Top 5 Amazing Nuclear Reactor Startups

Starting a nuclear reactor can be a stressful task. There's a lot on the line if a mistake is made or if there is a malfunction. Today we're doing the top five amazing nuclear reactor startups.
Several segments are licensed under Creative Commons (CC)
Penn State research reactor (CC), Texas A&M University (CC)
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[@rugga]

Watching this charged my phone.

[@denisbitica4859]

😂😂😂

[@AgusPrabowo224]

hahaha

[@karlrobinson4887]

You win the internet, sir.

[@mladendenni7062]

you are very stupid

[@ron3557]

@@mladendenni7062 you are very stupid because u didn't understand the joke

[@MichaelClark-uw7ex]

That's the power supply you need for the new Nvidia card.

[@ggabriel5378]

i think it's enought for the fx 9590 and a crossfire with 2 r9 290x2

[@robotforcego6260]

God, isn't that the truth!!!

[@karimklimes9286]

@@ggabriel5378 this one was good bro xd best amd joke i ve ever heard :D

[@liskurex]

Also, the refrigeration water pumps could be used to cool down the last AMD threadripper prcessor

[@dillonmann6409]

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@cepheus7391]

After the tv series Chernobyl it's been frustrating having to explain to my friends that fission plants don't blow up like nuclear bombs.

[@emtpilot132]

They're hallucinating, take them to the infirmary.

[@Benderrr111]

Blowing up is not the only concern. What about a meltdown?

[@xavierzlotorowiez316]

there's no explosion if you cannot see the explosion. get us directly over the building!!!

[@coketruck]

@@Benderrr111 explosions are worse because the radioactive stuff gets yeeted out of the reactor while meltdowns are just a small explosion and then you the money is gone

[@kovacs-0054]

@@xavierzlotorowiez316 YOU DIDN'T SEE GRAPHITE BECAUSE IT'S NOT THERE

[@johnwells2570]

Look up Cerenkov radiation. The blue glow you are seeing is electrons, produced by the fission reaction. They leave the core at near light speed (C). When they hit the water they slow down to 75% of C (speed of light in water) and the interaction with the water molecules releases blue photons. The blue light is the energy of slowing the electrons to the speed limit in water.

[@anhedonianepiphany5588]

Brilliant! Unlike most others describing Cerenkov radiation, you have made it clear that its cause is not electrons "travelling faster than the speed of light", but, rather, electrons moving faster than light can travel _in water_ - which is _not_ "light speed", or C. There's much ignorance about this, with some people truly believing these particles are exceeding the speed of light (in a vacuum), which is impossible.

[@1337Ox]

@@anhedonianepiphany5588 what do you mean? you say that light doesnt travel at C in water?

[@mygoogleemail2063]

Nope. Only in a vacuum. @@1337Ox

[@1337Ox]

@@mygoogleemail2063 this confused me a lot, I watched some other videos and seems its not that simple :D anyways you are right

[@enigma2536]

Ahem Its Cherenkov Radiation They can produce a sonic boom in a vacuum

[@unweariedheart]

It’s honestly amazing how we as humans harnessed this. From discovering fire to this. Breathtaking.

[@apollo1415]

North YOU’RE BREATHTAKING

[@ThisWeekInGamingx]

@@apollo1415 "Your all breathtaking" 😎😂

[@flyde6521]

Wake the fuck up @Apollo 141 , we got a city to burn

[@AverageAlien]

YOURE BREATHTAKING

[@Banananaish]

Applause from Prypjat! Not bad, not terrible!

[@lupangaell2674]

An American author, a scientist, wrote a book answering questions. One of the questions was how long would I last if I swam in the water that surrounds the nuclear material in an atomic power station. He asked a friend who actually worked in one. The answer was …… seconds…. What, you mean the radioactivity is that strong? No, the guards would shoot you

[@btnpermata444]

why you need a water to do this. if we didn't using water what will happen ? if it's fail

[@eliezercorderofeliciano8413]

@@btnpermata444 to be able to produce Cherenkov radiation. To produce Cherenkov radiation the Schock waves need to travel through dielectric molecules (atoms that can't be affected by electric changes). The blue lights is the Cherenkov radiation breaking the sound barrier and the slowing down to the light speed limit under water

[@btnpermata444]

@@eliezercorderofeliciano8413 I see but I don't really understand, I think I need to learn biology more

[@christophervolk6087]

@@btnpermata444 The water is there to cool the surroundings but also to make sure that the neutrons travel slow enough to hit other ones and make a reaction. The blue glow, as someone said above, is what happens when particles traveling at light speed get slowed down really fast by water.

[@J1122]

@@christophervolk6087 cheers

[@Justin.Franks]

0:01 _"Starting a nuclear reactor is a stressful task. There's a lot on the line, if a mistake is made, or if there is a malfunction."_ These are all research reactors, which are both incredibly fail-safe, and incredibly simple to operate. The TRIGA reactor, one of the most common research reactor designs, was described by Edward Teller (one of the inventors of the first hydrogen bomb) as able to _"be given to a bunch of high school children to play with without any fear that they would get hurt."_ Some, like the SLOWPOKE-2, are even licensed to be run overnight without any personnel on site. If anything does go wrong, it shuts itself down, without any human intervention, by fully passive means (no control rods need to be inserted, no water pumps are needed to provide cooling, etc.). And many of the reactors shown in the video are pulse reactors, which don't go through a "startup" being slowly ramped up to full power and sustained - they release their energy in a short pulse then automatically switch off.

[@theclockworksolution8521]

I’m glad someone else commented this so I didn’t have to

[@marxjester9802]

And the reason why we aren’t all using these ones are?

[@Justin.Franks]

@@marxjester9802 Because pulse reactors are useless for power generation. You need continuous fission. And the research reactors that do run continuously are far too small to generate any meaningful amount of electrical power. Most output just a hundred kilowatts or less, with the largest only outputting a few megawatts. It is relatively easy to design passively-cooled reactors this small, basically just stick the thing in a large enough pool of water. Doing the same for even a relatively small (1,000 MW) power generation reactor is just not feasible. There has been a lot of work on small, modular reactors that are essentially completely failsafe. Instead of one large reactor, a large number of smaller reactors are used, each being a self-contained unit that can be individually installed and replaced as needed. Unfortunately, past experiences has made the public so afraid of nuclear power that they are pushing back hard even on these newer, safer designs.

[@alsanpi]

@@Justin.Franks Totally agree, but that is seems to be changing... Many countries are investing in small (and modular) nuclear rectors isn't it?

[@Justin.Franks]

@@alsanpi Yes, I mentioned that in my comment. Unfortunately, we're not investing anywhere near enough in SMR's right now. Russia has a prototype that is actually on a ship docked in a harbor. China is building one that won't becoming online for another 5 years or so. And that's it. Everything else is just paper designs without functional prototypes. At this rate, it will be at least another two decades before they even start to become widespread. The public perception of nuclear power is just so damned low right now. People don't seem to be able to understand that truly failsafe designs are possible.

[@Wisperride]

Beautiful...but kinda scary as well...

[@antimattercarp2720]

Could swim in many of those pools

[@stagdragon3978]

BUT NOT THE DEEP END!!!

[@montysmith6355]

When ever i watch the 73 nuclear test videos on youtube i think the sane thing amazing bur scary as hell

[@ShamblerDK]

That is the very definition of the word "awesome" :-)

[@paulanderson79]

@@montysmith6355 This is a reactor, not a weapon. Nothing to be remotely scared of.

[@alpha3836]

0:22 Never before I've heard a sound that's soo cool, amazing and dangerous. I'm in awe, I could watch that thing start up for hours.

[@3rdmonarch352]

That literally sounds like a giant beast struggling against a chain

[@harshtyagi1041]

That's the sound of the boron rods hitting up and down i think

[@alpha3836]

@@harshtyagi1041 yupp

[@alpha3836]

@@Fritter_Films yea!

[@magicsasafras3414]

It actually not dangerous at all. It's a triga reactor. You could let highschoolers run this thing with no worry.

[@robotforcego6260]

I like the part where they didn't blow up.

[@TomGodson95]

Tell that to Chernobyl

[@Manuu.19]

@Dave Micolichek ejem chernobyl ejem

[@robotforcego6260]

@Dave Micolichek I watch too many old sci-fi movies! 🛸🛸🛸

[@robotforcego6260]

@Dave Micolichek That's was some good old fashioned American tinkering right there. Never underestimate a good toolkit and a back yard! 😎😎😎

[@robotforcego6260]

@@TomGodson95 Yea, that was a bit of an oopsie.

[@q816qq]

Drink that waters and then u can join marvel agent's

[@aceofcheems7685]

"Mayor West you have lymphoma" "Oh"

[@zwink37]

The water is usually just safe distilled water. The problem then would be drinking distilled water is unsafe.

[@kitsunekaze93]

distilled water is actually safe to drink

[@servidorcastlehill7660]

Distilled water has no salts or minerals so rapidly blend with stomach juices making it thinner, stressing gastric glandes fluids production and eventually causing strong stomach aches... I've seen it

[@johneeboi]

The new green lantern.

[@TheFlyingMage]

This is epic. People tend to take the technological achievements as given, but I still feel awe when I see something like that. The sheer power of the nuclear fission is breathtaking.

[@alsanpi]

Kyriakos Grizzly has something to say about sheer amount of power

[@ihatemicrosoftsobadly3188]

this may be very interesting to watch BUT these super fast startups can be harmful to the machinery

[@WaveOfDestiny]

Most of the science fiction stuff is always blue and the fact that it actually is in real life is amazing

[@terranovarain6570]

That's from cherenkov radiation the particals leaving the reactor move at near light speed when they hit the hydrogen in the water they slow considerably creating a effect like sonoluminescence caused by cavitation The mantis shrimp can snap its claw closed so fast it creates a cavitation bubble that can kill prey and generate heat and light Got to watch what you use for a aquarium for them they will easily shatter plate glass

[@WaveOfDestiny]

@@terranovarain6570 i know all of this already. Actually i think it's more the interaction between the water's electric field and the electron wich moves faster than the speed of light in water that creates radiation, almost like a sonic boom. Technically they are still interacting but i don't thing they actually hit protons since electrons can simply fly past other particles as waves.

[@anxiousearth680]

Yeah. Real life is often not as flashy. But that makes the clearly sci fi looking stuff all the better. All in all, a great coincidence.

[@DrDeuteron]

@@WaveOfDestiny that's right. no contact is necessary. The range of electromagnetism is infinity, so just have a charge zip by at > c/n means the medium sees a line of induced charge all at once, and that makes a cone of light. Even weirder is "transition radiation".

[@om617yota8]

Great stuff. Thank you for not ruining the video with overpowering or cheesy music.

[@mcscootie]

Disagree. I want to hear it with the Benny Hill Theme tune plesse

[@012345678944107]

@@mcscootie Disagree

[@murataksu135]

mcscootie i think onyl reactor sound is important in this video

[@jamesonde2336]

I hope those tips are not made of graphite.

[@ghostlylover99123]

We learned a lot from chernobyl

[@geecarrr2327]

Lmao for real and let's also hope the shut Iran down too

[@chunkiermango7982]

Not anymore they are not

[@nekokami3132]

Lol 🤷🏻‍♂️🤷🏻‍♂️😂

[@アイ広瀬]

Only RMBKZ reactors had graphite steel tips on boron rods cause Russia is a cheap country

[@matthewtang9290]

Reading the comments, it appears that most people expected a green light. The blue glow is known as Cerenkov radiation. It is produced when electrons travels through the reactor water faster than the speed of light in water. This is similar to a sonic boom from jet aircraft. At 1:45 in the video, you see the reactor suddenly get brighter. We call this a reactor pulse. During a pulse all control rods are momentarily removed from the core in a safe and controlled manner. Its as close as you can get to an atomic bomb detonation without being in one yourself. I've stood on top of a reactor during one of these events. Pretty cool stuff.

[@anhedonianepiphany5588]

Thank you for being the only person thus far to actually be a little careful with words, such that you don't appear to be saying electrons can travel faster than "the speed of light" (in a vacuum). It's a _very_ common misconception for people to believe Cerenkov radiation means particles can exceed light speed.

[@billybcgn25]

Yes, but note the qualifier: "In water". Water "slows" light down (hence a fish isn't where you see it is, if you're not looking straight down). But those particles--the electrons--are traveling faster than light travels in water; however, as they collide with water molecules, they too slow down, until they are captured in some positive ion's deficient electron shell, and that slowing down is seen by us as the Cerenkov radiation.

[@kirn874]

@Inti Cheveyo 21.84% take it or leave it

[@kovacs-0054]

Well SL-1 had an explosion because the moderator removed the central control rod a bit fast. Ik it is a different design and ik it was a test reactor for small remote bases in the US but damn, explosion was so big that the moderator who was on the reactor lid literally got hanged on the roof of the building with a control rod. Search it up, really horrifying story.

[@pauldilley8974]

Boss: "Is there a way to make the Cherenkov green to meet investor expectations?" ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[@AAvfx]

*It looks like the Tesseract!* 🤯

[@ashok8055]

Yes because of gamma radiation...

[@flynnryder2372]

The Tesseract looks like it.

[@AlphaKingofGlory]

Right that light was awesome they thank you for loving them trust me

[@bluedemons1059]

It sure does 💥

[@blyat1]

@@flynnryder2372 was just about to comment this

[@dant4774]

0:24 insert windows xp startup sound

[@turp5002]

tumor

[@spakentruth]

*reactor melts: xp shut down sound

[@KingSlimjeezy]

Mac startup fits better

[@macrozone]

Looks actualy like the theme from windows vista

[@simonas8547]

Gordon, we have complete confidence in you!

[@manishmandal-78]

Only some people will understand this 🙂

[@teipic2010]

@Ultra Styler Gamer I believe so

[@tommyshelby2250]

Gordon doesn't need to hear all this, he's a highly trained professional!

[@swimmpter]

After watching this video I now understand why flies are attracted to the light.

[@DrDeuteron]

it's so much more beautiful irl.

[@jbmbryant]

Cherenkov radiation is absolutely beautiful, and awe inspiring. Maybe I just need to get out more.

[@mcdoogle274]

Cherenkov radiation is also called „blue light“.

[@allaeddinelkd9490]

It is not harmful, isn't it

[@inverse2k1]

@@allaeddinelkd9490 , it's utterly deadly.

[@alexandergraf8855]

@@inverse2k1 No it isn't! X-Ray and nearby alpha would kill you, but not blue light. Blue light is soft and kicks you like a drug, until x-ray starts hitting through really badly. Blue light heals, x-ray kills ! Having as much of that blue light around, while keeping x-ray out, could be the key to a new medicine of super-powers !

[@cracktower3613]

Just Me - Haha! - You and me Both!

[@thomashambly3718]

Does anyone find the glow very soothing

[@lalaithan]

Harry, no! Don't look at the light!

[@DilliganGames]

I get it =D

[@92fsoakcreek]

Cerenkov radiation. that homer simpson glow is caused by electrons traveling faster than the speed of light. [in this case, the speed of light in water] :)

[@Felix199393]

finally someone who did his homework

[@DilliganGames]

Uranium night lights anyone?

[@iasimov5960]

I've done dozens, maybe hundreds, of reactor startups. The last one was as exhilarating as the first.

[@samshen2157]

What a wonderful work by those engineers!

[@riteshpatel8175]

You are Welcome

[@yogie6543]

I used to make the endcaps for nuclear reactors on a swiss cnc lathe. Definitely interesting but boring to make for sure! I've made well over 300,000 endcaps.

[@thomasgrafe8767]

War es eine Starrag?

[@hotboyjones9551]

Thanks for your service man

[@Spiegviegal]

That’s a big batch

[@PNurmi]

Not sure if someone else explained this, so here I go. First, all 5 videos of reactor startups are at various US reseach reactors. 4 of 5 of the videos are, as you can tell, for reactor pulses. The reactor is brought to just being subcritical by pulling all but one control rod. This last control rod can be shot out of the core to give a shot of reactivity resulting in the reactor to go prompt critical with the resulting blue flash. The reason it is only a flash is the nuclear fuel is designed in such a way that such a rapid event causes the fuel to heat up, expand just enough to leak more neutrons than needed to keep the reaction going, shuts itself down, and the operators reinsert all control rods to go back to a completely subcritical condition. Such a pulse is useful in it gives various material and nuclear experimentalists a large number of neutrons to study prperties of matter and chemical reactions on very small time scales. I believe Oregon State University used neutron burst like this to film the combustion process in a motorcycle engine.

[@ryanborax7851]

Thank you for the explanation. I was quite curious about it and your explanation answered all of my questions.

[@bormos3]

Actually the first reactor is from slovenia, not the US.

[@istkeingeheimnis8093]

Does not make sense because in the first video you can clearly hear a slavic language used for the countdown.

[@NinoJoel]

Look at me I'm from the us and the whole world spins around us. ... Bruh the first one is former Soviet . Nothing American about it

[@hilmarboii7065]

1:25 that looks like the teseract

[@WaveIsAwsome]

Everybody Gangsta Until Everyone tastes metal

[@_GirlBurpVideos]

everybody gangsta, until the rods start a party

[@Mateusz-ne8xn]

​@@_GirlBurpVideos everybody gangsta till the pipes start bursting

[@xXErr4rXx]

tfw you watch chernobyl then youtube recommends this

[@testy462]

Yep same

[@thebubbler2832]

it knows everything

[@boskowalker6840]

I guess we are all here, because of that

[@y_corruptor_y]

Sameee wtf !?!?!?!

[@Shadow77999]

WTF GOOGLE STOP SPYING ON ME!!! D:

[@Dizzz127]

01:08 How all startups should sound so your stomach sinks and warns you of impending doom.

[@uzikuzirama1924]

When the reactor is activated, the deep blue color it gives off is really dope 😮💙

[@greysonmondini5369]

The only true reactor startup is number 4, all of the others are reactor pulses. It even says on the last one. The reactor is running at low power, then the control rods are yanked out super quickly and then they fall back in. This causes a jump in power resulting in the blue flash! :)

[@jaco5187]

I love the popping noise when they start

[@hulexable]

I had the opportunity to visit a nuclear reactor back in october and i was able to see the cherenkov effect in the flesh , it was one of the most beautiful things ive ever seen

[@draco2023b]

0:53 gives me PTSD about that one area in half life

[@johnmccarthy4134]

I love how on the last one it shows the radiation messing with the camera

[@mkkttmttr3401]

Lol i just wanted to comment that

[@neo123321]

I think nuclear energy is absolutely amazing and it really should be a big part of future energy plans more than it is now. We should use a combination of nuclear, loads or solar, wind, hydro, geo and bio in combination with battery based storage to get away from oil, coal, gas etc. I think a good idea would be to only construct nuclear plants in areas of the world that have a low risk of earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tsunamis etc and every country should come to some kind of agreement to only build one type of plant that is highly reliable and low risk with a proven track record. Right now we have a mix of plants with some of them being massively old and built in areas subject to natural disasters which puts risk through the roof. Also a huge part would be to replace everything with a bad energy rating eg in the EU anything below a grade b/c for grade a/a+/a++ etc as it would save tons of energy. I replaced every light bulb in our house a few years ago which was all very low rated old style bulbs numbering about 80 in total for grade a+ LED lights and our electricity bills dropped massively, we’re talking about an 85% saving on lighting, the house is still as bright if not brighter, I’ve only had the odd one or two bulbs die as we used high quality Philips bulbs almost everywhere and only the Chinese bulbs died and everywhere is cooler without the extra heat from the old bulbs. Also we replaced any appliances that died with only grade a energy efficient products and that saved loads of energy. Last year we installed a 6KW solar array on the roof which produces massive amounts of power, in the summer we can pull in 45KW some days, and even on the worst days in winter with completely cloudy sky’s we can cover a big chunk of our electricity needs. Sorry to go on but I just think 100% renewable clean energy is easily in our grasp and we should get it done worldwide.

[@user-vv7cp7ln5d]

Definitely

[@marciimeris503]

Drop wind, keep solar and hydro/geothermal, keep gas for cars, and switch to nuclear fission and potentially in the future fusion for energy production. Gas powered cars make up a very small % of hydrocarbons in our atmosphere compared to coal power plants in China and oil plants in America.

[@cruzer0561]

@@marciimeris503 thats an shitty idea. all cars will still produce too much co2 emissions when switching to gas for fuel. Fossil Fuels are dead and at somepoint they will be gone anyway and what are you going to do then? Go back to stick and stones? Fossil fuels did their jobs but we need to move on. Maybe stick to nuclear plants until renewable Power Sources have been constructed. We have to rethink our relation with cars anyway. The future will be Trains and Buses if we want to stop climate change. If we keep up our wasteful and lavish lifestyle bc we have to drive 500m with our cars out of laziness, we are doomed. This dosent mean others aren't allowed to achieve our living standards rather this means that we stop so others can follow us.

[@marciimeris503]

@@cruzer0561 you realize that cars make up less than 10% of carbon emissions right? Cars do not produce alot. It's coal/oil plants and cow farming/the meat industry. No one talks about that because that would actually hurt politicians wallets, even the democrats. They don't care if they force us to switch to ev's because they're rich and will just buy an EV. Oil and coal power plants will still exist. You don't solve the leading cause of carbon emissions by banning gas cars. And what of the meat industry? That produces alot of carbon emissions. You willing to go vegan to lower carbon emissions? Stop blaming cars when they're not even half the issue. There's a that China, a place where coal usage is unregulated, is the leading country for carbon emissions per capita. Because it's not cars.

[@marciimeris503]

@@cruzer0561 also you literally CANNOT stop climate change. Climate change has existed before humans. Every single ice age that we have documented proof of, has been a direct result of global climate change. I mean ice ages are literally climate change. They are all preceeded by global warming periods. It would be better to prepare for it by improving infrastructure, reducing our reliance on the sun for farming, reducing our usage of coal and oil to heat our homes, reducing our deforestation of the planet. Trees are a natural carbon filter and we're cutting them down at extraordinary rates. There's a reason democrats are so hell bent on wind power. Because it is trash. Solar, hydro, nuclear. All more efficient, all cleaner. But they know wind won't work, so they can keep oil going for longer and longer. Making a profit until they die and it's become our problem. You want to fix global warming. Evs aren't the answer simple as that. I'm not against evs as an idea and an option. But I'm against forcing people to use them. Especially with how inflated the prices are in every aspect of them. Repair prices? It's like comparing a Mac to a pc for parts repair. Running a 240 line so you can charge at home? That's a pain in the ass. They'll do it for you for like 5k. BEST THING IS, until we drop reliance on coal and oil for power, electric vehicles will cause MORE carbon emissions. Because they need electricity to charge and electricity production is, as stated, the leading cause of carbon emissions. So yea no, banning gas cars for evs won't solve a fucking thing.

[@bad-bunnyblogger8171]

Looks almost otherworldly

[@Tetsuya_Dakid]

Number 5 is the best one out all of them

[@blacktimhoward4322]

I wouldn't wait for Vnimanie. As soon as I hear a V-word I'm running for my life. "We're gonna start very sl- hey where did he go?"

[@xexexexeo624]

Tis ist NOT Start from Reaktor!i Work in russia in Reaktor! Sorry my Englisch!this ist NOT START!REAKTOR HAVE 35000RENGEN,KAMERA IN ACTIVE REAKTOR IN WORK WHITE 35000RENGEN,KAMERA KAPUT!

[@piyushistrash8765]

0:44 now this camera man get some power

[@piyushistrash8765]

Because of some radioactive in water

[@gabrielgazquezgonzalez3368]

Those types of pools are giving me the creeps.

[@usdusinsusia7769]

1:39 INSTANT

[@kiroakimada2775]

dylan the pokemon trainer IDKY, but this made me chuckle.

[@usdusinsusia7769]

Phoenix Artice made me kinda laugh

[@bryanhead2670]

So pleasing to observe as my favourite colour is electric blue!!!

[@whiterottenrabbit]

Those crackbrained comments about 3.6 Roentgens in every Cherenkov radiation video **eye-rolling**

[@mathewrussell1533]

Yeah but it took the HBO special 30 years to stop people saying 1.21 gigawatts every time they saw something like this. Its a nice change :P

[@Jim54_]

Our Civilisation’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

[@dara7678]

Politicians and propaganda

[@timtom9898]

What about renewable energies? Much saver and no waste which lasts generations

[@Frenchpinkflowers]

Stressful but soooo satisfying

[@pax7061]

Thought this was going to show me young companies getting into the field of Nuclear Reactors

[@reinofederaldemaltiva3923]

Hey, I have one question about radiation, why the people, and the cameras in the reactor doesn't die literally for the radiation? And why's the reactor pool is open?

[@tristanfaulkner6003]

I'm a mechanical engineering student so I know a little general info on this. Those reactors are extremely well contained and controlled. The water is absorbing A LOT of the radiation there. It is not safe for humans to enter the pools of water, the cameras you see here are being lowered down via pulleys or robotic arms. Liquid water makes an excellent radiation blocker and they made sure the reactors are submerged in more than enough, they are actually way deeper than they appear, usually at least 30ft down. On top of that there is some shielding around the reactors and the control rods are keeping the reactions under control. Unlike Chernobyl these control rods are pure, total neutron blockers, there are no graphite tips that could accelerate the reaction. It is safe to watch the reactor from above the pool because the amount of radiation that gets that far is only slightly above normal background radiation, you would have to be exposed constantly for years to get any risk. The big problems like Chernobyl, Fukushima, and 3 mile island happened because the reactors got too hot and there was not enough water. The water vaporized into steam, unlike liquid water, steam does not stop radiation, instead it carries radioactive material into the air. As long as the reactor temp is under control and you have enough coolant it remains safe. That's part of the reason Fukushima did not get anywhere near as bad as Chernobyl, they stopped the meltdown by practically dumping the ocean on it as a final fail-safe. Most of the radiation that escaped was then diluted across the entire Pacific by nearby currents and spread so thin and weak that it ceased to be dangerous. That is a major reason why most Japanese nuclear plants and so many other plants around the world are near the sea, to have access to virtually infinite coolant. Most plants now keep a massive factor of safety, even if the reactor exceeded 10x the standard operating power they usually have enough coolant and safety measures to force it to shut down. Fukushima only failed because their safety measures got destroyed and overwhelmed by the massive earthquake and tsunami. That is reassuring, it takes a literal act of God to force a modern, well-maintained reactor into a meltdown.

[@reinofederaldemaltiva3923]

@@tristanfaulkner6003 Thanks!

[@kartiksolanki5400]

Graphite : exist Dyatlov : I've never met this guy !!

[@christianjavier656]

1:13 its not a Nuclear reactor it's tesseract

[@ternor]

Really :D

[@TheCriticalMartian]

Love the Cherenkov light

[@dougelick8397]

All of those but one was an excursion test. Anything but normal reactor starts.

[@artysanmobile]

Doug Elick I noticed that only one had the slow onset that I would expect from a startup. So the others were currently fissioning and showed a large shift in power output? Knowing what I do about nuclear power generation, I’m surprised such large shifts in power can occur so quickly. I did not know a control rod change could take place that quickly.

[@alexandergraf8855]

I'd like to be there again. That light is magic. It casts no shadow. As I closed my eyes it was everywhere, even in me

[@sanchu6335]

Of course you don't need water for the blue light, it's cherenkov radiation, the water is for safety purposes

[@phamanhtai2824]

*everybody gangsta till the control rods start jumping up and down*

[@MisterNewYear]

That power down sound at 2:10 is so cool

[@connorsmith1584]

You just know someone’s gonna bang one of these in a miata and somehow still manage to fit a turbo in it

[@michaelvickers89]

I feel like the bugs in a bugs life! The blue light looks so amazing! 😂

[@adamc457]

This is beautiful yet so scary knowing what happened at Chernobyl

[@bigbear5767]

Chernobyl was said to be poorly maintained and engineered. The chance of it happening again is very minimum

[@adamc457]

@@bigbear5767 good point! I guess the scary part is knowing that once it goes wrong it's fucked for ever.

[@epicmonkytime6003]

Me: *swimming in my new luminescent pool after a long day at work* The nuclear reactor workers: 👁👄👁

[@warhammernerd52Daxx-Lorenzo898]

Gordon Freeman would like this video

[@doogleticker5183]

Milton too.

[@rolfsinkgraven]

Very nice one, never seen this.

[@unbalanced_again]

This is my new favorite video on the internet. Holy shit. I wish it was longer.

[@kek207]

My question: These are not active reactors, they are training reactors. Like how is the steam produced absorbed? I can't see that glass container separating the water on all of the reactors. Because if you would breathe that steam you're likely poisoned

[@brendonmoore3505]

Yep just casually swimming with the nuclear reactor.

[@krzysztofklunder1850]

,,, 45

[@sierra6993]

You technically can do that as long as you don’t get close. The water is radioactive only around the reactor.

[@Krustable]

i ever thought in my whole life that starting a reactor is just simply putting the rods in and surrounding them with water pipes...

[@PeterWalkerHP16c]

The first one looked like an immediate scram.

[@CarLoverPhotography]

Im glad there was no voiceover or music

[@shaboopie12]

It's like we're asking the universe to borrow a fraction of it's almighty power !

[@adamchap5127]

the most amazing one is the chernoblye reactor

[@StraitClownin909]

Now elephants foot

[@ilqar887]

Yeah If you stay more than 5 minutes next to it u start vomiting

[@arandomdude1741]

@@ilqar887 Not really. You need stay there for like 30 minutes to an hour to start seeing the effects. Radiation levels have cooled down a lot during the past 30 years.

[@jaco5187]

Love the guy saying "Sweeeeet" at 0:29

[@makutamiserix5612]

Tony Stark was able to build this in a cave! With a box of scraps!

[@redluckog7008]

Except Tony’s is a fusion reactor, not fission. Much safer

[@ikagura]

@@redluckog7008 I wish we could finally do proper fusion energy...

[@devanshudwivedi5875]

@@redluckog7008 Much efficient. Fission is safer as it can be controlled

[@needisnecessito8663]

I'm sorry sir, I'm not Tony Stark

[@कौशलश्रीवास्तव]

Great sir

[@mewtwo.150]

Don't you find impressive how some monkeys with the time did this?

[@redwolf4611]

Pretty. The only issue I've ever had with nuclear power is how complacent people are about the danger. Often times I see people refer to it as a clean fuel source and the first thing that comes to mind is "they wouldn't need all those precautions if it were safe and clean.". We're using a power that creates massive stars to boil water.

[@thaneoffife6904]

The inherent danger of a reactor in public perception is pretty overblown. I'm not saying an accident is impossible, but the perception that a reactor is constantly on the verge of disaster or that a tiny mistake will lead to another Chernobyl like disaster is not reality. Chernobyl exploded because of a very specific set of circumstances combined with flawed reactor design and operator error. Multiple things have to go catastrophically wrong and happen in a very specific set of circumstances in order for a disaster on the scale of Chernobyl. The only troublesome byproduct of a fission reactor is spent fuel but we already have a solution for it and they are discarded safely. In short general accidents in reactors wont lead to catastrophe and reaction byproducts do not present any environmental threat.

[@meneither3834]

Massive stars are powered by fusion. Nuclear reactor use fission, different processes. Additionally, people seriously underestimate the danger of non-nuclear power plants, especially coal.

[@christianmiller1723]

These aren't really startups as much as pulse&scram. Also fyi, these are all research reactors, not the type used for power.

[@aleks9677]

Man, I think my whole Household has been powered by this.

[@Dalpidar]

Am I the only one who started to panic when they put the camera underwater with the reactor?

[@davidsokolovski2380]

Me too hahahahaha

[@THEFINALHAZARD]

What I want to know, is, if stuff glows blue from the Cherenkov Effect, where did the whole trope of 'Radiation=green glow' come from in pop-culture and cartoons and such?

[@AverageAlien]

Natural uranium is green-ish so I guess that's where that came from.

[@MasterDawZ]

It's literally because of The Simpsons

[@theclockworksolution8521]

Most likely it came from Radium, which was used in glow in the dark paint in the early 1900s. Radium Oxide is a green/teal glowing powder, and before people realized it was terrible for you, they were using it all the time on watches and clocks.

[@jamielacourse7578]

That "sweeet" in the background of startup #1 was cool.....

[@SK-zl6sl]

Fun Fact: A nuclear reactor produces and controls the release of energy from splitting the atoms of uranium [U]. Uranium-fueled nuclear power is probably one of the cleanest and most efficient way of boiling water which then makes steam that drives turbine generators, making electricity!

[@FinalSynapse]

That's not accurate; a nuclear reactor harnesses the energy from splitting atoms (not necessarily uranium, there are plutonium and thorium reactors). The reactor itself doesn't produce energy or controls the release of energy. We control the reaction itself (how fast it's reacting) by manipulating control rods, the reactor turns water into steam, the steam spins the turbines, the turbines produce the electricity. You cannot control how much energy is released from fission, that is set is stone by physics. We only control how much fission is occurring. (eg in this second we split 3 atoms)

[@888000777666]

Final Synapse Your comment literally agrees with the comment you’re calling “not accurate” ...

[@antoniomargallo5317]

When I was a kid I visited one of those ... it must have been there that I got my superhuman powers.

[@blumac9801]

António Margalho was is Chernobyl?

[@bigbear5767]

@@blumac9801 Haha

[@ramiabdellahmokrane9442]

That gamma ray effect on the camera was so amazing

[@patricksawyer9779]

A lot of these are research, training, or medical-use radioisotope production reactors. Also, #4 and #1 were TRIGA reactors, if I'm not mistaken.

[@asmongoldsmouth9839]

Patrick Sawyer I have one in my house. I use it to help me sleep. I tuck it under my pillow. It makes a funny sound 😬

[@nevaehsmiracleconnieelliot2297]

@@asmongoldsmouth9839 ROTFLMAO 🤣

[@kahunakool2155]

These are miniature reactors used in labs for training and testing. Real reactors might take weeks or months to become fully functional.

[@georgemcgillicuddy3498]

More like DAYS to 100% Power . It`s a process to heat all of the Systems up and Synch the Generators to the Grid is why .

[@georgemcgillicuddy3498]

Yes Sir . I was referring to a Commercial Power Plant time . Ascending Modes in our Plant , including Synching to the Grid takes several days . Of course , as you know , there`s MANY Tests and Prcedures to perform as the Plant heats up and comes up to 100% Power . Thank you for your Service , by the way .

[@davemwangi05]

@@georgemcgillicuddy3498 why should it take so long?

[@sterlingsilver4942]

Divad Ignawm to evenly start fuel burnout avoid flux tilting in the core and prevent something known as prompt criticality which depending on the core size and facilities-involved, the operators may not be able to add enough negative reactivity to stop the core. Think of it as a bus traveling down a steep mountain with no breaks, same thing. That’s why startups take a while. It’s all relative to the core size and power capabilities.

[@Gundanium_Wolf908]

Forbidden Jacuzzi.

[@NBAasDOGG]

This is SCIENCE!!!

[@brfisher1123]

The last one was quite scary as we can clearly see and hear the eerie effects of the massive amounts of deadly gamma rays (and possibly the neutrons as well) interacting with the components of the camera! That perfectly explains the horrible deaths of criticality incidents throughout history! To think that’s the same exact blue Cherenkov glow that victims of fatal Criticality incidents such as Hisashi Ouchi also saw is also quite eerie!

[@vikotory6172]

Yo that's the tesseract

[@ghostmost2614]

Whatever it takes to charge my phone

[@alpha3836]

The first one sounds awesome

[@Yours_faithfully1991]

The most expensive blue light in the world😍😍😍

[@MagnusTheGreat]

And dangerous

[@AverageAlien]

@@MagnusTheGreat the most dangerous blue light is probabaly ionized air. If you a blue flash outside of water you're probably dead, unless it was an electrical short.

[@arandomdude1741]

@@AverageAlien You see a blue light(caused by radiation) in air. You have got a fatal dose of radiation before even realizing it.

[@parasgtr1984]

I get megalofobia every time I watch these reactors

[@fr4120]

Kitchen nightmare Chef: sends out rare meat which should be medium Gordon Ramsey:

[@ShootAUT]

Somehow I expected there to be some kind of epic sound, but...

[@juliusraben3526]

How do these reactors work? Ive been told they use rods to modify the fission. But these reactor SUDDENLY work like the switch of a button(Reactor On/Off switch haha). Its not like the cherenkov radiation gradually builds up as the rods get pushed in. That would imply (in my world of limited knowledge) that they jam the graphite rods in with insane speed instead of gently. I know that im wrong, but i dont know how. Thought every reactor worked with rods....... since i havnt seen a documentary in which rods arnt included (since they slow down the neutrons for a good reaction)

[@russellking747]

I believe these are Moderator temperature: negative coefficient of reactivity for the pulsed ones: basically, the temperature of the moderator (water) affects how fast the neutrons are travelling; the hotter the moderator, the faster the neutrons. fast neutrons are less effective in promoting the reaction. In these pulsed startups, the control rods are removed quickly, and the reactor power spikes, which instantly heats the moderator passed the point at which it can slow the neutrons to continue the reaction - so it self-shuts down. This only works in very specific fuel geometries, which is vital to reactor safety - using these designs, it becomes almost impossible to go prompt-critical. The second mechanical "clunk" a few seconds after the pulse is the control rods being inserted again - to manually shutdown the reactor. I always wonder what would happen if they got the geometry wrong during these tests and ended up with a positive coefficient... I expect we wouldn't get footage of THOSE particular tests... for obvious reasons...

[@trespire]

It's sureal to actually view a core so clearly. The blue glow seems unearthly.

[@AdamSmith-vj5uk]

Creative, I dig it

[@kristijansusnik1297]

My old PC turning on..

[@wearespartans2117]

That's such a scary job tbh specially with the count down imagine the guy counting down from 5 and that thing having a chance of just Going bad in all ways no ty 🤤

[@RandomPerson-yq1qk]

Taxi Driver is such a scary job tbh specially with your mind counting down from 5 and that car having a chance of just Going bad in all ways no ty 🤤. There is NO way (statistically) that the reaction would grow out of control in an instant. And when i say statistically no way i mean that there is a hypothetical chance but there is a hypothetical chance that half your body just vanishes out of nowhere and nobody worries about that.

[@MatthijsvanDuin]

They don't have a chance of going bad in all ways, they're safe by design. "Many small research reactors are designed to be intentionally placed into prompt criticality with complete safety. Their fuel elements are designed so that as they heat up, reactivity is automatically and quickly reduced through effects such as doppler broadening and thermal expansion. Such reactors can be pulsed to very high power levels (e.g. several GW) for a few milliseconds, after which reactivity automatically drops and a relatively low and constant power level (e.g. several hundred kW) is maintained."

[@billsmith8825]

I was a reactor operator in the Navy. The people actually starting up the reactor are in a control room and cannot see the reactor or anything going on around it. All you're looking at are gauges on a screen. Anyway, it's not really scary at all. Unless you make it that way in your head.

[@Donciu89]

1:46 when your watercooled 3090Ti kicks in lauching a game