Chernobyl's nuclear fuel is still stable after 40 years — and that's not good news
Chernobyl particles reveal unexpectedly stable nuclear fuel after 40 years
A phys.org report on Chernobyl particles finds that uranium oxide dust has remained intact for four decades. Commenters on Hacker News push back on the positive-sounding headline: 'stable' here means long-lived in an ecological sense, not radiological. The grains don't break down, so if inhaled they stay in the body — a persistent hazard rather than a reassuring result.
The headline sounds weirdly positive... but it's "stable" as in "long-lived". Very much not a good thing.
- bad_username
"Stable" here means mechanically stable (they don't fall apart as quickly as was expected), not radiologically stable (the radioactive elements, of course, still decay at their normal rate).
- eqvinox
The headline sounds weirdly positive... but it's "stable" as in [ed.: ecologically] "long-lived". Very much not a good thing.
- readthenotes1
40 years and counting, vs 1 year for Hiroshima