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Posts Tagged ‘Chernobyl’

Capping Chernobyl: Nuclear Disaster Site Covered in Giant Protective Dome

05 Dec

[ By WebUrbanist in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

chernobyl-dome

In an unprecedented feat of engineering, the world’s most infamous nuclear disaster site is being covered by a huge prefabricated steel arch designed to shield the world from its fallout. Made to fit over the so-called sarcophagus, a crumbling concrete and lead shelter initially erected at the site, the New Safe Confinement structure spans nearly 1,000 feet horizontally.

The original protective shell over the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant’s reactor was a hurried affair and never meant to be permanent — 4,000 people in the region were still killed in the initial catastrophic meltdown but many more were saved thanks to this hasty intervention. In the days, weeks and months following the disaster, hundreds of thousands of evacuees and emergency workers were exposed to dangerous radiation.

construction-dome

At the cost of 1.5 billion dollars the new lid is also not a solution to last forever, but it is designed to last for 100 years. Weighing 36,000 tons and taller than the statue of liberty (354 feet) the monstrous structure is only partially complete — it still needs to be rendered airtight and radiation equipment is yet to be installed. The entire thing has been constructed offsite on nearby land before being moved into place.

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Beyond Chernobyl: 15 Design Concepts for a Post-Nuclear World

26 Jul

[ By SA Rogers in Art & Drawing & Digital. ]

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30 years post-Chernobyl and 5 years after Fukushima, we still haven’t figured out how to deal with lingering radiation in the wake of a nuclear disaster or come up with a foolproof way to protect ourselves from similar incidents in the future. Nuclear disaster-focused concept designs address everything from repopulating Chernobyl and safeguarding against radiation-poisoned seafood from Japan to living in a dystopian post-apocalyptic future where mechanical dogs scout the streets.

Self-Contained Fallout-Absorbing City for Chernobyl

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People are beginning to resettle the post-Chernobyl nuclear wasteland surrounding Pripyat, Ukraine whether radiation reaches safe levels or not, and this skyscraper concept is an attempt to minimize harm, creating a sort of self-contained oasis among the fallout. The skin of the building essentially acts as an anti-radiation force field, and the ‘Unexpected Aurora’ building itself filters air and water and harvests solar energy.

HAL Exoskeleton Turned Radiation Suit

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Originally designed to help people with muscle diseases, the Hybrid Assistive Limb (HAL) suit got a post-Fukushima upgrade to make it a radiation-proof suit for emergency responders. A typical anti-radiation tungsten vest weighs up to 132 pounds, making it very difficult to wear for long periods, but the HAL exoskeleton supports its weight, reducing fatigue and allowing greater access to hazardous sites.

Revitalization of the Chernobyl Zone

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Another proposal for repopulating the Chernobyl exclusion zone seeks not to be entirely self-contained, but act as a framework for further development of human activity in the area, with a mono-railroad as its backbone. This rail line leads to modular train stations with emergency shower cabins and a decontamination zone, as well as honeycomb-shaped modular housing and observation towers. The development accommodates stubborn residents and curious tourists alike, providing plenty of opportunities to observe Pripyat in its new form.

Fukushima Plates Detect Radiation

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After the Fukushima disaster in Japan, a lot of sushi lovers questioned whether seafood imported from the region was safe, hence this concept by German designer Nils Ferber. There’s a radiation meter built right into each plate, with LED lights to warn you if your food is dangerously radioactive. One glowing white light tells you your food contains low levels of radiation, two white lights advise caution while a large red ring tells you it’s not safe to eat. “In a society that sacrifices reason to profit, security becomes a luxury for those who can afford it,” says the designer. “The plate might become an indispensable tool of survival in the future.”

Mech Suits, Chernobyl Patrol + More by Vitaly Bulgarov

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Moscow-based concept designer Vitaly Bulgarov presents a series of digital proposals for ‘The Black Phoenix Project: Chernobyl Patrol,’ ranging from semi-civilian drones to advanced weaponry systems. The artist works for game developer Blizzard and created this 3D visualization as a demonstration on speeding up the process of creating concept art with design software like Brush and SoftImage XSI. The mech designs include robotic Scout Dogs, an ‘Arachnid Tank,’ a missile-launching ‘Public Protector,’ infantry bots and an ambulance/rescue robot, and they’re clearly oriented toward a post-apocalyptic, war-torn scenario in Chernobyl rather than just dealing with radiation.

Next Page – Click Below to Read More:
Beyond Chernobyl 15 Design Concepts For A Post Nuclear World

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[ By SA Rogers in Art & Drawing & Digital. ]

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Settlers of Chernobyl: Self-Contained, Fallout-Absorbing City

07 Apr

[ By WebUrbanist in Conceptual & Futuristic & Technology. ]

pripyat self contained city

Despite warnings about dangerous radiation and an ongoing project to cap and contain further fallout, many families have already taken up residence around Ukraine’s famous failed nuclear reactor – this skyscraper would enable them to do so safely. The skin of the building provides more than just shelter, glowing like a grounded aurora as it captures and processes radiation.

pripyat design soluiton

pripyat aurora skyscraper design

Designed by Zhang Zehua, Song Qiang and Liu Yameng, Unexpected Aurora filters air and water, harvests solar energy, and creates a kind of self-contained oasis that would allow people to resettle the wastelands around Pripyat. Their design won them an honorable mention in the 2015 eVolo Skyscraper Competition.

pripyat nuclear city design

Protocol for many irradiated sites is simply a bit of soil coverage (as little as a few feet) and conversion to a park (as opposed to homes), the idea being: a bit of exposure here and there is not too harmful, though living right on top of contaminated areas could be. Many parks in San Francisco, for instance, were built on sites once used as test beds for hosing down irradiated ships, which were intentionally placed closed to nuclear tests in the ocean. As the government learned, you can’t wash away the radiation, but trying to do so does cause some to leak into the surrounding ground. Of course, the situation in and around Pripyat is significantly more severe.

pripyat city in a box

The creators set the scene: “With a big bang, the fourth reactor of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded, the amount of radiation is about 400 times of the atomic bomb which was dropped on Hiroshima. About seven million people were forced to leave their homeland in two days, they had no time to say goodbye to their present life.”

pripyat active system designs

They also acknowledge the aftermath: “But not everyone accepts the arrangement of fate. The negative effects of radiation have been dafeated by a large group of settlers, more and more people are returning to their homeland which located in the restricted area, what can be sure is that they use a different way to look at the risk which they bear.”

pripyat concept science diagrams

There is no perfect solution for a complex problem like this, and the concept is unlikely ever to be realized, but at least this approach recognizes the reality on the ground and attempts to bridge the gap between an imperfect present and hopeful future.

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Radiocative Chernobyl: New Aerial Drone Footage of ‘The Zone’

17 Dec

[ By WebUrbanist in Abandoned Places & Architecture. ]

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Satellite images and pictures from the ground tell a limited story of one of the world’s most dangerous abandoned places – this flyover footage fills in the gaps, covering the 20-mile nuclear wasteland with uncannily captivating footage.

Postcards from Pripyat was filmed by Danny Cooke on a trip to Ukraine as part of a 60 Minutes story aired on CBS about the aftermath of the Chernobyl nuclear incident and ongoing efforts to cap the remains of the reactor. Of his adventure, he recounts: “During my stay, I met so many amazing people, one of whom was my guide Yevgen, also known as a ‘Stalker’. We spent the week together exploring Chernobyl and the nearby abandoned city of Pripyat. There was something serene, yet highly disturbing about this place. Time has stood still and there are memories of past happenings floating around us.”

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The incident turned Pripyat from a city of 50,000 into a ghost town overnight, and that was just the beginning – fallout spread to neighboring countries and continues to leak out locally. Residents were told to evacuate but that they could return within a few days – a promise that could not be kept. Mice in the area have been recorded as having 10,000 times more radioactivity than normal rodents.

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Today, the focus is on containing the problem. “With funds from over 40 different countries, 1,400 workers are building a giant arch to cover the damaged reactor. It will be taller than the Statue of Liberty and wider than Yankee Stadium — the largest movable structure on Earth. Until the arch finally seals up that stricken reactor, and no one knows when that might be, something like that could happen again. Unlike other historic relics, Chernobyl does not belong to the past; its power will never die. Chernobyl is forever.”

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