DATE: 2022-05-03
AO: Atlantis
Q: Infinity
PAX: Deflator, Hammerhead, True North
FNGs: None
COUNT: 4
WarmUp: Imperial Walkers, Don Quixotes, Beet Pickers, Grady Corns, and World’s Greatest Stretch.
The Thang: Chernobyl Disaster by the Numbers
The Chernobyl nuclear disaster occured on April 26, 1986
36 Squats – 36 years ago
There were four reactors at the Chernobyl Power Plant by 1986, of which the one that experienced a disaster was #4. 4 Burpees – No. 4 Reactor
Mosey to the far wall under pedestrian bridge
The RBMK was the culmination of the Soviet nuclear power program to produce a water-cooled power reactor with dual-use potential based on their graphite-moderated plutonium production military reactors.The RBMK-1000 is a graphite-moderated light-water cooled reactor rated at 3,200 MW-thermal. 10 reps of the following R-B-M-K exercises, all IC:
– Reverse Lunges
– Bonnie Blairs
– Merkins
– Kick-Ups
4 rounds of 7 Star Jumps – Positive void coefficient of reactivity of 4.7 beta
15 CDDs – Minimum safety requirement to keep 15 out of 211 control rods inserted at all times. There were 203 control rods fully withdrawn from the RBMK reactor.
4 rounds of 1 Balls to Wall climbs – Control rods were 4.1 ft shorter than necessary and had graphite tips that initially increased reactivity.
Mosey to benches along waterfront
The Chernobyl Plant had no secure containment in the sense accepted in the West. The reactor core was located in a reinforced concrete lined cavity that acted as a radiation shield. The core sat on a heavy steel plate, with a 1100 ton steel reactor lid on the top. 11 Box Jumps – 1100 ton steel reactor lid
Mosey to fast boat exhibit
After completing a test of a reactor safety system, the operators scrammed the reactor, causing a power spike up to 30,000 MWth (10x the rated power), raising temperatures above the core structural failing point. Explosive steam pressure from the damaged fuel channels escaped into the reactor’s exterior cooling structure, causing an explosion that destroyed the reactor casing, tearing off and blasting the upper plate through the roof of the reactor building. This first explosion ruptured further fuel channels, as well as severing most of the coolant lines feeding the reactor chamber, and as a result, the remaining coolant flashed to steam and escaped the reactor core.
25 Merkins – About 25% of the red-hot graphite blocks and overheated material from the fuel channels were ejected by a second explosion. The graphite in the core then ignited, greatly increasing the release of radioactivity.
The ionizing radiation levels in the worst-hit areas of the reactor building have been estimated to be 5.6 roentgens per second (R/s), equivalent to more than 20,000 roentgens per hour. A lethal dose is around 500 roentgens (~5 Gray (Gy) in modern radiation units) over five hours, so in some areas, unprotected workers received fatal doses in less than a minute.
20 Bonnie Blairs – 20,000 R/hr estimate of highest radiation levels to which personnel were exposed.
Mosey to boardwalk
Approximately 30 people died from immediate blast trauma (one plant operator) and acute radiation syndrome (29 others) in the months after the disaster, consisting of the following:
– 21 Jump Squats – 21 plant operators, including one forever entombed in the destroyed reactor building
– 9 Burpees – 7 firefighters responding to the disaster and 2 security guards outside the plant
The evacuation of the neaby city of Pripyat began at 14:00 on April 27th–a full day and half after the incident. To expedite the evacuation, residents were told to bring only what was necessary, and that they would remain evacuated for approximately three days. As a result, most personal belongings were left behind, and remain there today. By 15:00, 53,000 people were evacuated to various villages of the Kiev region. Later, officials created a 30km exclusion zone, necessitating evacuation of 135,000 people.
30m Bear Crawl – 30km exclusion zone declared
53 SSHs – 53,000 people evacuated from Pripyat
18 Derkins – 18M Rubles initial cost of mitigation actions by Soviet Union; however, the economic damage caused by the disaster is estimated at $225 billion dollars.
Mosey back to start
Mary:
100 LBCs – An estimated 100 people died from acute effects of radiation from the Chernobyl disaster
12 J-Los just because
Plank Hold while quizzing PAX on the four weaknesses of the RBMK reactor:
– Using a graphite moderator in a water cooled reactor, permitting criticality in a total loss of coolant accident.
– A positive steam void coefficient that made the destructive power excursion possible.
– Control rods design; taking 18–20 seconds to be fully inserted, and with graphite tips that increased reactivity initially. – No reinforced containment building.
CoT: The Chernobyl Disaster had a number of tragedies, but in my opinion, the real tragedy was the reliance upon heroes to overcome weaknesses, lies, and misinformation by the Soviet Government on the known problems with the reactor and how to deal with them. Rather than relying on heroes or people to Always perform at their very best, it behooves us as leaders to contribute to organize and design systems that allow people on their worst day to still perform acceptably.
“The truth doesn’t care about our needs or wants- it doesn’t care about our governments, our ideologies, our religions- to lie in wait for all time. This, at last, is the gift of Chernobyl.” -Valery Legasov, from the HBO miniseries ‘Chernobyl’
F3 The Capital 