Inside a Nuclear Reactor

We're at the High Flux Isotope Reactor at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
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More links and info in full description ↓↓↓
Thanks to everyone at HFIR at Oak Ridge - neutrons.ornl.gov/hfir
More from our trip to Oak Ridge: • Trip to Oak Ridge - Pe...
Real Plutonium: • REAL PLUTONIUM
Nuclear Lab in the UK: • Nuclear Lab (RADIOACTI...
Correction: Engine experiment mentioned at the very end was actually performed at ORNL’s Spallation Neutron Source.
Thanks to AP Archive: www.aparchive.com
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More chemistry at www.periodicvideos.com/
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And on Twitter at / periodicvideos
From the School of Chemistry at The University of Nottingham: bit.ly/NottChem
With thanks to the Garfield Weston Foundation.
Periodic Videos films are by video journalist Brady Haran: www.bradyharan.com/
Brady's Blog: www.bradyharanblog.com
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[@periodicvideos]

These videos are made by Brady Haran - check out his "Unmade Podcast" here: bit.ly/UnmadePlaylist

[@1.4142]

nice

[@Meton12765]

The Chernobyl reactor was a stolen Hanford Type B reactor. It wasn't designed to make electricity. It was a highly volatile reactor to make Plutonium. Hence the results.

[@AllonKirtchik]

“A basket of radioactive rabbits is lowered into the cask” I never thought I’d ever read something like that.

[@AlaskaSkidood]

r/BrandNewSentence

[@Call_Me_David]

Let's hope a magician never pulls a radioactive rabbit from a hat.

[@Call_Me_David]

@@AlaskaSkidood i wish subreddit links were a standard that worked everywhere.

[@TheExplosiveGuy]

*lowered into the sugarman. Come on, get your terminology right...

[@humblesoldier5474]

I'd expect to read something like this in a Fallout game. Not a Periodic video.

[@robrod7120]

That Cherenkov blue glow is absolutely stunning. The engineering and science behind these reactors is masterful

[@mrgoob76]

*Rob Rod* which is funny because everyone seems to think that radiation is green.... which it isn't... it is blue

[@drivenbydemons6537]

Agreed. It's the best shade of blue ever.

[@humblesoldier5474]

To think for a moment The Elephant Foot was just as stunning in open air.

[@alexspalding4945]

Humble Soldier jeez yeah when you think of what it would have looked like when it was fresh

[@ideezurform8606]

@@drivenbydemons6537 If you like that kind of blue you might like to take a look at clear UVC neon tubes. I mean on the internet, don't expose yourself to UVC light that stuff is dangerous.

[@waitaminutedoggie8048]

"...not trying to make electricity like, say, Chernobyl reactor..." That's one heck of an example, professor.

[@AnonyTests]

waitaminutedoggie ikr xD

[@tomr6955]

For better or worse Chernobyl is the most well known nuclear power station. Probably worse

[@stephenbrand5661]

Rosatom is still operating 10 reactors of the same RBMK-1000 model across Russia.

[@maksimmuruev423]

@@stephenbrand5661 It's pretty save until next Dyatlov .

[@steelwarrior105]

@@stephenbrand5661 there have been significant changes to the rbmk since then, they are pretty safe now.

[@CAfakmykak]

14:00 Imagine being new there and the dude is like, "Theres 5 rabbits loose in the reactor right now"

[@unmistified2251]

I went to the Nottingham open day and met the professor last month he is an amazing and funny guy

[@mingerone]

I had him for a chemistry lab when I did Biochemistry and Genetics at Nottingham in the late '90s. Lovely and memorable guy :)

[@unmistified2251]

Ming Lord agreed

[@sam08g16]

First time I met Martyn I was a grad student in King's College way back in 1968. During summer my buddies and I went camping and I saw Martyn quietly wandering around in the field, contemplating nature. I approached him and tried to initiate a conversation but he ignored me for 5 or 6 minutes, then made some strange "baaa" sounds, which intrigued me greatly. Turns out it was actually 2017, I was stoned and talking to a sheep. Really nice guy anyway.

[@mrping100]

If you go to notts take his green chem you won't regret it

[@RoastCDuck]

You don't happen to acquire a piece of proffesium hair ?

[@belperite]

Thank you for letting Dr Bryan just explain it all without interruption, something very rare on TV documentaries these days.

[@N00B283]

well, he is british

[@damjanusljebrka5482]

@@N00B283 nope he is Aussie actually

[@supersexyspacemonkey1977]

@Damjan Incorrect. Born in London. Lived his entire life in England.

[@mikeyoung9810]

Why it's maybe rare is a documentary in itself.

[@sea9994]

Bryan is awesome

[@EricPalmer_DaddyOh]

This tour was outstanding. Dr. Bryan was such a great tour guide.

[@Jim54_]

Humanity’s rejection of Nuclear power was a massive mistake, and the environment has payed dearly for it as we continue to rely on fossil fuels for our electricity

[@slovgoblin8165]

and do huge harm to ecosystems around solor farms and wind farms

[@nullvoidpointer]

yup.

[@UchihaFabio]

The mistake was the way it was introduced. Talk about bad PR

[@mineovernutter]

@@UchihaFabio We also have fossil fuel lobbying to thank for that :/

[@arttujarvinen568]

Wind is the way

[@AliHSyed]

The guest presenter is a good story teller/explainer

[@humblesoldier5474]

Reminded me of one my managers at work. Very nice guy.

[@owenbryan607]

Hes my dad. Can confirm hes cool

[@joshuagibson2520]

No. Sir Martyn is the ONLY presenter. Everyone else is just an illusion. Big

[@alibabapirce9782]

i wonder why every physicist looks like they were shocked with electricity at young age :D

[@Artey86]

@@owenbryan607 What degree does he have? he sounds very well-spoken, professional and knowledgeable

[@Draxis32]

9:58 Dr. Chris Bryan: You can't really trap neutrons Neutron Star: *Hold my warped space-time*

[@namibjDerEchte]

Ultra-low-temperature condensed matter would like a word with you.

[@guy3nder529]

YOU can't trap neutrons. GRAVITY however is a different story.

[@humblesoldier5474]

Unless you want to warp the Earth it'self with either A) enough gravity to turn the earth into a Neutron star, or B) Local Space Time to the point causality is almost looping around on itself and causality is slowed down so much you'd have built a fast forward only time machine, or C) Enough Magnetic power to make Magneto impressed, and no one around it is liquefied yet.

[@cyklotronpl7785]

@@guy3nder529 NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE!... when you have a silly haircut

[@WetaMantis]

@@cyklotronpl7785 Don't you dare criticize Dr Poliakoff's majestic hair!

[@macestillmace2514]

The camera man's way of asking questions and general commentary brings me back to this video at least twice a year.

[@EnDTh3S1L3NcE]

I thought "I wonder what a nuclear reactor looks like" and I'm here, the Internet is truly amazing

[@karhukivi]

In 1966 Glenn Seaborg brought a 10kW reactor to display in Dublin and I took a day off school to visit it. It was accommodated in a large inflatable "igloo" with an airlock and I remember looking through 4m of water to see the blue glow of the Cerenkov radiation. I didn't have a camera, unfortunately. Seaborg was interviewed by a TV reporter who only asked questions about the Cold War which Seaborg tried to answer, preferring science questions which were not forthcoming! He was a co-discoverer of several trans-uranic elements including plutonium and lived to 86 years.

[@RichMitch]

Great comment

[@naota3k]

How freaking cool is that.. thanks for the comment!

[@petertaylor4980]

You could add that element 106 is named after him.

[@robertreynolds9228]

Hey there Mr Reynolds i have family in Belfast. Lots of us Reynolds.

[@BlackSakura33]

The cold war was important considering the millions of innocent people you guys killed at a blink of an eye. Americans were afraid they would be killed the same way soon.

[@zippymax1]

One of your best vids ever. I bet that lab was mega-top-secret in the past.

[@gordonrichardson2972]

Only during WW2. Since then it has no longer been involved in nuclear weapons, and is not secret anymore.

[@brianreddeman951]

There still is... As per the what the man said "they supposedly make power fuel but I don't know much about that..." :)

[@gordonrichardson2972]

@@brianreddeman951 The spent reactor fuel gets transported off-site to another more-secret facility.

[@lajoswinkler]

@@brianreddeman951 Nothing secret about that. MOX fuel is made by recycling spent fuel. Best thing to recycle, by far.

[@BeCurieUs]

@@lajoswinkler MOX is a different process, that plant is still being made and is only meant for powered reactor fuel. This is a mixed aluminum fuel renaturing process very different from PUREX used for MOX. As a nuclear nerd, I also don't know anything about this program!

[@FabledGentleman]

6:22 - when the camera gets close, the sound starts to crackle, made my heart stop for a second.

[@joshcanttakeajoke2853]

The world will realize the importance of atomic energy one day my guy, your vision will become reality I guarantee.

[@wellreadbull3740]

Oh Brady please consider making a numberphile video about Involute shapes!

[@Baigle1]

what about involutes for an oval

[@spudmckenzie4959]

Yes!!!! We need one

[@danieldevito6380]

When talking about nuclear reactors, the majority of people are mostly fascinated by the blue glow of the Cherenkov radiation, but, in my opinion, the snowy like interference you see on videos is far more fascinating. Especially when you consider how each pixel flash is an invisible, high energy, charged particle hitting the camera lense at almost the speed of light. If, somehow, humans had the ability to see these charged particles with either our eyes, or a special camera, you would see a shower of energy coming from the reactor core. The fact that we're not able to see the actual particles themselves, but instead just the effect they have on video, makes it, in my opinion, far more fascinating than the blue glow of the Cherenkov radiation.

[@Clean97gti]

Astronauts have described seeing flashes of light while in orbit and it's thought these are either photons that zip through the eyeball and activate a part of the astronaut's retina, or some cosmic ray that impacts neurons and causes the person to see a flash even though the particle wasn't actually visible. So in a sense, we can 'see' these charged particles as long as they hit the right spots in our optic nerves. Not sure what kind of exposure you'd be talking about if you were working close enough to the reactor and somehow the shielding failed and you started seeing regular flashes.

[@pomegranatechannel]

Thanks for mentioning. I didn't notice the first time I watched. Both phenomena in a single shot are fascinating.

[@Restilia_ch]

@@Clean97gti It's also possible to have neutrinos hit the water in our eyes, giving off a flash of light. Neutrino detectors work the same way, looking for the flash. They would be exceedingly rare events to happen to a person, perhaps never in a lifetime given how little neutrinos react with ordinary matter, but certainly possible.

[@ZeNashB]

@@Restilia_ch Except that the odds of a Neutrino hitting ANYTHING are supremely low, let alone water inside your eyeballs. At SuperKamiokande, the water is heavy water and its a tank the size of half a football field, and yet they see 5 or 6 neutrinos per month

[@Restilia_ch]

@@ZeNashB I know it's extremely low. Doesn't mean it's impossible.

[@flaplaya]

Can hardly believe it... The Brits came to Oak Ridge and got a grand tour of the HFIR. Studied this thing for years with its cold, hot, fast and slow neutrons. Crazy design and this is the only video I've seen of the reactor so thanks you guys and girls for making this. Rare treat.

[@BritishBeachcomber]

As an A Level student, I went on a tour of the UK Harwell Atomic Energy Research Establishment, in the reactor containment building, and stood on the reactor core. All that silent power under my feet. A truly humbling experience.

[@electronicsNmore]

That was a great tour! Since they want neutrons, it makes sense that they didn't have boric acid in the cooling water to absorb neutrons.

[@BeCurieUs]

"boron in the form of B4C, is present in the inner fuel plates. In particular, 2.8g of 10B are present in the whole IFE (0.0164g/plate). It is used to shift the power to the outer fuel element and reduce the core reactivity" This is important as the core of this reactor uses highly enriched uranium. This is so the neutron economy can be high at all points in the fuel cycle, but also means excess reactvity in the core areas has to be managed with absorbers built into the fuel elements.

[@laughterman805]

Glad for you to have had this opportunity to make use of your knowledge

[@michaeljohn5706]

@@laughterman805 tttttttttttttftrtftdddfffftttffftfttttttttfffffttfftttfffftffftttttttfttftttfttttfffttttfftffffftfftffftffftftffffffttftffftttftffffttftftttttttttttttttttfffftffffffffffffftfftttffttfttttttttfffttfffffttf

[@coolbreeze6751]

wouldn't boric acid corrode the metals?

[@michaelXXLF]

Any chance to see this Diesel engine the Professor talks about at the end?

[@scottperry9581]

It would be great to see the video of combustion from the engine in operation. Is there an enlargement function; as in neutron microscope?

[@michaelXXLF]

@@scottperry9581 Depending on engine-size you won't need any enlargement. BTW there are numbers of videos to be found on YT of engines with see-through cylinder heads, even slow-mo ones.

[@belg4mit]

Nothing pubic I could find, but I linked to a video of a coffee maker with the same technique above.

[@humblesoldier5474]

I was hoping they'd add the footage of it after the Professor mentioned it. I was cliffhanger-ed with no hope of a sequel.

[@alexspalding4945]

I must see it

[@f123raptor]

10:03 “You can’t trap a neutron.” Challenge accepted.

[@nayner9]

It's amazing how they have these great models ready to show for Brady. I always find it mind blowing how an entire industry can be so complex without me ever being aware of id day to day.

[@whyargon]

always a great day when periodic videos uploads

[@Vyleea]

Good old nuclear energy. Despite it's ill reputation is it still one of the most efficient and cleanest ways to produce energy. And we couldn't even really live without it even if we wanted to. Parts of modern medicin for example relies on it to produce radioactive isotopes.

[@RBuckminsterFuller]

Germany's really digging a hole for itself with its refusal to use nuclear energy. Not only do they have to import dirty fuels to replace it, but they'll probably have to import nuclear isotopes for nuclear medicine as well.

[@Erksah68]

"cleanest". Waste takes millions of years.

[@Erksah68]

@@RBuckminsterFuller It is better that way. Espescially since france is on fire.

[@NapalmFlame]

@@Erksah68 Not with gen4 reactors that allow for processing of fuel waste. LFTRs, for example, are a much better option nowadays.

[@NapalmFlame]

Also safest, but people don't want to mention that- the number of casualties/fatalities per megawatt produced are significantly lower than even renewables. People just think of the scaremongering of the big three disasters which resulted from catastrophic negligence, and fail to realise just how rare these actually are. And yet nobody hears about big coal power station explosions or fires, or underground coal seams that keep burning for decades on end. Nuclear's bad rep is mostly unwarranted.

[@paulanderson79]

That lift at the beginning looks positively terrifying.

[@Slarti]

19:40 - never underestimate the value of a poking stick even in nucular research.

[@androidkenobi]

NOOCLEAR!

[@Drakeblood97]

There is no such thing as nucular research...

[@deanbarrett7180]

When the procedure for "lowering hammer into pool and whacking container top" fails

[@jmcusack]

In rod we trust.

[@Baigle1]

how else you gonna pay for all that hastalloy, beryllium, fuels, europium? you could put a nice tropical background sunset image behind the blue water with the right lighting and itd make a great postcard though!

[@leopoldo3884]

so basically this reactor is a "yo we got a ton of neutrons to play with what do we throw in there"

[@A_piece_of_broccoli]

it's actually what most reactors are lol

[@A_piece_of_broccoli]

it's called a reactor for the fact that it reacts things so yeah sit back and watch that ominous glow yo

[@theplasmapro8343]

*choose quickly they’re decaying as we speak*

[@Incorporated298]

@tester123532456 there's literally a video of a engineer pouring out a colt 45 40oz malt liquor for the tevatron, why do you gotta act like that....

[@nunyabusiness8538]

BigVinnie lol you have the link for that video?

[@BoxxerCore]

When my parents bought our first PC back in the mid-'90s, one of the first things I remember exploring online was Nuclear reactors and Nuclear bomb mechanics ( MI5 were probably following my parents for months 🤔) Anyway, I always remember feeling a bit let down and disenchanted when I discovered reactors were basically big kettles boiling water to turn mundane turbines, seemed less futuristic. lol ... I always imagined some kind of weird SciFi-like energy transfer process. Then I discovered the beautiful and mesmerizing Cherenkov Radiation. That seemed to be the image of Nuclear energy I had in my mind as a child.

[@reaccionaexplota]

What an amazing video

[@JasonLambek]

I've only found Periodic Videos channel recently, and am very impressed by the content. This particular video is fantastic. Thank you. 🙇

[@jhyland87]

Amazing video. Thanks for making a longer video Brady!

[@SparkyMcBiff]

This was a great tour! I do regular work at a few CANDU reactor sites but this was a real eye-opener into a radically different design and use of the same basic nuclear properties. Great stuff!

[@p.grandmont702]

That humming noise inside the reactor is terrifying and satisfying at the same time! Great vid btw!

[@nathanielb3510]

That bubbling water noise that plays during the underwater clips, is that just recorded from somebody's aquarium?

[@fburton8]

It's like a very muffled version of the Man in the White Suit noise.

[@guy3nder529]

@Disappointed looks like somebody got in those waters in the wrong time 'cause they got BURNED!

[@AlphaNumeric123]

Nathaniel B it’s post-production for sure but that’s a hilarious way to put it

[@texasdeeslinglead2401]

No , an old guy had a long poot. He had been waiting a long time , but then he had read about the medicinal curing qualities of neutron bombing the colon. So in he went. Best day of his life.

[@gregcollins3404]

Wow, real alchemy. converting some elements into other elements...

[@guy3nder529]

The dreams of yesterday are the workings of tomorrow!

[@guy3nder529]

@@dsdsspp7130 they also convert elements to other elements, especially heavier elements.

[@guy3nder529]

@@dsdsspp7130 they explicitely said the turn curium into californium and neptunium into plutonium. those are not just different isotopes.

[@doobyempires228]

unite perry All radioactive elements decay to a lower form, eventually, uranium-238 decays to lead-206.

[@sebastianarganaraz2879]

Transmutation I think is the modern term

[@vxrdrummer]

Superb video. That guy from the lab really explained everything so well. The training aids and videos were also awesome as you could see everything at a component level. The guy asks the right questions at the right times also. Very enjoyable. Thank you.

[@djmikad0]

One of the best videos i've seen on the use of neutrons to produce elements, suprised how informative it was. Many thanks!

[@3Dusers]

4:30 gotta love seeing all those white dots on the screen that are actually neutrons hitting the camera's sensors

[@Sphere723]

Nah ... those are gamma radiation particles. Photons. I don't think normal cameras are sensitive to neutrons.

[@juniorballs6025]

Great work Brady! Quite unusual to see such in depth operational techniques explained, this was fantastic 😎

[@soumyadipbiswas6835]

I can't stop watching, this is addictive

[@Platypi007]

Savannah River Site! I live not too far from there, my dad used to work in waste management out there, my uncle was an electrician there, and my grandfather was involved in installing some of the computers a few decades ago!

[@cjfs1992]

I'm so happy that you mentioned Glenn T Seaborg. He's from Ishpeming MI close to my home.

[@medcologytutorials2636]

It's always a pleasure to watch the professor explain scientific concepts.

[@jrersinghaus]

This video is an absolute dream come true with all the reactor design and nuclear physics lectures I've been hooked on.

[@ctcamara]

What a lovely reactor! I loved the video and all the explanations. I've never been very interested in atomic reaction, but this video caught my attention! Thanks guys!

[@eyalbaum1254]

Brady this is probably the best one yet, and there's quite a competition!

[@Purwapada]

. I LOVE CHERENKOV RADIATION

[@instrumentenfreak]

What is it? It's blue light. What does it? Turns blue.

[@MafagamerDE]

@@instrumentenfreak Its actually high energy electrons moving faster than the speed of light in water

[@Purwapada]

. @@instrumentenfreak yeah- it's as Mafagamer 1999 said - it is when the electrons travel faster than the speed of light does in that medium (the water), so they become excited and produce blue light

[@pomegranatechannel]

@@MafagamerDE That's true but I need to correct you: it happens with any charged particle, not necessarily electrons.

[@MafagamerDE]

@@pomegranatechannel Oh yeah true, but usually with water cooled nuclear reactors, the only charged particles that make it that far is beta decay radiation (high vel. electrons). Alphas are stopped almost instantly and protons, as far as i know, are not a decay product.

[@ericclontz5954]

I grew up just down the road from Oak Ridge. I've driven through I don't know how many hundreds of times. But it always fascinates me what they do there. My dad was a nuclear chemist for TVA , and he would always give interesting tidbits and perspectives. Another great video Brady.

[@andreikoto4810]

We need more videos of this type on KZbin. Thank you!

[@sirraident]

This was very cool and very interesting! Thank you for all your hard work and dedication :D

[@baerlauchstal]

Great video! A pedantic point: the diagram at 9:06 shows involutes of a parabola, whereas the plates are in the shape of involutes of a circle.

[@knutritter461]

During my PhD-work I had sent my specimens for powder-diffraction that used not just synchroton-radiation but neutrons additionally. You can get VERY precise information about micro-crystalline compounds!

[@JohnJaggerJack]

There is something about the bubbling and buzzing of these footages that is quite relaxing.

[@JonatanGronoset]

I love the cherenkov glow around the submerged reactor vessel and the core, so beautiful~

[@This__Is__True__Beats]

Is this the same glow that is talked about in the Demon Core video?

[@SimplySpace]

"Today we're going inside a nuclear reactor, and not just any reactor" Me: Number 4?!

[@slappy8941]

You're in shock, get to the infirmary.

[@talkingmudcrab718]

"This will be our final episode..."

[@aegiselle]

Oops just lit radio active graphite on fire

[@Sylkenwolf]

Put boron on it!😁

[@t.p.ggaming3884]

You didn't see graphite

[@Wtfinc]

This video is incredible. I found myself looking for it again because I love the involute fuel assembly

[@jeylful]

Amazing tour and commentary - I am a computer engineer but I love these topics... so interesting! Thank you!

[@Schluker]

I have visited simmilar reactor years ago in Czech republic. I am still impressed - witnessing science being made real time is great! Good job as always guys!

[@OnlyAFlame]

It's very cool what you can do with that, the elements inside the rods are subject to change from neutron bombardment. That is exciting to see in a video. There is many isotopes I've read do exist. The incredible part is we are going to space with this stuff. I like how you maximize profit by utilizing the surrounding cylinders to let nothing go to waste. All the buttons on that machine looked awesome :)

[@Lowen264]

That door was so cool to watch. I had to rewind the video and watch it work a couple of times.

[@timmallette1888]

I've watched this video twice and I can't wait for the next one. So interesting

[@casualbird7671]

Oh, I didn't know the US could make its own Plutonium 238 anymore! That's awesome, I worried the world was really running out

[@BeCurieUs]

We still are, the program is still at very small scale, but at least it is something.

[@casualbird7671]

@Disappointed no? I'm not sure why it would be seen as one

[@MitzvosGolem1]

Awesome science...Thank you. I am retired from DOE reactor accelerator Dept. Miss working there. Every day new excitement new projects ... Shalom

[@60079regulatorylaw]

What a fantastic presentation,I read a comment and now too understand much more about the complexity og construction and end Markets for these products and supply Chain.Thank you so much.

[@paulscottpadgett1996]

Absolutely Stunning

[@fez943]

Yes! Finally some chemistry physics! Thank you so much!

[@brmevans]

In the words of Phil Collins: "I've been waiting for this moment, all my life..."! Thank you for such an incredible video!

[@DanielLiNeutrinos]

Brilliant! The sound choice at 16:34 is excellent, together with that eerie blue glow, feels like watching a scifi movie!

[@ianmcluckie3262]

that was brilliant hope to see more...

[@TuhinBagh]

That fancy lift though :O I almost felt like I was seeing a cutscene. :D

[@epicmcgriddle7874]

Oh man I wish you could upload dayli! Love the content tho. Thanks professor

[@briancosgrove1097]

He explained the full elements very well, I actually understand what he is talking about!!

[@thedirtykitchenchannel9794]

Thanks for showing this HFIR.

[@MrEven9401]

Cherenkov radiation is both beautiful and scary!

[@m0nty90]

i love how many times he says WE even when he mentions the maintenance part

[@CaseyHancocki3luefire]

this has to be one of the best videos yet! and I really like all the videos on this channel a lot so...

[@77Fmydog]

This was a great presentation. I actually learned alot! Wish I could get a tour but now I don't need one. Thank you Periodic Videos.

[@chrisfromsouthaus2735]

I get an almost spiritual feeling, looking at the soft blue glow of Cherenkov radiation. Seeing it in real life, with my own eyes, would be a dream come true!

[@captainpocky]

It is even cooler in person than in the videos, if you can believe it. There are a decent number of universities with reactors you can tour & the "TRIGA" design is the coolest imo b/c you can watch the reactor while it's critical. I've seen HFIR from this vid, ATR in Idaho, & MIT's reactor, but the humble TRIGA at Texas A&M was the one I could most easily stare at for hours haha

[@VokalFuzionBand]

I agree that it is cooler to see in person. It is eerie, when you are looking right at it, knowing what makes it visible. I've worked in spent fuel pools quite a few times, when spent fuel is being brought in straight from the core in refueling outages. I've also seen the fuzzy effect in video recordings. I am the programmer for the AREVA ECHO-330. We set up our system on top of empty spent fuel pool storage racks. Spent fuel was brought to the system, fixed in place, and in line with our multiple transducer array, and high radiation resistant camera. A regular camera can not handle the radiation from fuel that just came out of the core. Even with the radiation resistant cameras, the fuzziness is there. Part of it is heat from the fuel making currents in the water. And part is the effects of the radiation itself on the camera sensor. In discussion above, people are talking about fuzziness you see with your eyes, if looking at fuel live and in person. But Daniel's original question said 'interference in videos'. It is more noticeable in videos than it is in person. Other than the currents in the water due to it being circulated for cooling, and from heat coming off the fuel, if you are standing by the pool looking directly at spent fuel, I don't recall the fuzziness that you see in recorded video. So it is the high radiation affecting the camera sensor. It has been a few years since I was at poolside. But I have hundreds of hours of poolside work in my history. I live in Lynchburg, VA, mentioned in this interesting video. Been to some of the places mentioned in the video, and familiar with some of the process, including Cf-252. We used that in one of my systems at work and swapped it out every two years. It has a very short half-life. I think about 2.6 years.

[@chmili1974]

I would LOVE to see the video of the diesel engine running, if the image is at all worthy?

[@Echo5Mike]

As a person who graduated from the Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program, this is a very interesting video. Thank you for this wonderful educational experience.

[@interstellarsurfer]

Awesome work, Oak Ridge boys! ♡

[@movax20h]

BTW. I hope you visit a Maria Reactor in Swierk, Poland. It is really cool and a major manufacturer of some medical isotopes.

[@kuro_okami2044]

Holy smokes, I had no idea we made made the fuel for Oak Ridge in Lynchburg. I'm from Lynchburg, that is freaking awesome!

[@johnhagen31]

Utterly fascinating - thank you

[@andueskitzoidneversolo2823]

my great grand father help build this reactor. so happy i found this thank you.

[@DyslexicMitochondria]

Yess another informative and interesting video. This channel is the reason which inspired me to start my own science channel. Thank you guys for amazing videos. Love you as always.

[@epicstuff7522]

you have an amazing channel man

[@omzig18]

When the mic popped as he neared that mockup I was worried for him for a second even though I know it's just a mockup

[@KerryLiv]

Stunningly educational! Never forget how important your channel is to us all...

[@metanumia]

At 1:32 you can see the ribbon-cutting ceremony for Oak Ridge was performed not with _boring_ oversize scissors, but with a small *explosive* *charge* detonated about two meters in front of a civilian audience! That's how you can tell the town had a high percentage of chemical engineers and nuclear physicists in the population. I love that old clip, lol! Also, thanks for another amazing educational video, Periodic Videos! :)

[@MrPlytiger]

have you a video of the imaging of the fuel system of a running diesel engine or is this top secrete car industry stuff?

[@johann9579]

Is it possible for you to show the lenghts, temperatures and co. also in the metric system?

[@michaelXXLF]

Shouldn't be a problem one might think. It's not nuclear science.

[@jimknowlton342]

8 feet = 2.4 meters 9 feet = 2.7 meters 36F = 2C 100F = 38C 120F = 49C 156F = 69C 24 inches = 2 feet = 0.6 meters 20 inches = 1 foot 8 inches = 0.5 meters 25 tons = 50,000 pounds = 22680Kg

[@D4RKBRU73]

@@jimknowlton342 Isn't a ton a thousand Kg ?

[@sujimtangerines]

@@D4RKBRU73 He's converting the imperial to metric. An imperial ton is 2000 lbs... So a little over 1016 kilos. A metric ton is 1000 k.

[@D4RKBRU73]

@@sujimtangerines Ah ok thank you

[@anzov1n]

Those models they have for display are fantastic.

[@PolarCub64]

Extremely interesting video. Well done! Thank you.

[@naota3k]

20:37 okay I *really* want to know who/how the hell these are made. "Yeah we need these machined. Also they need to be internally lined with Europium Oxide." "Uhhhhhhhh is that like mild steel?" Also I'm going to assume the "floor model" control plate wasn't actually built to that spec rofl.

[@scorinth]

I am 100% certain I've seen a truck carrying one or two of those "Cue Ball" casks while on a road trip through Tennessee. Pretty surreal to see it and know it's radioactive material. And now I know what was probably inside it! (if it wasn't empty and going back to the reactor, anyway. :D )

[@manbearpig2164]

Incredibly interesting, I can't believe how smart some people are, I've always thought of myself as a smart dude, but never In a million years could I have figured this out

[@naveenraj2008eee]

Hi sir Never heard about this reactor. Learned a new lesson Thanks to you...