013 жыл бұрын
I've been a fan of your channel for quit some time, and find all of your content quite interesting. I found this one uniquely interesting as I live in the city of Idaho Falls, which isn't all that far from the test bed (currently Idaho National laboratory) these experiments took place. It's kind of a giggle to myself as the house I currently own was originally government housing constructed in the mid 50's, for naval personnel working out at the INL at the time.
@PlainlyDifficult3 жыл бұрын
Thank you for your support!!
@darraghchapman3 жыл бұрын
I just discovered your channel! Great stuff, well researched, scripted and presented. Keep it up, I'll look forward to your videos to come as I gorge myself on your back catalogue :)
@PlainlyDifficult3 жыл бұрын
Thank you gorge away! Just like how I'm eating my weight in chocolate!
@ICYTR Жыл бұрын
Just wanted to say that the Monty Python foot tribute was awesome and made me LOL. I love your videos and watch/listen to them often. CHEERS!
@PlainlyDifficult Жыл бұрын
Thank you
@ZonicMirage3 жыл бұрын
Thus, the reactor goes YEET.
@colonelgraff91983 жыл бұрын
0:36 Boomers Remember Monty Python
@etjason13 жыл бұрын
When I think about nuclear-powered testing I think oil company.
@wifelikecow3 жыл бұрын
Well, if you play fallout, then yeah you really would. Poseidon Energy.
@RCAvhstape3 жыл бұрын
Energy company.
@wifelikecow3 жыл бұрын
@@RCAvhstape yeah, but you get my point.
@adamantium19833 жыл бұрын
Thank You for the wonderful videos! I enjoy when you release them.
@PlainlyDifficult3 жыл бұрын
Glad you like them!
@vejet3 жыл бұрын
9:37 I like that change in voice tone, adds just the perfect touch of sinisterness to the video.
@abrahamlincoln97583 жыл бұрын
Graphite at Chernobyl: So, anyway, I started blastin'. Bah! Bah!
@comradedyatlov41433 жыл бұрын
ehe
@torquetheprisoner3 жыл бұрын
that safty check worked it showed that Chernobyl was not ready for use
@randomuser54433 жыл бұрын
“3.60$ above critical” If you don’t mind, I will be laughing
@comradedyatlov41433 жыл бұрын
Make that a 3.6
@mattruddick89193 жыл бұрын
The bot must have missed read that bit
@thhseeking3 жыл бұрын
$3.60
@comradedyatlov41433 жыл бұрын
What bot you doughnut, I'm referencing Chernobyl you idiots, "3.6 Roentgen, not great, not terrible" by Dyatlov
@MegaPoxie3 жыл бұрын
What does "power increase to $3.60 cents above critical" mean, keeping in mund my hearing isn't too flash?
@derekp26743 жыл бұрын
Strictly speaking $3.60 is a reactivity measurement not a power one. It means that the reactor was made substantially super prompt critical ($1 is the USA term for prompt critical - the Russians use an alternative symbol). This means that the neutron chain reaction can self sustain and increase on the basis of prompt neutrons alone, i.e. using the neutrons directly produced by the fission of U-235 and without having to wait around for any neutrons produced later by the radioactive decay of fission products. Such conditions would cause the reactor power to surge very rapidly, liberating enough energy to explosively dismantle the reactor in a very short time. I'm going to say less than 10 milliseconds as a rough guess, in which case the reactor would explode much as if it were being blown apart by a chemical explosive.
@itisjustacomment3 жыл бұрын
Number 2 but points at 1. I was thinking about that bit so much I missed the few minutes before that also the giant foot from flying circus through me. I'm easily confused :) Then the old fashioned 3 bars in the top right corner to show an advert was coming up sent me back to my childhood watching tv in the '80 and '90. See I'm easily distracted also :)
@PlainlyDifficult3 жыл бұрын
Boom!
@itisjustacomment3 жыл бұрын
@@PlainlyDifficult where did my 💓 go? See I don't miss anything :)
@dez19893 жыл бұрын
I love your videos and especially your humor! Well along with all of the information! You are a credit to criticality! Thanks for all of your hard work! Keep glowing like a Radioactive beacon in the darkness of night!
@PlainlyDifficult3 жыл бұрын
Thanks so much!
@dez19893 жыл бұрын
@@PlainlyDifficult Honestly, thank you. I also look forward to your Brief History videos. You put a lot of time into making these both funny yet informative. That's not easy. Well plus editing the videos and pictures! Lots of work. Just know that there are a lot of us out here who appreciate your work.
@seanmckinnon46123 жыл бұрын
You should do the Borax test reactors too!
@PlainlyDifficult3 жыл бұрын
Thanks for the suggestion
@matiasfpm3 жыл бұрын
The Borat test Reactors... My mind betrayed me fastttt
@Mr_T_Badger3 жыл бұрын
Something tells me this does NOT involve Borax laundry powder. 🤣
@uzaiyaro3 жыл бұрын
Could someone kindly explain what the dollars and cents thing is about? I'm kinda fascinated by this.
@matthewkriebel73423 жыл бұрын
I think he’s just expressing 360% in a funny way.
@interstellarsurfer3 жыл бұрын
@@matthewkriebel7342 The funny people who originally engineered this stuff 'coined' that term. 😋
@eaglevision9933 жыл бұрын
Well it is just a unit to measure reactivity in a critical mass. A dollar defines the rate of a steady criticality with no increase in it. Like a self sustaining chain reaction. So 2 dollars would be a runaway excursion for example. The more dollars greater than one means more and faster trouble....
@neuralmute3 жыл бұрын
@@eaglevision993 I never knew that! Thanks for the good, clear explanation. So $3.60 meant that it was completely f*cked, I suppose?
@dmhendricks3 жыл бұрын
Someone in another thread linked to this: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dollar_(reactivity)
@rtrThanos3 жыл бұрын
7:55 “Due to not having the reflector drums installed, a different form of power control was needed.” 9:08 “All 37 fuel elements and 6 beryllium reflectors were destroyed.” Must be one heck of an explosion to destroy reflectors that aren’t even installed.
@spicywolf67183 жыл бұрын
Reflector =/= drum The reflectors in question were permanently affixed to the reactor unlike the drums Hence why all 6 were destroyed when there were only 4 drums
@gearsngunz62603 жыл бұрын
Always looking forward to an upload! Great vid as usual!
@aalborgsoundwboi3 жыл бұрын
Foot steps on thing, fart sounds. Nice Python reference! :D Also, subscribed a while back, but never got around to telling just how much i enjoy your content! Thanks a lot, please keep 'em coming! :) Cheers!
@MrRedsjack3 жыл бұрын
Can you do a video explaining all the types of unit of measurement used in these videos and their effects on the human body? Curie Rad Rem Rondgens Sieverts Bequerel Culomb Grays Because I don't understand them well and you often switch units between videos for no explained reason. 😐
@Gav_Rez5 ай бұрын
Loving the way yourself as a voice over is so different haha. Love all your stuff too by the way.
@filpaul3 жыл бұрын
Looks like he’s entering into a Zone of Danger 10:15
@waharadome3 жыл бұрын
No no, but how would you phrase that?
@interstellarsurfer3 жыл бұрын
@@waharadome Danger Zone! 😂
@neuralmute3 жыл бұрын
@@interstellarsurfer Damn you, I'll never get that song out of my head now!
@RCAvhstape3 жыл бұрын
Hey Lana. Lana. LANA!
@waharadome3 жыл бұрын
@@RCAvhstape WHAT!?
@tethys8113 Жыл бұрын
In the case of the SNAPTRAN-2 test, what would have been the mechanism causing the core to explode, rather than just melt? I can imagine that in SNAPTRAN-1, the rapid boiling of the water flooding the core would have produced a considerable destructive force, so would the expansion of air due to heating have produced a similar effect in the second test?
@hedgeearthridge68075 ай бұрын
A big thing here is NaK explodes when it contacts water, just like Sodium metal and Potassium metal. Because that's what it is! If you mix together Sodium and Potassium metal, they merge and become a liquid for some reason. Thunderf00t on KZbin experiments with it a lot, I believe he put it in a car fuel injector to make a highly controllable and accurately dosed explosion-sprayer for experiments 😂
@comradedyatlov41433 жыл бұрын
Happy New Year, man! I absolutely adore your videos and they are REALLY motivating me to finally get out there and reach my dreams of becoming a nuclear engineer. I LOVE YOU! ❤
@DrKlausTrophobie3 жыл бұрын
13:15 Wait! Does it mean in ~4000 years 4.7kg of Uranium will be falling down on earth?
@jamestheotherone7423 жыл бұрын
Yes. But probably sooner when it gets hit by another piece of space debris and gets scattered into a large cloud of radioactive junk.
@JohnDoe-ce2wl3 жыл бұрын
@@jamestheotherone742 I'd rather see it get picked up by a starship ;)
@guim2223 жыл бұрын
Holy Sh... humanity already did THAT mess too?!! I am suprized no more people find this odd!!
@MrMontanaNights3 жыл бұрын
4000 years from now humans will either be long gone, or have progressed to the point that all that space junk will have be taken care of. They’ve already started to design (or conceptualize at least) space junk collecting spacecraft. Unless we, as a modern civilization, self destruct. In which case, all bets are off and good luck future humans.
@jamestheotherone7423 жыл бұрын
@@MrMontanaNights Yeah I agree, its that in between part that is tricky.
@pinkmouse48633 жыл бұрын
Good start to the year, keep it up!
@Soundbrigade3 жыл бұрын
The guy who always stepped on his colleges feet has obviously been replaced. Great to see nasty stuff being tested thoroughly. The Swedish warship Wasa (on display in Stockholm) was also tested and considered definitely not seaworthy. In came the captain: “Hoist ALL sails!!!” .... Absolutely a 10 on the richter scale.
@henriknilsson78513 жыл бұрын
Thanks for sharing this bit of nuclear-powered 1960s madness! Happy New Year to PD
@bensurgeoner77553 жыл бұрын
Thank you so much for reading out the PD rating scale number, I finally know what the rating is while I'm driving and can't see the screen
@Daydreaminginmono3 жыл бұрын
Destructive testing is always fun, even with nuclear reactors!
@neuralmute3 жыл бұрын
I'm glad not to be the only sick bastard here thinking this! You know those guys enjoyed their work.
@Damien.D3 жыл бұрын
When it's controlled or at lest in a controlled and remote place (ahem, SL1), it provides good data for safety. US voluntarily destroyed reactors -> Three Miles Island is their worst nuclear incident. USSR never recorded anything on their multiple mishaps for secrecy reason -> Tchernobyl, Kyshtym, Andreev Bay...
@tunneloflight27 күн бұрын
At $3.50, milliseconds of operation, 1.37 million times design power, and complete destruction of the reactor, this was a very low yield (5.6 kg TNT equivalent, or 0.0056 T) nuclear detonation of a reactor. The second destructive test equalled 12.8 kg TNT equivalent (0.0128 T TNT) - another nuclear bomb. A very low yield bomb, but more than ample to destroy the reactors and to make them dirty bombs.
@kai9903 жыл бұрын
Woah. Your best one so far. Keep up the great work.
@PlainlyDifficult3 жыл бұрын
Thanks 😁
@Hey_MikeZeroEcho22P3 жыл бұрын
So Stand-By........2020P was hell........6020, "HOLD My Beer!!!!" Sh**!!!!
@TeemarkConvair3 жыл бұрын
one wonders what Cornelius will think when that satellite comes crashing to the surface...
@FlyingSavannahs3 жыл бұрын
"Ape has never nuked ape!"
@SynchroScore2 жыл бұрын
The results of this testing was actually used during a later NASA mission. Apollo 13 launched with a SNAP-27 reactor aboard the Lunar Module, to power the ALSEP equipment to be set up on the Moon. When the landing was scrubbed and the LM headed back toward Earth, it was maneuvered to reenter over a deep part of the Pacific Ocean, so the reactor would hopefully not cause any damage.
@vovinio2012 Жыл бұрын
SNAP-27 is not a reactor, it`s RTG system.
@SynchroScore Жыл бұрын
@@vovinio2012 It was still a plutonium source, and had to be treated very carefully.
@holyassbutts2 жыл бұрын
*Scientist:* Throws sh*t at a fan *Sh*t:* Hits fan, splatters everywhere *Scientist:* "Ah yes, interesting" *Other Scientist:* "Write that down! Write that down! ^ The "experiments" in this video in a nutshell
@jiggermole6 ай бұрын
Intentional destructive testing is always a win.
@TycoonTitian013 жыл бұрын
First episode of 2021! Nice vid, by the way!!
@trevormurphy70413 жыл бұрын
Been waiting for you to do a video like this also had another idea for a video how much nuclear waste is in space I watched a few of your videos that’s what I’m thinking right now
@Darkness-tk1hx3 ай бұрын
Idk why I'm addicted to these vids
@lsrengines3 жыл бұрын
BORAX TEST NEXT? GREAT JOB
@jeffbriem3 жыл бұрын
I did not get the notification for this video and I appreciate the posts to remind me. I look forward to my usual Saturday morning dose of nuclear chaos.
@PlainlyDifficult3 жыл бұрын
Thank you!
@nicksantos435 ай бұрын
SNAP reactor development contributed to the Santa Susana Field Lab being a radioactive superfund site. The 60s were a different time!
@danielstrobel38323 жыл бұрын
Great stuff! Working at a nuclear researc facility, I always learn something to anoy my bosses over here!
@caitlinriley20353 жыл бұрын
This is how you get through a snowy day in England
@wilting_alocasia3 жыл бұрын
I wish it was snowing over here in east anglia! 😭
@PlainlyDifficult3 жыл бұрын
No snow in my sunny southeastern corner of London
@caitlinriley20353 жыл бұрын
I'm in south Yorkshire id love to be able to post a picture its -2
@neuralmute3 жыл бұрын
*Laughs in Canadian*
@dmhendricks3 жыл бұрын
*Cries in upper-Midwestern USA accent*
@colchronic3 жыл бұрын
Do a video on the one time the US set plutonium on fire to see what would extinguish it
@PlainlyDifficult3 жыл бұрын
They tried that a few times by accident at rocky flats!
@colchronic3 жыл бұрын
@@PlainlyDifficult I saw the aec video on it and it's pretty crazy but it was a different time and this kind of shenanigans was considered science
@Quadrolithium3 жыл бұрын
Because why not? It's better to intentionally find out to avoid mistakes later, than to learn from said mistake
@SBoyne Жыл бұрын
The US orbited one nuclear reactor, and it will remain in orbit for roughly another 4,000 years. The USSR orbited 33 reactors of a similar design to SNAP-10A, which filled low Earth orbit with about 128 kg of solidified chunks of the NaK liquid-metal coolant when the reactors were ejected to graveyard orbits. One (Kosmos 954) failed to eject the reactor, and instead spread a trail of radioactive debris across northern Canada. Gotta love the USSR’s “ehh, fuck it” attitude to all things nuclear!
@82rotaryman Жыл бұрын
At 8:53; "the reactor suddenly experienced a raise in power to $3.60 above critical?" I'm no rocket surgeon but I don't think that's the right unit of measurement...
@Absaalookemensch3 жыл бұрын
Three headed antelope are still seen in the Arco and Mackay area.
@mindtouchone3 жыл бұрын
The creativity of this man is Hollywood level,
@simon1994183 жыл бұрын
Molten NAK, Uranium and water.....what could possibly go wrong?
@sethtothemax3 жыл бұрын
Any chance you can make a video explaining what the diffrent nuclear measurements mean?as I enjoy the videos I just wish to better understand how bad something is and what it means
@intechio90133 жыл бұрын
12:01 i thought i had water in my ear but it was just you correcting your sentances lmao
@ZieSpiralOut3 жыл бұрын
On my way to work, last thing I get to do, watch a new plainly difficult video! Whoop whoop!
@utah1332 жыл бұрын
That explains the huge circular fenced-off areas you can see on Google maps of the western deserts.
@Sir_Uncle_Ned Жыл бұрын
$3.60 above critical! Yikes! For referance, $0 is when a reactor is holding a steady power level, and $1 is the strength of nuclear reaction that makes an atomic bomb. And this destruction test was 3.6 times that level.
@xeokym2233 жыл бұрын
I'm a nuclear engineer from all the stuff I learned from this channel!
@drunkimunki4286 Жыл бұрын
those jump cuts with the read oout levels omg
@rapidthrash19643 жыл бұрын
Now this is a great start to a new year; excellent documentary and I wish I could work for you
@SotonSam3 жыл бұрын
Love the lines in the top right to show ads are about to start like on tv
@lewisdoherty76213 жыл бұрын
The debris from the tests were dumped in a hole in Oak Island which was considered safe disposal since no matter what digging is done, nothing has ever been able to be located.
@Kokoshi3 жыл бұрын
Wait, that reactor is still up there?! That's a big space debris!