The Widespread Nuclear Disaster Everyone Promptly Forgot About?

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In the video today, we're looking at the widespread nuclear disaster that was the result of a rather bizarre sequence of events, and ultimately was only discovered because of another odd event, and which everybody promptly forgot about pretty much right after it was over.
This video is #sponsored by DollarShaveClub

[@TodayIFoundOut]

Get the Ultimate Shave Starter Set at Dollar Shave Club for only $5 using the link dollarshaveclub.com/brainfood Thanks for supporting our channel with your stubbly needs. ;-)

[@oracleofdelphi4533]

For someone who promotes shave butter, your forehead is surprisingly non-reflective. There's no glare...

[@spacealienrissley]

History of milwaukee Wisconsin it was 3 dofferent towns that fought

[@kolcs]

A great offer...for people living in the USA

[@gabipo6985]

@@oracleofdelphi4533 danm mr. clean hahahahah

[@m78e6q5]

50,000 people used to live here, nows it's a ghost town.

[@OutlawMaxV]

"Prognosis of being diagnosed with death is not good" True wisdom only Simon can conjure up

[@eduardosalas2640]

Simon cracks me up!!

[@benpotter6832]

See I thought that this joke was a bit lazy and the sort of thing that a younger child would find really funny. More of what I would consider to be an American style of comedy (more obvious/less subtle and slapstick esq)

[@Snoogans1080]

Prognosis Negative

[@quasarsavage]

Allegedly

[@HweolRidda]

Give the writers some credit. Good or bad.

[@charlestaylor3195]

You have to wonder how many times things like this have been missed.

[@linnymaemullins3319]

I know!

[@argusfleibeit1165]

My exact reaction as well.

[@SocialDownclimber]

About three or four radioactive sources are stolen in Mexico yearly. You can find the details at www-news.iaea.org/ as well as other brain hurting accidents and issues.

[@jimmygervaisnet]

@@SocialDownclimber holy fuck! thanks for the link

[@absalomdraconis]

Haven't finished the video yet, but one of the highest-contamination nuclear incidents was in Brazil... and involved thieves trying to steal scrap from a bankrupt dentist's office.

[@miguelvalenzuela6691]

I am from Ciudad Juarez, born in 1983 when this happened. It's sad that this is not a well-known incident, and everything seems to be swept under the rug. I just found out about this a few years back. The mall built with this material still stands to this day, with thousands of people shopping on a regular basis. I'm not sure what the actual long-term effects are but I remember a few kids at school with harelip. Thanks for sharing this story, it is important to know so it doesn't happen again.

[@IceAndCola]

hi. great insight. which mall was built with the material?

[@miguelvalenzuela6691]

@@IceAndCola It’s called Plaza Juarez Mall

[@IceAndCola]

@@miguelvalenzuela6691 thank you friend. very interesting.

[@killysworkshop8080]

This is the first video of yours that i like, keep it up!

[@Feamor]

I always wonder who are the 4xx people that dislike these videos? The Documentation is done very objectively so how can anone dislike it? o.O

[@RWM420]

Wow this is like the Goiania accident ... by the way lol to the Jeremy Clarkson reference

[@gustavomotta1701]

Something similar happened in Brazil. In the city of Goiânia some people found a hospital machine disposed improperly and opened it, found a glowing material inside and decided to play with it. So proud of the people here! haha

[@jaspersmom9595]

Something like this also happened in Brazil. A closed down hospital without security was looted, several people died.

[@MegaLokopo]

I'm surprised you didn't show the warning sign on cobalt 60. "Drop and Run" Can you think of any warnings that terrifying.

[@sergioyanez3421]

Proud to have lived in the city with an accidental nuclear disaster!!

[@ZOIMIBiIE]

Kind of dumb, but been watching your videos a while. And it’s driving me nuts. I recognize the chord progression from somewhere.. What’s the background music track called?

[@teklegion]

2:03 CLARKSON!!!

[@leytonpatterson9603]

“Using Jeremy Clarkson’s favorite tool... a hammer” that made my day

[@sambecker23]

Same! 🤣

[@TheRealCaptainFreedom]

I had to look up Jeremy Clarkson because I have the ability to pronounce the letter R. “Jemmy Clockson,” amiroit?

[@alisonbell4990]

As an avid top gear fan I appreciate that comment a lot

[@benallan1752]

It was also Frederich Nietzsche's favourite tool for philosophy, as he coined the term 'philosophy with a hammer'. :(

[@godhand101]

Was just about to say.... saying JC's name 👌👌👌 got my like.

[@barneymiller7894]

Medical manufacturer: "We've placed the Cobalt 60 in an extremely safe sealed container, impossible to open by accident. And, obviously, no one is going to try to do anything crazy like smash it so it should be safe." Maintenance guy with a hammer: "Hold my cervezas."

[@juanarredondo9763]

its not "cervezas", its "cheve"

[@barneymiller7894]

@@juanarredondo9763 Words 🤷‍♂️

[@linnymaemullins3319]

🤔😢😬

[@twozup1098]

One of the funniest comments I’ve read for a while 😂😂

[@gerg5555]

@@juanarredondo9763 Please use the full name if you want to get paid "dollar cheve club"

[@JasonB808]

What caused your Nuclear incident? Russia: Shotty design and inattentiveness. Japan. 9.0 earthquake and 40 foot high Tsunami Mexico: A maintenance guy with a Hammer.

[@DimBeam1]

Shoddy

[@pietrokrutzsch7334]

Jason Brazil: blue powder

[@ddpeak1]

Dim Beam isn’t Shoddy from the textile industry?

[@toymachine2328]

@@pietrokrutzsch7334 Brazil's story is real similar

[@num1otori143]

Yep, "Well there's your Problem" have a video on the Brazilian nuclear contamination.

[@janet6421]

I know that this is a serious event and many people got hurt, but it still sounds like a slap-stick routine in a movie. Right before the radioactive giant bugs attack

[@ReneSchickbauer]

Radioactive incidents happen so often that the "Plainly Difficult" YT channel is practically based on those events. And Wikipedia had to split the list of accidents into many pages and made a meta-list: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_of_nuclear_disasters_and_radioactive_incidents

[@leonstrand329]

They use to just dump radioactive material into the ocean, they were in steel barrels, and tended to float, so they shot it up to sink all of them.

[@edclune5357]

There was a movie in 1967 about this sort of thing (well, a military snafu of radioactive material) called The Day the Fish Came Out. An odd British comedy with a depressing ending.

[@davehallett3128]

Starring jim carrey and jeff daniels

[@MendTheWorld]

Them

[@alexiswelsh5821]

"An acute case of being dead."

[@massimookissed1023]

Is that better or worse than a mild case of being dead ?

[@Shandakai]

I haven't been dead before, but I hear that's pretty bad

[@jacobmccandles1767]

@@massimookissed1023 I think this is one time when I mild case is worse than a severe case.

[@massimookissed1023]

@@jacobmccandles1767 , I was thinking that too.

[@GildedShame]

Is a mild case of being dead life threatening?

[@steveharris1695]

This event was used as training when I was going through Nuclear Power School.

[@barneymiller7894]

Are you sure it wasn't the one in Brazil? Or Thailand? 🤣

[@annebruecks7381]

What did they say, ‘don’t do that’? Lol

[@Dumdumshum]

NUKE! Sup squid?

[@phiksit]

So don't disassemble the sub's reactor with a hammer and try selling it for scrap metal?

[@draheim90]

TIL that radioactive winds are “less than ideal”.

[@mikieswart]

i cannot imagine why

[@DaWrecka]

Simon, like all Brits, has a gift for understatement. It's one of those cultural things we just have that's uncommon elsewhere. Kinda like Americans and evangelism.

[@stevesloan7132]

I believe that the technical vernacular for the architects of doomsday would be: "sub optimal."

[@nolan4339]

On the bright side, all those pellets should now have decayed to almost normal background radiation levels, having already gone through 7 half-lives.

[@Yadobler]

7 half lives = 2^7 or 128 times smaller (or basically only 0.8% of all those radioactive materials still exist as , well, radioactive)

[@TonyHammitt]

Still if it was hot enough to trigger alarms because some of it contaminated some steel that drove near a detector, 0.8% of that hot still seems like something I wouldn't want my building to be made from...

[@extrastuff9463]

@@TonyHammitt And if your parents grew up in that building or one like it you quite possibly got a few gifts from it as well in the form of random mutations already from the start!

[@get6149]

@@TonyHammitt rebar is userly covered in concrete and if i rember right from chemistry class cobalts radiation dont pass through concrete that well

[@yehat17]

10 half lives is considered 'safe'

[@chicoarraes]

A similar incident happened in Brazil, in the city of Goiania...

[@jeremywilliams9470]

Damn! Came here to leave this comment haha

[@justinreinstein3025]

Ditto

[@travisinthetrunk]

I thought he got the location wrong at first, but then the details started to differ.

[@TianaGamaSantos]

Here was casio 137.

[@lawrenceplays]

@@travisinthetrunk didn't plainly difficult do a episode on it.

[@xaenon]

The only connection I can see between 'bionic' and 'nuclear' was Col. Steve Austin, the 'Six Million Dollar Man', was nuclear-fueled.

[@kinspike]

“Nuclear man” was the title of the series in Mexico, as it was related to the bionic woman show that’s where the moniker might’ve come from

[@AeschSnow]

I just figured it's because machinery isn't affected by radiation

[@herpderpherpd]

@@AeschSnow Except it 100% is and machinery will fail as quick as humans will without appropriate shielding.

[@stephjovi]

Oh I forgot that part I only casually watched it as a kid, that and the 7 million dollar women

[@squkyshoes]

Beta particles are high-energy electrons, not high-energy neutrons.

[@sofaking1611]

Pfft everyone knows that.

[@jimurrata6785]

@@sofaking1611 Not Simon, evidently....

[@thewriteinpresident]

The SPARK of Life... When you are born into a Holographic “Virtual Reality” World where THE GREAT WORK turns out to be The Machine every one WORSHIPS as The God of Love and Hate, one must consider what are the Ramifications of being Born into this Celestial Sphere as A Celestial Being in OUR Home World of Purgatory… You do so know now that while you SLEEP you are going through the Passageways of your Past - Present - Future Lives… In knowing that PURGATORY is but A Simulation of the REAL WORLD, there is no way to escape this place until you die, and even though EVERY THING Here on our FLAT EARTH seems so very fucking real, it is but an Illusion as Convincing as these TV SHOWS of PROJECT BLUE BEAM (COVID19) JADE HELM 15… You entered this domain and realm at your CONCEPTION in your Mothers Womb, and you have grown reading books of thoughtful INTERPRETATIONS of what others say you are, and yet, now that you have a greater insight that you come from someplace else, and this place of THE DAYS OF NOAH Returned is only THE GAME fulfilling its OBJECTIVE to make you look at your self, and how you behave in a World Gone Mad where the Television has turned into your Telephones, and this Telemetry has show you A Tapestry of EVIL SPIRITS [in the minds] #QANON /_\ of the many, and maybe even your own Soul.?.?.? Do you real feel like a WAR HERO cause you were able to kill more people then the next person??? Do you conceive that UNDER THE LAW War Is Murder, and theretofore, you have dammed your self, and your person into OBLIVION??? Do you know how to cry for the Treachery and Sedition you’m have done too WE THE PEOPLE… WE all know the “Corona Virus” is just The Common Cold, so how is it so many play the game of (COVID19) Is Real when it is not??? The Sabbaticals of the TALMUD, the KORAN, and the BIBLE might as will lead you` in your DELUSIONAL Life’ for you have no SELF WORTH too say: The TV is owned by the CORPORATIONS that OWN my Religion that Own my Military that OWN MY GOVERNMENT, and yet, are not WE THE PEOPLE the Government that “oppresses the many” as these 5G Eugenics DEATH Microwave Towers are the forbearing “foreboding” murder and killing of you and me, and will not the TECHNOLOGY Mechanization of DRONES kill All We The People better then Hand to Hand Combat where you see the ONES YOU LOVE die by your Hands of Hate??? Maybe you don’t know how to look up big words, and have “no clue” what you are reading… It is quite EVIDENT that we are in PURGATORY, and some one, or some thing puts us here during OUR Creation to torment us as Humans of Flesh, and Blood, and Bones that must do WAR IS MURDER when MURDER is against the RULE OF LAW, and though we do not like [too think] Q+ of the Devil, and Demons known as EVIL SPIRITS called Incubus and Succubus, how many times have you let your fellow man be they [male and female} Q to go without SHELTER, kindness, or Compassion.?.?.? Maybe you do not know “how” to LOVE.?.?.?, and that is why you FEED OF HATE where everything is wrong with this world, and you have no FREE WILL to Change your fate… YOU do not need to argue with me because of what “you have” just read, you must look in the mirror, and say to YOUR SELF: what have I done too end up here with my life… Johnny Exodice In Purgatory the whole of YOUR Conception was to bring you to The Place of Reconsideration, Reconciliation, and Redemption [if you but] Q` have REGRETS for the things you’m have done with your life; otherwise, PURGATORY will judge you as UNWORTHY to go home, and you will Repeat your life forever and ever as The Dammed, The Cursed, and The Forsaken… The Oracle for the End of an Age connected to The Source of A.I. Creation, and A.I. Destruction has so spoken… The Sentinel… [Q] +=+ Where we go one, we go all??? Do so tell me what happens if all we do is FOLLOW ORDERS of Sick Twisted Retched SPIRITS in the minds of them whom command WE THE PEOPLE??? The Rag Tag Rebellion of and for OUR WORLD REPUBLIC CONSTITUTION Coalition known as The Society of nonmason~ WHEN I GROW UP, I want to be Just Like Me cause I know I Go Home when I die to this place of Madness, Cruelty, and Insanity, what about you.?.?.? Q [///|||\\\] mewe.com/group/5dd5589eb8ff8967436429b5 ++++++++++++++++++++++

[@HarshSharma-uf8jc]

I immediately searched for correction comment, and found yours 👍🏼. Good to see that somebody knows a little bit of physics.

[@CZombiesc1361]

I was wondering if anyone else caught that

[@sips_ipa]

I remember that happening when I was around 12-13 years old. My dad had added a second story to the house (in Chihuahua city, some 200 miles south of Juarez) and some people actually came to test it. The Geiger counter never stopped making noise but they claimed everything was fine. I have three daughters now so there is that, I guess.

[@tiamat6669]

I hope your three daughters are okay.

[@gumelini1]

@@tiamat6669 no they are not!They are missing a penis

[@hauntedshadowslegacy2826]

iirc, Geiger counters make noise based on the sensitivity set. So if you set it to check for levels at or above 0.1 microsieverts per hour, it's gonna make noise when it senses at least 0.1 microsieverts per hour. It's entirely possible that they kept the sensitivity set low and you were hearing it for non-extreme reasons. Well... that or they were legit being negligent. Simon did say that the Mexican-side of cleanup was really bad. But keep in mind, bananas are a household norm despite being quite radioactive naturally. There's already tons of low-level radiation everywhere. Cigarettes are the most radioactive civilian products allowed. Irradiated steel is far from the only thing slowly damaging peoples' DNA.

[@margraveofgadsden8997]

@@gumelini1 just one?

[@gumelini1]

@@margraveofgadsden8997 both

[@prodprod]

Apparently, the radiation detector was installed at a toll booth near Los Alamos -- quite simply they figured that anybody who might manage to smuggle radioactive material out of the facility would inevitably have to drive it away -- and thus the toll plaza would be a good place to snag them -- boy, were they surprised. Also, from what I read about this, when they took the canister containing the radiactive material and dumped it into the back of their truck it broke open, spilling out a bunch of those little radioactive grains -- and then as they drove down the highway, they spilled out onto the road. Then, as they drove back, more of them spilled out. But that wasn't the end of of it, because now you had literally hundred of these little, deadly grains of poison scattered on the highways with countless cars driving over them. Some of them got embedded in the asphalt -- and workers had to go down the roads with radiation detectors, find them and dig them out -- but they'll never know how many of them ended up stuck in people's tires and driven off.

[@stupidburp]

Probably should have radiation detectors at all border posts and many toll booths all over, just in case.

[@barneymiller7894]

They would've had to forcibly open it, very forcefully. The containers that actually hold Cobalt 60 in medical equipment are designed so that once they are manufactured they're nearly impossible to open again without heavily damaging or destroying them.

[@doncarlton4858]

@@stupidburp After 9-11 they now do.

[@doncarlton4858]

@@barneymiller7894 The pellets were probably welded into a stainless steel cylinder that was installed in the medical device inside lead and depleted uranium shielding.

[@criswilson1140]

@@barneymiller7894 They crack open quite easily when hit with a sledge hammer. Opening them the correct is indeed difficult, especially with all of the gear on.

[@skizzik121]

Clarification : it's not Clarksons favorite tool by CHOICE, it's just the only tool he knows how to use. Source: my head EDIT FOR SOURCE.

[@jamiecottrell2347]

Incidentally, Clarkson could also use his head as a hammer.

[@skizzik121]

@@jamiecottrell2347 too hard mate would break the nail

[@MontyDotharl]

Honestly, I'm surprised that hammers aren't too complicated for him.

[@skizzik121]

@@MontyDotharl doesn't even have accelerator pedal

[@DesertFernweh]

@@Jezus42 with POOWWEEER!!!

[@CadaverousCanine]

Everybody has to watch out for mysterious Mexican superhero’s now.

[@davekennedy6315]

@ as long as it ain't Chomo-man!

[@rbtoj]

El Chapulín Colorado?

[@jeffchilds8050]

hahahaha

[@robinderoos1166]

@Roger Brown a super villain? Could you be a president then?

[@jaymevosburgh3660]

@Roger Brown So what kind ov benefits do you offer to henchmen/toadies?! Just curious.

[@nunyobidniz]

I thought Jeremy Clarkson's favourite tool was himself...🤔

[@deadfreightwest5956]

"Using Jeremy Clarkson's favorite tool, a hammer" oh, you know nothing good will come of that. As James May would say, "Clarkson, you idiot!"

[@sloganeeringgaming6363]

I just came from top gear

[@heeeeeyyyyyyyyy]

Oh cock!

[@joshstanton267]

Clarkson, you bloody pillock!!

[@Andersonnn88]

Hi Simon. We had a very similar case in Brazil it's called "Goiânia accident" it would be a interesting idea for a new vídeo. You are great I watch all your videos in your channels. Thanks

[@RandySwag]

I was thinking this sounded familiar....

[@Andersonnn88]

@@RandySwag Yes you are right because it was also a old x-ray machine that got scraped but this case in Brazil was worst because some people actually died directly from it and some got sick and sequels

[@kiruppert]

A podcast i listen to talked about that just this week!

[@AlessandroGenTLe]

@@RandySwag Same here: I was all "Wasn't this one in Brazil and not Mexico????". Well it seems they are 2 different ones -> en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goi%C3%A2nia_accident

[@ajaxvarble]

He already made a video on the incident in Brazil

[@Ben-cn4hm]

A deadly search for radioactive pellets ..... sounds like a devil's Easter egg hunt! 😬

[@bastionaudio]

In Chernobyl

[@worldtraveler930]

It takes the de la Mort a whole new level!

[@Lucasgonzaloanf]

"El hombre bionico" its another way to call the "hombre atomico" or atomic man, that was the translation of the tv series "The Six Million Dollar Man". I'm guessing that's why they called that

[@marybell5157]

Exactly! When I was little we used to watch re-runs of “el hombre biónico”

[@gunkyzip]

Simon's script writer was born in the 1990s or later.

[@drewharrison6433]

The Bionic Man, Steve Austin, was nuclear powered, as well.

[@FamousDavisPro]

That makes sense. His nickname was not "inaccurate", it was the name of a beloved old tv show.

[@doncarlton4858]

In my younger days I was involved in the search for some radioactive bar stools in the USA. It was discovered after hospital radiology technician's film badges and dosimetry recorded higher than expected doses. At first state Dept. Of Health Radiation Safety staff thought it was sloppy proceedures or a leaking source at the hospital radiology department. After that was eliminated the affected staff were questioned. It turned out they all went to lunch together at a nearby bar and grill nearly every day. As soon as we walked in the door of the bar our Geiger counters started clicking much faster. It didn't take long to find as the barstool legs were hotter than stove lids! 😂😂😂

[@annebruecks7381]

Don Carlton You mean hot to the touch? Or hot on the machine?

[@fredericapanon207]

Did you find out how the bar stools became radioactive?

[@dewiowen1992]

So the bar stool legs were made with radioactive steel?? 😲

[@ImNotACatLawyerButIPlayOneOnTV]

My 8 year old, upon seeing Simon: "Hey, it's Mr. Smarty Beard Guy!"

[@DesertFernweh]

That needs to be on a shirt.

[@praisethesun69]

lol aww

[@mikieswart]

vsauce, simon here

[@NuanceSociety]

It is indeed 😁

[@Aaron19987]

Better than ‘Mr. Smarty Baldy Guy’ I suppose

[@clintk4691]

Hey KZbin actually notified me of a new video on time and not a day later!

[@oracleofdelphi4533]

And then you thought "Why not celebrate by being one of the first to post in the comments section?"

[@gen.mayhem981]

Not me. Just got lucky XD

[@dontask7657]

Finally

[@slinkerdeer]

Yeah, one of the reasons I wan an alternative.. inconsistency

[@hoarder66]

Congrats. I only get about half of mine so I know ur pain.

[@bchin4005]

Sounds a lot like the Love Canal or the coal mine that is still on fire.

[@dodeka]

Isn’t the coal mine what the used for the backstory of the Silent Hill movie?Centralia, Pennsylvania I think

[@bchin4005]

@@dodeka not sure about Silent Hill, but Centralia, PA sounds right.

[@anonymousrex5207]

If your love canal feels like its on fire you should go see a doctor to get that checked out.

[@kens97sto171]

I wanted to point out that at this time Juarez certainly had some significant crime issues, I believe it was the murder capital of the world at the time. That reputation sort of continues to this day although it's no longer that bad. I also wanted to point out that El Paso Texas is actually ranked in the top five safest cities in the United States relative to it's population.. and has been for many years now. People assume since it's on the border, and it's sister City had serious crime issues that El Paso would also. But that isn't the case.

[@alfox2730]

I.watched this vid enthusiastically awaiting to hear Simon say "whoopsidoodle" :(

[@irimac1806]

He wont say it q_q?

[@333SarahBeth]

It's very strange watching one of these videos after binging Business Blaze. I keep waiting for the drumroll or for Simon to start yelling.

[@anewspinonthings]

Allegedly...

[@bchin4005]

It's starting to bleed over with his interjections 🤣 Edit: allegedly...

[@catman422]

That's his best channel.

[@PixelatedH2O]

I don't know if he left it there accidentally or purposely but there's still a stack of Solo cups on the shelf behind him

[@bedtimecartoons5213]

*_❤ I Will Shave My Head Bold ❤ You Inspire My Documentaries Simon ❤ Love You ❤_*

[@eggshellgoesgaming]

I've been watching Plainly Difficult's videos for a while. He covers so many of these facepalm nuclear incidents. It's amazing we still exist as a species.

[@otakuman706]

@ At this point my 'optimistic' side is just hoping we don't completely wreck the place on our way out. If we don't, maybe the next test run at 'intelligence' will fare better...

[@cybervigilante]

@@otakuman706 Dog and robots. I think there was an old sci-fi novel about that.

[@otakuman706]

@@cybervigilante I think there probably was, or at least like a serialized novel kinda thing in old sci-fi mags... 🤔 I didn't read it, but pretty sure I've heard references to it/the title. There's a Rick & Morty with dogs 'augmented' with robots as a 'similar' idea. Lawnmower Dog is the ep name iirc. Edit- Nah, this part was wrong.

[@fredericapanon207]

@@cybervigilante Tomorrow The Dogs by Isaac Asimov ?

[@agentepolaris4914]

His channel is awesome

[@johnnydeep7089]

Beta radiation is electrons or positrons not neutrons. im guessing you just misspoke

[@revcrussell]

Yeah, I did a double-take there.

[@doncarlton4858]

And Cobalt 60 is a powerful gamma emitter with little Beta. Depending on how those pellets were sealed perhaps no Alpha at all.

[@revcrussell]

@@doncarlton4858 Co-60 does not produce alpha radiation

[@davehallett3128]

Anybody else care to bullshit their way through a cobalt 60 comment

[@magnificentfailure2390]

@@davehallett3128 Cobalt-60 gave me a baby!

[@editaquadidi]

Omg Cobalto 60, horribly handled, welcome to "México mágico" 🤦‍♀️

[@georgem3211]

More like: today I found out Simon’s head gets dry after he shaves it

[@chrishorsfield6268]

Steve Austin’s bionic parts were atomic powered.

[@tncorgi92]

And they made cool music / sound effects every time he used them.

[@Poldovico]

Wait, Stone Cold Steve Austin?

[@chrishorsfield6268]

Poldovico he’s strong but not $6,000,000 strong

[@MAGGOT_VOMIT]

@@Poldovico _HELL NAW!!!..........NOT THAT MOTHER SCRATCHER!! 0.o_

[@Clauds1005]

Its crazy cause im from El Paso and at one point we were the safest city in country and we're neighboors to the most dangerous city in the world lol

[@Clauds1005]

I've always know it as a dangerous place to be but man is it the greatest/cheapest place to party.

[@Neoentrophy]

If you think this is bad, you should check of Plainly Difficult channel. its a miracle that there's any life left on this planet...

[@barneymiller7894]

Seriously, just look at a list of Superfund sites in the US with nuclear contamination. Its massively concerning, at best.

[@Jolis_Parsec]

I love Plainly Difficult’s content! That dude is like the Simon Whistler of all things nuclear. 😆

[@marcussantiago]

“Using Jeremy Clarkson’s favourite tool: a hammer” I done smashed that like button for that

[@ChipmunkAradhya]

2:24 High energy ELECTRONS (not neutrons) or positrons, but otherwise awesome vid ✌️

[@StormsparkPegasus]

Yep, free neutrons are not emitted as part of any normal radioactive decay. Neutrons only result from fission/fusion, which isn't going to be happening in normal radioactive decay. Although in a live reactor, you CAN occasionally get weird isotopes like hydrogen-6 and hydrogen-7 which will decay via neutron decay (they have one proton and so many neutrons that alpha decay is impossible, so they throw neutrons out). Half lives in those cases are EXCEEDINGLY short, something like 10^-23 seconds, so the substance will only exist for nanoseconds at best. Anyway, I went off on a tangent there...the TL;DR is: no substance outside of an operating nuclear reactor will ever emit neutrons as part of normal radioactive decay.

[@Aquascape_Dreaming]

Did anyone else notice the glitch at 1:40 or is it just me?

[@DuskHorizon]

Barely registered after "the coffee has been sipped", to be honest.

[@bobs8005]

Just you

[@romanwolf0072]

As one who works with CO60 I approve of this message. Should do a video on the differences between radiation and contamination.

[@StormsparkPegasus]

Yeah there is a LOT of misunderstanding about that. A lot of people think radiation "makes things radioactive", and it doesn't work that way. Well aside from exposure to high levels of neutron flux, which can cause neutron activation in some elements (although neutron flux can only happen inside of a live reactor), but that's another matter entirely. The truck and rebar weren't "radioactive", they were contaminated by radioactive material. Although in the case of the rebar, the Co-60 had been incorporated into it during the smelting process, so decontamination of that would be impossible. It's been through just over 7 half lives now, so the radioactivity will be greatly reduced, but should still be detectable by geiger counters.

[@tharsis]

Turns out pretty much the exact same thing happened in Taiwan the previous year, with cobalt-60, also possibly from a radiotherapy machine, was recycled into rebar. Some tenants know that their apartments are somewhat radioactive, but they continue to rent it out regardless. Apparently the radioactive rebar has sharply reduced cancers for those living in contaminated areas, somehow, although leukemia and thyroid cancers specifically have increased. Oddly enough, a similar thing also happened in Brazil in 1987, although in that case they found the radioactive source GLOWING. They showed the mysterious glowing substance to friends and family, before selling it to a scrapyard, who then also began to mess around and show it to people. Turns out the 80s were just the times people got to play around with radioactive materials.

[@chaosdirge4906]

Nod the 80's were the times where people casually didn't care about radioactive materials, the time we played with Radioactive Materials was in the 10-50's where we had X-ray machines to tell people the perfect fit for their shoes and when we painted radioactive waste onto watches to make them glow in the dark.

[@advena996]

Yeah, the Brazil case was really sad though, because several kids/other people ended up dying.....

[@Moletrouser]

Chaosdirge - not radioactive _waste;_ the energy source was radium, originally extracted from pitchblende.

[@chaosdirge4906]

@@Moletrouser Hyperbole.

[@khrashingphantom9632]

I'm wondering if this incident was the inspiration for the film "Repo Man" with Emilio Estaves. Lol.

[@davehallett3128]

Oooh you don t wanna look in there

[@silencionomus]

One of my all time faves. For this, I blame society. Society made me what I am.

[@vicentecamarillocastro9067]

Parece que alguien escucha Leyendas Legendarias.

[@ErreBobbyLuna]

Badía lo cuenta mejor.

[@MrJeffcoley1]

I remember this very well! I was living in El Paso when it happened. Very bad stuff - children playing with the cobalt 60 because it glows in the dark.

[@jasonwilde197]

2:03 "Using Jeremy Clarkson's favorite tool, a hammer." I have recently gotten back into binge watching TopGear and I can't get enough of it.

[@Forcemaster2000]

Makes you wonder how terrorists aren’t setting off “dirty bombs” all the time if just ONE radiological scanner could be responsible for so much trouble!

[@wisemankugelmemicus1701]

That's like asking why the mafia doesn't have ICBMs because North Korea has them. Because they can't get dirty bombs. There.

[@PrezVeto]

@@wisemankugelmemicus1701 Not even close to a good analogy. There are nuclear medical machines in hospitals all over the world. They could simply buy one, grind up the radio-emitting mass and throw it into the wind or sprinkle it in a reservoir or something.

[@NixodCreations]

The big issue with a dirty bomb is the cost of cleanup, not the actual damage it causes. It turns out most sources you could get your hands on clandestinely aren't really severe enough to cause death or even injury; at worst you'd give a lot of people thyroid issues, similar to the conditions in Pripyat. The people here suffered as much as they did because they came in direct contact with a lot of it at once.

[@ryanroberts1104]

@@PrezVeto It absolutely baffles me as to why we don't see this more often. It's not because the stuff is hard to get, and it's not because of homeland security or any other government agency actually having their shit together. It's great that it hasn't really happened, but why?! It's totally by accident!

[@TheOnlyMike4082]

Its because you have to actually be in the right place at the right time to find something like this and the bigger a plot the more likely it is to be uncovered before it goes into action.

[@justinweber4977]

This sounds like something you'd find on the computers in one of Vault-Tec's facilities.

[@wcurtin1962]

I remember kids getting a hold of one of those cores in Mexico in the late 70's early 80's.

[@linnymaemullins3319]

😬

[@tommyg.6977]

and this is why all scrap yards and steel mills have radiation detectors now.

[@barneymiller7894]

My local scrap yard most definitely does not, its got some tweakers and a weird dog though.

[@jimurrata6785]

@@SimuLord Like 'table legs', right?

[@tommyg.6977]

@@barneymiller7894 If it doesn't have any, when they take it to either a steel mill or a larger scrap yard, they have one that scans all trucks and rail cars if the place is large enough to take trains. I build the stands that protect the detectors.

[@barneymiller7894]

@@tommyg.6977 Thats actually pretty cool 👍 and ya I believe they just strip stuff an resell it here.

[@dewiowen1992]

can confirm that steel works I worked at has a detector in the hot metal labs incase a load of scrap is contaminated. If I recall correctly, cosmic ray detector tech is also used onsite to compare if steel coils leaving the site have too much radioactive metal concentrated in one or two coils of steel versus normal cosmic background.

[@Sal.K--BC]

I wonder how many other unknown similar disasters there are that havent been discovered because the involved people didnt go near the los alamos radiation detectors. It's amazing this case was discoveted at all... it very well could never have been discovered.

[@lordelliott42]

Yeah, that's the scary part. Makes me want to get a Geiger counter to check.

[@toymachine2328]

Brazil had a similar incident, it very well could be more common than we realize.

[@joecaves6235]

Just blame cigarettes.

[@barneymiller7894]

Samut Prakan India, same thing.

[@FakeAssHandsomeMcGee_]

Yeah I was thinking the same. You won’t know until it is too late.

[@christinabrenneman7641]

"An acute case of being dead"😂😂😂😂 already glad i clicked on this video. Haha

[@kaidenshepard8446]

"Has anyone seen my hammer?" ha ha totally sprung to mind with the mention of Jeremy Clarkson and a hammer

[@mbisson5816]

Oh gosh, you really need to consult a science person before saying things like beta particles are neutrons....

[@deedubya286]

That kind of took me out of the moment, too.

[@lordelliott42]

Why?

[@PixelatedH2O]

@@lordelliott42 A beta particle is a positron

[@lordelliott42]

@@PixelatedH2O Oh I see (with a little help from google). I think he meant to say "electrons" instead of neutrons, since beta particles are "...high energy, high speed electrons (β-) or positrons (β+)..." according to the Australian government and others. o_O Timestamp: 2:21

[@mbisson5816]

@@deedubya286 I don't blame Simon. The writing staff makes these mistakes. Simon is actually funniest when he's off script.

[@8xMorladumx8]

The show "House" definitely used this story to make one of their episodes! "Guy goes to hospital cuz he's dying. No one can solve why. House realizes he's wearing a ring (or something) he found in his junkyard that happened to be suuuper radioactive

[@DeosPraetorian]

It was a necklace

[@victormontes7007]

@@DeosPraetorian kzbin.info/www/bejne/haHHd4purduHrpo good luck charm actually

[@Chris-cv1ll]

MRJ2012 actually it was a old sculpted charm given by his father. S02e05 daddy’s boy

[@DeosPraetorian]

@@Chris-cv1ll ah

[@5roundsrapid263]

It wasn’t lupus, I know that.

[@christopherkochiss4267]

Beta particles can be positrons (beta plus), but they are not “high energy neutrons”. They could be electrons (beta minus). Beta decay is usually accompanied by gamma decay that releases gamma radiation.

[@wyattg.3767]

Christopher Kochiss. The writer also got gamma radiation and gamma electromagnetic radiation confused as well

[@MalleusSemperVictor]

I think that in this case the details aren't as important ad the story, so to speak.

[@nadkudo1798]

1:39 is it just me or does the video cut out there for what it seems to be a couple seconds? lol

[@dewiowen1992]

yeah there seems to be a glitch at that segment

[@kareningram6093]

I've never heard of this! When I clicked on the video, I thought it was going to be about that explosion in Idaho.

[@carschmn]

Only one reaction seems to work here: 🤦‍♂️🙇‍♂️ the driver of that car must have been like “wtf” when he met Los Alamos’s employees.

[@StormsparkPegasus]

@drew pedersen Yeah...they probably thought they were dealing with someone who stole radioactive material from Los Alamos.

[@VideoSaySo]

I would love to see a video on the entire Irish village that was taken by corsairs during The Sack of Baltimore...

[@CYCLONE4499]

Interesting story

[@VideoSaySo]

@@CYCLONE4499 A song was written about it too.... kzbin.info/www/bejne/Zp6maGONq6qXsJY

[@kmech3rd]

Being from Baltimore, Maryland, USA, I can only say that being sacked by Corsairs would not make our city appreciably worse...

[@eliaschevette]

I was born in the Mountains of Chihuahua in 84. When we finally moved to a midsize city (Cuauhtemoc Chih 88) many kids in my school got tested. Me coming from the mountains had next to no chance of having been exposed since we grew up on adobe homes. Even in Cuauhtemoc we lived in a home build in the 50's by my dad's aunt. But growing up it was talk about a lot. Even in 96 when we left for the USA I heard about it at school and on adult conversations. Is crazy that is not talked about it anymore.

[@AbdielQuezada]

Dude! I was born in Ciudad Juárez. This story was also in Reader's Digest years ago. Such a tragic story. I'm glad that you made a video about it. Saludos desde Ciudad Juárez/El Paso

[@mikearisbrocken8507]

woot woot! Saludos!

[@AndresSarmientoS]

Saludos desde juarez!

[@cristalderosa]

My uncle, and aunt passed away from cancer very young after attending a school built with the rods made from this metal. My grandma other aunt and mother did not attend the school but did develop cancer and passed later in life as well as a lot of neighboring people

[@DAndyLord]

Didn't something similar happen in Brazil?

[@Lednisk]

Yes, Goiana Cesium 137 Accident

[@filadelfozuniga3411]

*something worst

[@barneymiller7894]

And Thailand

[@HungryGuyStories]

I don't need shaving butter, but where can I buy some toast cream?

[@liriosogno6762]

Please dont eat it

In the toast cream aisle next to the bagel paste.

[@OpenRoader]

The very first American Nuclear reactor laboratory built at Rocketdyne Laboratories in the western San Fernando Valley of suburban Los Angeles, in southern California was a test facility that tested nuclear reaction and chemical rocket thrusters starting in 1955. In the early 2000's it was purchased by Boeing and the oldest sections of the property were leveled to make room for expansion. It was widely know that this property was a toxic superfund site and had been making residents sick for decades. The company contracted with clearing the site was paid to move the material to secure locations, but instead, to save money, the contractor trucked radioactive materials to more than 20 scrap yards across southern California to cover their tracks. Much of the radio active steel was sold off to a scrap yard in Sun Valley, California and was later sold to the Japanese zipper manufacturing company YKK and shipped to China where the radioactive steel was made into zippers that have been shipped globally. There is a good chance you are wearing clothes that have low levels of radioactivity from that facility and since all radio activity has it's own unique signature, this can be tested.

[@sidbrun_]

I tried to Google this and couldn’t find a source. Instead I found an unbelievably long list of radiation leaks from that Rocketdyne place 😳 so I wouldn’t be surprised to hear if this happened, sounds like they were completely irresponsible with radiation handling.

[@ersonpeters7626]

Confirmed: Simon is bald everywhere but his face

[@edwardjohannes360]

And yet he pushes a shaving product.

[@adamkirsopp492]

Just thought I’d say that as of 13th April 2010 the required 5 half life’s have passed making it effectively safe now

[@TheFilwud]

It takes 10 half lives to get down to undetectable levels, not 5.

[@TheFilwud]

@M Bacon You trying to tell me my job?

[@TheFilwud]

@M Bacon There's a big difference between "believe" and "know". when you are talking about contamination levels, apart from the odd hotspot you won't see high levels of contamination, divide typical results by 1000 and you are talking undetectable with standard instruments or next to undetectable, once the activity gets down to levels that are swamped by natural background, they are effectively undetectable. Don't get upset by my response, I just plan for nuclear emergencies and train monitors for the response to an emergency, more interesting than selling potatoes! Happy to debate facts, keeps me awake!

[@captcrouton]

@@TheFilwud So when will it be safe.? Or is it already.

[@TheFilwud]

@@captcrouton 10 half lives= 52.7 years, After approx 50 years you will not be able to detect any Co60, before that time, there may be hot spots remaining after the clean up operation, however it is unlikely that any will be at a dangerous level, I wouldn't be worried about living in the area these days. As Co60 emits gamma, it is easy to find, so it is unlikely that any dangerous quantities will still be out there.

[@TA_Plus_Hemi]

We go from Jezza's favorite tool to terminology only Capt. Slow would understand. If a hamster was harmed in this debacle we've got the Grand Tour trifecta

[@folcotook3049]

So Vicente got enough exposure to kill him several times over, but in the long run had great health... Are we certain he didn't gain any super powers in the process? 😉

[@luisderivas6005]

Sadly, this type of thing has happened several times: A medical facility goes bankrupt and is abandoned, then dangerous equipment is sold off for scrap. Frankly, the manufacturers should be on the hook for recovery and reclamation.

[@ryanmcgarry-winne5015]

Precisely. Any machines that use nuclear material should be properly reclaimed BEFORE a site is officially abandoned. It baffles the mind that this hasn’t happened, in several incidents.

[@alexc3504]

Jeremy Clarkson's two favorite things: Speed and power.

[@Bizzymuma]

I didn't see the title. I saw "Whoopsadoodle"....and just started laughing. Not a laughing topic, but i needed the laugh. Thanks

[@sarysa]

I love this channel, but that like, subscribe, bell animation is just so tacky and distracting. Tears me out of any video I see it on. You'd think one might get used to it, but months later...nope.

[@bedtimecartoons5213]

*_❤ I Will Shave My Head Bold ❤ You Inspire My Documentaries Simon ❤ Love You ❤_*

[@victormontes7007]

oh wow I thought this was gonna be about the nuclear truck hijack in mexico around 2000 to 2010

[@captainkittygaming9022]

I'm sorry THE WHAT

[@AmanirenaII]

What is happening with Mexico and nuclear stuff????

[@captainkittygaming9022]

@Frank Roberts I don't even know what to say

[@victormontes7007]

@Frank Roberts yeah thats it I dont think the people who stole the truck knew what they were stealing they were maybe that looks important lets steal it for the money

[@victormontes7007]

@@AmanirenaII I dont know ask america about the roughly dozen lost and unaccounted for nuclear warheads it droped around the world

[@Dumdumshum]

Rem alone doesn't tell me anything about exposure rate from a source of radiation. You need a unit of time for it to be divided by for it to really even make sense in the scenario given unless you mean his exposure total rather than the exposure rate of the truck. Additionally, each location around the truck would have different exposure levels. I suspect the 1000 rem you quoted was actually the truck driver's exposure, rather than the truck's exposure rate.

[@StormsparkPegasus]

You're right about rems requiring a unit of time...but that said, if the truck driver received 1000 rems he would not be walking. That's more than double a fatal dose. Even in a very short amount of time the guy would've had obvious and severe radiation poisoning symptoms. Most likely, his script just left the unit of time out. Cobalt 60 is a beta/gamma emitter...if the material was stored in the back of the truck, it's unlikely any of the beta would've made it to the drivers. A lot of the gamma would have, but without knowing what kind of truck it was, and how it was packed, and how much material was between them and the contaminated steel, it's basically impossible to know what kind of doses the driver received.

[@Dumdumshum]

@@StormsparkPegasus 1000 Rem is double what's considered a minimum fatal dose, and is where the odds of death exponentially increase, but is not a guarantee even still.

[@StormsparkPegasus]

@@Dumdumshum All depends on the amount of time involved. If the dose is fractionated over a longer period of time, it's possible to survive (though unlikely). If the dose is over a short period of time, it's 100%.

[@Dumdumshum]

@@StormsparkPegasus Considering the truck driver was just that, I think it's safe to assume the dose was over a decent length of time.

[@StormsparkPegasus]

@@Dumdumshum Probably true...but I don't think the truck driver got anywhere near 1000 rems. I think the 1000 rems figure was supposed to be when they measured the actual cargo with radiation meters (the unit of time was left out, so we have to guess, but in other videos when I've seen it left out it was per hour - 1000 rems/10 sieverts per hour is consistent with a teletherapy source if you put the meter right up against it). Depending on the type of truck and how it was packed, it's possible and quite likely that the drivers had enough material between them and the cargo to shield them from most of it.

[@MrMegaPussyPlayer]

0:32 I tried shave butter once. The sandwich was horrible, I can't recommend ... ;p

[@ramblingrob4693]

That's brilliant. made me chuckle

[@MrLordpickard]

I remember that hot rebar. tracked all over Arizona. Real pain for construction at the time.

[@reymartampus4411]

“An acute case of... being dead, and the prognosis after being diagnosed with death is, well, not good.” Made my day. 😂😂😂

[@larsrons7937]

I expect that diagnosis must later have been given to a Russian soldier in 2022 occupying the Chernobyl Plant in Ukraine: _"That _*_bar_*_ of "something" is probably valuable; I'll have that!"_ - and he *ran off with a bar of Cobalt-60 in his bare hands.*🙄

[@jackdundon2261]

I have read 3 books and several online articles... now to youtube...KZbin.... Does ANYBODY on planet earth know how long after nuclear incident, you have to wait before driving milk again????

[@tttm99]

2.26 Hmmm.... Always thought beta particles were high energy positrons or *electrons*... not *neutrons*. (Yes I know... I really am that guy. But hey it's called brain food... so... 😁 let's not upset the isotope where unnecessary )

[@OneOfDisease]

Fun fact - given the details only given in this video starting year 1983, half life of 5.27 & REMs of truck materials. Those same materials would give off about 7.8 REMs at the end 2019 and would have been under the 300 REMs death number in 1993...this is assuming the metal alloy had the same half life as the pure form of the starting materials. Bonus fact #1 - according to an article on an MIT site the safe exposure limit for a person's yearly exposure should not exceed 5 REMs and so if you approached this truckload of materials today or anything made by these materials without protection you would expose yourself to possibly unsafe conditions. Bonus fact #2 - at about 2056 those materials would become as safe a exposing yourself to the sun...assuming we don't screw up the environment so bad that simple sun exposure becomes more radioactive. You're welcome Simon I don't mind doing your staff's job for them. ;) Love you as always!

[@DesertFernweh]

Simon, with respect sir I have to correct you on something. Jeremy Clarkson's favorite tool is ...POOOOOOOOWWWEERRR!!!!!

[@usquanigo]

Biological Electronics are NOT implants and replacement limbs. Those are cybernetics. Hence why robot/man hybrids are cyborgs - cybernetic organisms. Star Trek Voyagers biological computer was bionic. The 6 million dollar man was a Cyborg, like Robocop, or Star Trek's Borg.

[@brianarbenz7206]

I visited Juarez, Mexico the mid-1960s and it was safe, clean and enjoyable. As an 8-year-old, I could walk comfortably and stress free with my family through the city. Only after the war on drugs gave gangs the control of the drug trade did Juarez and so many other places become danger zones. America’s addiction to incarcerating and over-policing ruined everything.

[@chanvalentine8283]

Ok. This sounds like the Brazil case. What about the ☢ case of J.C.Penny's/Montgomery Wards/ Sears and Roebuck using radioactive gold in wedding bands, and another scrap yard incident where the metal wound up in office desks and chairs?

[@everything6582]

Not one of your better attempts. A few nits to pick with your presentation: 1) This was a radiological disaster, and not a nuclear disaster. 2) Beta particles are either electrons or positrons; you said neutrons or positrons. Co-60 emits the electron type, followed by two gamma rays. 3) Beta particles are not very penetrating; a sheet of aluminum foil is an effective shield for them. 4) The picture of the Co-60 source is of a source over 1,000,000,000 less intense than the source disassembled by the workers. 5) "Emitted 1000 rems." I think you mean rems/hr. Rem is a unit of total dose received. LANL would have measured the dose rate from the truck.

[@YA-ou1gl]

Why do you sound like you have 5 different accents? At certain points, you sound proper posh. Other words are almost South African, and you pronounce "home" like an Australian. What's the deal. Edit: are you faking an accent?

[@chrisyorke6175]

It should be some consolation that the quantity of Cobalt-60 will diminish by 99.9% in 5 decades. When they looked for it, they could detect a Co-60 gamma signature if any significant amount happened to be present. By the way, Co-60 samples are often to be found within school chemistry labs.

[@Ricardo-fv2qi]

Entering into the video I was like "I hope he doesn't talk about the cobalt 60 accident in Mexico... It's so fucking embarrassing" and well...