The nuclear reactor is also in Prague, helping to study mammoth tusks and Tibetan drugs
A necessary prop for anyone who is going to enter is a dosimeter and shoe covers. The nuclear reactor, operated by the Faculty of Nuclear Sciences and Physical Engineering of the Czech Technical University in Prague-Troja, is located near the Barricade Bridge.
The fact that the editor and the photographer had to report the ID card number in advance proves that this is not a normal visit. After the lustration, a short security training took place. Among other things, there is a strict ban on eating and drinking in the reactor hall.
I simply demand respect for the nuclear facility, and a visit to the moment when the memories of the Chernobyl series are still fresh has something to do with it.
It is possible to get answers from the most professional experts to the questions that arose from watching television drama.
The sign in the reactor hall, which shows where the water level reached during the flood in 2002, is more reminiscent of another nuclear accident – from Fukushima, Japan. A series so popular has not yet been made about her.
The Trojan reactor is small, marked VR-1 or “Sparrow”, its fuel is harmless and was removed in time before the flood. Since 2005, the fuel is new and even safer. Water in the reactor itself is desirable and serves as a shield.
The crews of British nuclear dives, which are trained in Troy as well as the designers of their vessels, also have very good experience with the operation of underwater reactors. And their occasional presence proves how unique the local workplace is.
Students from the USA also come here for internships, ie in addition to those from several Czech universities or in addition to the operation of Czech nuclear power plants, who can acquire valuable skills here, which may also contribute to the second Chernobyl not taking place in the Czech Republic.
“Students will learn to control the reactor and everything is focused on verifying the basic properties. For example, the position of the bars and the power level are changed using the control. And this task is very popular. We say that in this experiment, the reactor will reach a critical state where neutrons arise and disappear to the same extent, “says Filip Fejt, who is the head of the reactor’s operation.
He adds that on the most expensive Czech school aid worth about 50 million crowns, students will learn how to achieve the required performance.
According to Fejt, the process of starting the reactor takes about fifteen minutes and there is no manual operation.
“The operator simply holds the button up for a while, but everything that happens about the change of state of the reactor corresponds only to the value on the display inside,” explains Fejt.
The control center, which remotely resembles nuclear power plants, including the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, continues in Troja as well – although it is smaller and much has changed in the field since the now filed nuclear accident, thanks to technical ones.
The so-called Cherenko phenomenon was captured by the CTU reactor operator at a power of only 1 kW.
Part of the experts operating the reactor saw the series on the Chernobyl disaster. Some filmmakers attribute the described facts to artistic exaggeration. Conversely, what might seem unbelievable to a layman is confirmed by scientists to be true.
This is true, for example, of the so-called Cherenko phenomenon, in which it is possible to observe how air or water shines. In the series, I state that the occurrence may not be evidence of high radiation. And the experience of Troy confirms this.
If the CTU reactor starts at full power, which is still very low and its 1 kW corresponds, for example, to the power of a kettle, then it is possible to see this blue-green glow and the unique phenomenon was photographed by the reactor operator. The proof is therefore irrefutable.
Bloody exaggeration
“In the last part of the series, the court explained very precisely what happened in Chernobyl,” said Radovan Starý, who is the head of radiation protection at the VR-1 reactor. He recommends every TV drama. Although some facts are exaggerated, according to him.
Radiation sickness can cause bloody wounds, a red color that was used during filming but was probably wasted. Maybe because of the appropriately dramatic atmosphere.
However, according to the reactor leader, many people who have experienced high doses do not. And so there could be a complicated advisor who would advise you on how to shoot all the scenes more realistically.
Starý considers the fact that in 1986, due to the accident, the whole of Ukraine threatened to be uninhabitable and it would not be possible to eat food produced in the territory dating back to the former GDR as a pure artistic license.
“About ten reactors of the same type as the one in Chernobyl are still in operation in the former USSR. However, even though no problems have arisen since then, it cannot be said that they would be dangerous, ”says Fejt. He added that new security systems had addressed the vulnerabilities and that the overall safety culture had improved significantly.
In the Czech Republic, each reactor in nuclear power plants shuts down at least once a year, and commissioning is very slow due to a number of safety tests and technology loads. On the contrary, the launch of the Trojan Sparrow takes 15 minutes, which is absolutely unique. But the school reactor does not produce any electricity.
Reactors and their use
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