Dale’s Reviews > Chernobyl: The Devastation, Destruction and Consequences of the World's Worst Radiation Accident > Status Update
Dale
is on page 14 of 256
Again as with a lot of books on this subject the science of is sub optimum. Page 14 and the author has confused neutron moderators with neutron absorbers a key error. Moderators slow the speed of high energy neutrons through collisions where they are NOT absorbed, lower energy "slow" neutrons are more likely to be absorbed by a uranium atom resulting in a fission even.
— Sep 15, 2026 01:58AM
Like flag
Dale’s Previous Updates
Dale
is on page 49 of 256
The book repeatedly mislabels the RBMK as having no pressure vessel when it mean containment structure, which it did indeed largely lack due to the reactor's size. It also claims graphite was chosen over water as a moderator, but the key reason was that graphite moderation allowed the use of lower-enriched uranium fuel, as water moderation requires a more refined (enriched) fuel as water absorbs neutrons.
— Sep 15, 2026 02:30AM