[ARCHIVED THREAD] - ARFCOM Science Test (Page 1 of 3)
Posted: 4/30/2009 7:29:32 PM EDT
What is coming out of these cooling towers at Limerick Generating Station in Limerick, PA?
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at everyone that says steam.
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All I see is win. |
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Water vapor is in the exact same form as atmospheric oxygen, nitrogen, and all other gasses. Just a gas, in individual atoms. Steam is made up of small droplets of whatever compound we're talking about - in this case, water. Of course, it's small in a relative sense - a single steam droplet of water contains about 40 trillion molecules.
But I voted "water vapor" because it's the closest. The steam coming out would not be radioactive. |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
its obviously not radioactive because its not green It actually gives off a blue color in water cooled reactors IIRC The blue glow of Čerenkov radiation is a product of particles emitted by a radioactive source passing through a medium, usually water. There was a criticality accident in Japan where several people saw the effect produced by a source in a 5 gallon bucket. These people obviously died shortly thereafter. |
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its obviously not radioactive because its not green It actually gives off a blue color in water cooled reactors IIRC The blue glow of Čerenkov radiation is a product of particles emitted by a radioactive source passing through a medium, usually water. There was a criticality accident in Japan where several people saw the effect produced by a source in a 5 gallon bucket. These people obviously died shortly thereafter. Something very like that incident was depicted in the movie Fat Man and Little Boy, which I would recommend. |
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It shouldn't be radioactive. However, if there is any leaking condenser tubes there can be radiation present. And as such, to access a cooling tower one needs to be on an RWP (radiation work permit) and be wearing dosimetry. Quoted:
It is not radioactive. It is also not water vapor. Water vapor is a gas, it is colorless. You can no more see it than you can see nitrogen gas. What you see is condensed water droplets. |
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It is not radioactive. It is also not water vapor. Water vapor is a gas, it is colorless. You can no more see it than you can see nitrogen gas. What you see is condensed water droplets. He didn't ask what you can _see_ coming out. He simply asked what was coming out - which would include both water vapor and condensed water. |