Guess the Architecture 7/30/2019

Could be....

Judges??? ... Yes we have a winner!!!

How on Earth did you guess it?

Didn't have to. "Editor’s note: In tandem with the popularity of the HBO miniseries Chernobyl, CR4 presents some special content to spark discussion about the infamous nuclear disaster. A related Guess the Architecture post will follow.".

Just took a wild guess.

Disturbing:

Just look at the condition of that containment building. I guess the word phrase "preventive maintenance" is not in the Russian language. Who gives me 20 years before we have "Chernobyl, The Second Chapter"?

Unlikely.

Like the space race, the Russians generate some spectacular firsts, but lack follow through.

Though it could be said that this was the second major nuclear contamination disaster that the Soviets had. I suppose though that the waste tank explosion could have been a dry run for the main event.

The Second Chapter doesn't have to have the big bang scene stealer. I'd expect it to be something like a long term leakage into the water table, yes Virginia groundwater flows unidirectionally too, with the plume stretching for 100's of miles destroying countless lives and many cities and communities before anyone realizes that maintenance counts as much as first response.

I was thinking more along the lines of groundwater leaking into the facility basement, flowing around the fuel and creating critical fuel/water assemblies that generate a huge steam plume to pop the top off the new containment. Alternatively it could be some sort of radioactive "Old Faithful" for the theme park and tourist attraction and as a source of supply for the energizing hot springs and radium cure sauna.

In keeping with the local government, if you don't look and don't see then it's probably not a problem yet.

Groundwater generally doesn't move that fast unless there is a major aquifer under the facility with active pumping going on nearby or else an active subsurface stream bed. I participated in some groundwater percolation studies for Hanford single-wall tank leakage and one of the more surprising results was that even if the tanks leak, the ground percolation was still slow enough with current rainfall levels for the radioactive contamination to decay to safe levels before it would reach the Columbia River.

Ahh it just needs a good coat of paint...I'm sure it's fine....

I'll paraphrase a Russian saying:

There is nothing more permanent than a temporary solution.

Well there is a large containment building that has been built over the original containment structure....that was built so they could rebuild the original containment structure...

https://weather.com/news/trending/video/building-covering-radioactive-material-at-chernobyl-close-to-collapse

The name of the architectural style is industrial ^%@#-up.