Anybody watching Chernobyl on Sky

daverichardson

daverichardson

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Unfortunately I was in Gothenburg at the time of the accident and was eating Reindeer as the cloud allegedly passed overhead outlook not good for me............................
 
Arfa

Arfa

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Contigo said:
Why do they use the terminology "Roentgens" instead of Sieverts? That's what we learnt at school for doses measured using a Geiger counter. One can only assume it was a legacy standard or very Eastern Bloc?
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As a result of watching the series do far Phil I decided to read one of the books covering the incident. It explains as follows

"The original unit used to measure radiation exposure was a ROENTGEN, after William Roentgen, who discovered X-rays at the end of the nineteenth century. The amount of radiation to hit the human body is measured in a unit called RAD (radiation absorbed dose) but different types of radiation vary in their biological effects: for example alpha particles are 20 times as damaging as gamma radiation. The unit devised to reflect this is the REM (roentgen equivalent man): for gamma radiation, 1 RAD = 1REM, whilst for alpha radiation 1 RAD = 20 REM. However, new units are now in use. 1 GRAY equals 100 RADS and 1 SIEVERT equals 100 REM.

The becquerel has also replaced the Curie as the measurement of radioactive contamination of soil and food.

So I suppose that the answer to your question is that it is a legacy standard.
 
Wanderer

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I remember to go into the more risky parts of the reactor building (the pile cap mainly) we used to go through a machine colloquially called the ‘turnstile’ before togging up. You’d stand in it, stick your hands in a slot, then when it told you turn round, hands on a pad and push back. Tested for contamination (contam). Same on way out. Wish I could remember it’s proper name, didn’t see any on the tv series though.
 
Wack61

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Wanderer said:
Film Badge won’t tell you anything until it’s been processed and then it’s too late if you got a dose.

These guys should have been carrying gammacoms - ie the machine that goes blip, blip, blip. We had to collect one and book it out when going on or near the reactors. Give it back after and your dose was recorded against your name. Was all in Microsieverts for us, not Röntgens, never bothered asking what the difference was..
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Might have been that , it was 20 years ago , my mind might have been fuzzed by Hollywood during that period .

I wish Jared Harris would do more roles like this , I find him fascinating to watch on screen , he brings something special to every role he plays , he was brilliant in mad men , but as I recall met a similar fate .
 
Wanderer

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Wack61 said:
Might have been that , it was 20 years ago , my mind might have been fuzzed by Hollywood during that period .

I wish Jared Harris would do more roles like this , I find him fascinating to watch on screen , he brings something special to every role he plays , he was brilliant in mad men , but as I recall met a similar fate .
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I thought he looked a lot like Richard Harris. Now I know why....
 
Moz1000

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Wanderer said:
I remember to go into the more risky parts of the reactor building (the pile cap mainly) we used to go through a machine colloquially called the ‘turnstile’ before togging up. You’d stand in it, stick your hands in a slot, then when it told you turn round, hands on a pad and push back. Tested for contamination (contam). Same on way out. Wish I could remember it’s proper name, didn’t see any on the tv series though.
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It's a whole body monitor or portal. Siemens used to make them until the business was purchased by Thermo Scientific (american). MGP (french) also make them, plus others.

Following the Chernobyl incident, Siemens (UK) was commissioned to produce a UK monitoring network in case of something similar happening resulting in a cloud of contamination passing over the UK. The system is called RIMNET (Radiation Incident Monitoring NETwork). There are 92 (or more now) monitoring stations dotted around the UK mostly at Met sites, and they gather dose data in the air and pass it to two mirrored databases (one in Poole the other in the DoE building in Westminster). The data is supplemented by other data periodically taken from water and soil samples etc so a complete assessment can be made in real time of the risk of us being exposed to ionising radiation from sources both at home and abroad (like Chernobyl). The system went live in 1990 (or thereabouts) and is still running today.

Moz
 
Wanderer

Wanderer

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Moz1000 said:
It's a whole body monitor or portal. Siemens used to make them until the business was purchased by Thermo Scientific (american). MGP (french) also make them, plus others.

Following the Chernobyl incident, Siemens (UK) was commissioned to produce a UK monitoring network in case of something similar happening resulting in a cloud of contamination passing over the UK. The system is called RIMNET (Radiation Incident Monitoring NETwork). There are 92 (or more now) monitoring stations dotted around the UK mostly at Met sites, and they gather dose data in the air and pass it to two mirrored databases (one in Poole the other in the DoE building in Westminster). The data is supplemented by other data periodically taken from water and soil samples etc so a complete assessment can be made in real time of the risk of us being exposed to ionising radiation from sources both at home and abroad (like Chernobyl). The system went live in 1990 (or thereabouts) and is still running today.

Moz
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Just asked one of my ex-colleagues, he said IPM7’s. Don’t remember that...
 
daverichardson

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Arfa said:
As a result of watching the series do far Phil I decided to read one of the books covering the incident. It explains as follows

"The original unit used to measure radiation exposure was a ROENTGEN, after William Roentgen, who discovered X-rays at the end of the nineteenth century. The amount of radiation to hit the human body is measured in a unit called RAD (radiation absorbed dose) but different types of radiation vary in their biological effects: for example alpha particles are 20 times as damaging as gamma radiation. The unit devised to reflect this is the REM (roentgen equivalent man): for gamma radiation, 1 RAD = 1REM, whilst for alpha radiation 1 RAD = 20 REM. However, new units are now in use. 1 GRAY equals 100 RADS and 1 SIEVERT equals 100 REM.

The becquerel has also replaced the Curie as the measurement of radioactive contamination of soil and food.

So I suppose that the answer to your question is that it is a legacy standard.
Click to expand...
Pardon my ignorance but my memory from studying is somewhat different.
I thought Alpha particles were the weakest and Gamma rays the strongest types of radiation
Alphas are in Smoke Detectors etc and Gamma are in the heavy duty end of industry and hospitals
Have I got this right?
Should have been Q of the day!
 
Wanderer

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daverichardson said:
Pardon my ignorance but my memory from studying is somewhat different.
I thought Alpha particles were the weakest and Gamma rays the strongest types of radiation
Alphas are in Smoke Detectors etc and Gamma are in the heavy duty end of industry and hospitals
Have I got this right?
Should have been Q of the day!
Click to expand...
I thought that otherwise why give us gammacoms and not alphacoms?!
 
Wattie

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Wow. It’s really quite horrific and enlightening.
I’m through parts 123 .... the fireman looked like he was liquefying.
I had no idea it was about to go boom until those 3!got rid of the water.
Incredible bravery and sacrifice, with little or no support.
Will watch more tomorrow.
 
Wanderer

Wanderer

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Wattie said:
Wow. It’s really quite horrific and enlightening.
I’m through parts 123 .... the fireman looked like he was liquefying.
I had no idea it was about to go boom until those 3!got rid of the water.
Incredible bravery and sacrifice, with little or no support.
Will watch more tomorrow.
Click to expand...
May as well watch ep 4 - ep 5 last one not on till next week
 
Matt82

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daverichardson said:
Pardon my ignorance but my memory from studying is somewhat different.
I thought Alpha particles were the weakest and Gamma rays the strongest types of radiation
Alphas are in Smoke Detectors etc and Gamma are in the heavy duty end of industry and hospitals
Have I got this right?
Should have been Q of the day!
Click to expand...

Alpha particles are worse for you but they cannot penetrate the skin, they will not penetrate paper. Therefore are only harmful if injested or injected and end up inside you
Gammas on the other hand fire straight through you damaging your cells on the way, that's why your personal monitors record gamma
 
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