this post was submitted on 28 Nov 2025
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Neutron counts under the Chernobyl sarcophagus rose, but the best evidence says the spike came from shifting moisture inside the wrecked reactor, not an approaching chain reaction. (www.earth.com)
submitted 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) by RegularJoe@lemmy.world to c/science@lemmy.world
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Neutron counts under the Chernobyl sarcophagus rose, but the best evidence says the spike came from shifting moisture inside the wrecked reactor, not an approaching chain reaction.

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[–] Blackfeathr@lemmy.world 22 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Clickbait headline.

[–] thespcicifcocean@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

They said that the keff value doesn't exceed 1.27, is that within the normal range for this? Anything over 1 is supercritical, so shouldn't any value of greater than 1 be concerning?

[–] BussyCat@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

“The calculated growth factor of the NFD due to the increase in Keff does not exceed 1.27,”

I am not positive but I think they mean the increase of neutron flux density does not exceed 1.27 and the cause of the increase of neutron flux is to due to an increase in Keff. Because otherwise 1.27 is prompt criticality and that would be a very bad day