- #1
G.K. Masterson
- 9
- 0
Hi all,
I'm a science-fiction/fantasy writer who is in the midst of outlining a distant-future (10,000+ years) story. The main parts of it I can handle (humans on Earth have gone through a cycle of Intellectual --> Dark ages with the current era being a kind of pinnacle never again achieved).
Supposing that, for various reasons, about 50% of the planet decided to part ways with the Earth and go live elsewhere and that 50% contained the vast majority of scientists and engineers, is there any kind of "Dummies Guide" for nuclear power plants that would let the remaining 50% at least shut them down without having a meltdown? I know that the fuel rods get really hot and take years to cool down so they have to be put in cold water that continually cycles so it won't boil off. That, however, is about the extent of my practical knowledge. In a pinch, could the average high-school student (or rather, a group of them) maintain the spent fuel rods well enough so as not to cause the kind of disaster that Aftermath: Population Zero says would happen if suddenly no one were around to take care of them?
Also, how long would it take for the satellites (the artificial ones we've sent up) to suffer orbital decay and get pulled down into Earth's atmosphere? What kind of danger would their wreckage pose to people on the ground (if any) other than "insta-death" if one were to land slap on top of someone? ;)
The rest of the stuff I can handle because it's straight-forward enough for even a history major to piece together. It's the "what would happen to the nuclear plants (and, by extension, the nuclear stockpiles and subs)?" and "what would happen to the satellites?" that has me stumped.
Thanks!
-- G.K. Masterson
I'm a science-fiction/fantasy writer who is in the midst of outlining a distant-future (10,000+ years) story. The main parts of it I can handle (humans on Earth have gone through a cycle of Intellectual --> Dark ages with the current era being a kind of pinnacle never again achieved).
Supposing that, for various reasons, about 50% of the planet decided to part ways with the Earth and go live elsewhere and that 50% contained the vast majority of scientists and engineers, is there any kind of "Dummies Guide" for nuclear power plants that would let the remaining 50% at least shut them down without having a meltdown? I know that the fuel rods get really hot and take years to cool down so they have to be put in cold water that continually cycles so it won't boil off. That, however, is about the extent of my practical knowledge. In a pinch, could the average high-school student (or rather, a group of them) maintain the spent fuel rods well enough so as not to cause the kind of disaster that Aftermath: Population Zero says would happen if suddenly no one were around to take care of them?
Also, how long would it take for the satellites (the artificial ones we've sent up) to suffer orbital decay and get pulled down into Earth's atmosphere? What kind of danger would their wreckage pose to people on the ground (if any) other than "insta-death" if one were to land slap on top of someone? ;)
The rest of the stuff I can handle because it's straight-forward enough for even a history major to piece together. It's the "what would happen to the nuclear plants (and, by extension, the nuclear stockpiles and subs)?" and "what would happen to the satellites?" that has me stumped.
Thanks!
-- G.K. Masterson