What If You Fell Into a Spent Nuclear Fuel Pool?

WHAT IF

What happens if you fall into one of those pools where they store the highly radioactive spent nuclear fuel rods?

Transcript

00:00 (music)

00:04 Uh-oh.

00:05 You just fell into a pool

00:08 with this thing.

00:11 What is this?

00:13 How would falling in here affect your health?

00:16 And could you actually survive this?

00:19 This is WHAT IF,

00:21 and here's what would happen

00:23 if you fell into a pool

00:24 full of spent nuclear fuel rods.

00:27 This is a spent nuclear fuel pool,

00:31 and you've just accidentally fallen into it.

00:34 But what exactly is this thing?

00:37 This large pool of water

00:39 is meant to cool spent fuel rods

00:41 after they come out of a nuclear reactor.

00:44 While powering a nuclear reactor,

00:46 these fuel rods become very, very hot.

00:49 We're talking 2,800 degrees.

00:52 After it's spent 3 to 6 years

00:54 inside of a nuclear reactor,

00:56 a fuel rod is no longer efficient.

00:58 Problem is,

00:59 it still emits plenty of harmful radiation,

01:02 and it will for the next 10,000 years.

01:06 Even though it's trash,

01:07 there's not a garbage dump in the world

01:09 that will accept it.

01:10 So why is water a good place to put these things?

01:15 Not only does the water spend several decades

01:18 cooling the fuel rods,

01:19 but it also affects the radiation.

01:22 The water essentially acts as a biological shield,

01:26 with hydrogen absorbing and deflecting

01:28 the radiation bouncing against it.

01:30 This makes it completely safe

01:32 for you to stand near the pool

01:34 with no ill effects.

01:36 But what happens if you fall in the water?

01:39 Well, as soon as you orient yourself,

01:41 you'll quickly notice the temperature of the pool.

01:44 This big tub of water won't be the refreshing dip

01:47 you're looking for on a hot summer day.

01:49 Instead, it'll be around 30°C (95°F),

01:52 so a bit colder than your average hot tub,

01:55 but still very warm.

01:57 Let's hope you didn't accidentally turn off

01:59 the water flow as you're falling into the pool.

02:01 If you did,

02:02 then you'd be in some serious trouble.

02:04 Spent nuclear fuel pools are constantly cycling out water

02:08 in order to keep it at a cool enough temperature.

02:11 Remember, these fuel rods are incredibly hot,

02:14 and if the water isn't cycled out,

02:16 then it would heat up significantly

02:17 and slowly evaporate over time,

02:20 resulting in you burning to a crisp.

02:24 But that didn't happen.

02:25 So now that you're starting to swim

02:27 in this hot pool of water,

02:28 when does the horrible radiation poisoning kick in?

02:32 Or when do you turn green

02:33 and start to gain superpowers?

02:35 These are the sort of things that are supposed to happen

02:37 when you fall into something that has nuclear fuel in it, right?

02:41 Not exactly.

02:42 Although that sounds like fun,

02:44 it wouldn't happen to you if you fell into a spent nuclear fuel pool.

02:48 That's because of the water.

02:50 Not only does it protect the people outside of the pool,

02:53 it'll also protect you if you happen to fall inside one.

02:57 As long as you don't swim several meters underwater

02:59 to touch the fuel rods,

03:01 you'd be completely fine.

03:02 Yeah, in theory,

03:04 you could swim in this pool until you looked like a raisin

03:07 without feeling any negative effects.

03:09 Although they're protecting something incredibly dangerous,

03:12 spent nuclear fuel pools are quite serene,

03:15 and kind of boring.

03:18 In fact, this might be a lot cleaner

03:20 and safer than your average public pool.

03:23 You won't find any germs,

03:25 or children peeing in the water here.

03:27 And swimming in this pool would expose you to less radiation

03:30 than you experience in your everyday life.

03:33 We encounter radiation in medical procedures

03:36 such as x-rays and CT scans,

03:38 from certain fuels like gas or coal.

03:41 Even our televisions and other screens

03:44 give off tiny traces of radiation.

03:46 Swimming in here isn't any more dangerous

03:49 than watching a "What If?" video.

03:53 If splashing around in a spent nuclear fuel pool

03:55 is a little too boring for you,

03:58 how about swimming on one of Saturn's moons?

04:02 Well, that sounds like a story for another WHAT IF.

04:06 (upbeat music)

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