radioactivity
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Wild Images Show Scientists Training Robots to Clean Up Chernobyl’s Waste
Robots could someday help dispose of nuclear waste. Scientists from the University of Bristol working on the problem recently paid a visit to some of the most contaminated places at the abandoned Chernobyl nuclear facility to further this goal. The researchers are helping develop new technologies, including using a Boston Dynamics robot dog to deal…
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Chernobyl Survivors Didn’t Pass on Harmful Mutations to Their Children, Study Finds
Two new papers out Thursday highlight the aftereffects of the Chernobyl nuclear accident that occurred over 30 years ago. One study might help explain why survivors are more likely to develop thyroid cancer, while another found evidence that these survivors don’t seem to have passed on potentially harmful mutations to their children.
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Mini Nuclear Reactor at U.S. Government Lab Shut Down After Radiation Leak
A small-scale nuclear reactor at a U.S. government neutron research facility was shut down last week after it began to spew elevated amounts of ionising radiation. No employees received dangerous doses of radiation, according to officials, who are now devising a plan to determine the cause of the leak.
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Fukushima’s Contaminated Wastewater Could Be Too Risky to Dump in the Ocean
Almost a decade ago, the Tohoku-oki earthquake and tsunami triggered an explosion at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, causing the most severe nuclear accident since Chernobyl and releasing an unprecedented amount of radioactive contamination in the ocean. In the years since, there’s been a drawn out cleanup process, and water radiation levels around the…