Hey guys! I’m back and more ready than ever for more exciting content! Thank you all for the great suggestion of future video ideas and we’ll get into as many as possible! Let me know what you think of this video! Thanks for watching!☢️👩🏽🔬🧪🥼
Hang on, you said you don't know what critical mass as and a nuclear physicist? Say what? Has nothing to do with the core temperature. Critical mass is the minimum mass required to create a self-sustaining chain reaction, which is what you have your control rods for. Like, in a nuclear bomb you never have critical mass before the boom either. During the boom, two sides (or more) of the bomb are blasted together to create that critical mass. So if critical mass is imminent in 5 minutes, that's a problem :). With the demon core they used beryllium to lower the mass to which the core could become critical. Several people died when they accidentally closed the sphere completely. But for Homer, you can have a meltdown before you reached that critical mass. Why don't you know that :)?
Yeah I never get tired of "Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly." Don't forget "Engine-rich Exhaust" (when your rocket's engine is burning up) and "Lithobraking" (when your rocket crashes into a planet)
There was another episode where Homer became legally disabled via obesity so he could work from home. It resulted in him ultimately delegating responsibilities to a toy that led to another meltdown scenario.
@@missingnola3823 As an aspiring cartoon physicist, I still get a good laugh at Homer causing the simulator van to melt down (in yet a different episode, of course)
I was taught "critical mass" referred to the minimum amount of fissile material needed to sustain a nuclear reaction. It's an important consideration in nuclear weapons design. Basically, they're trying to say the power plant's fuel rods are about to undergo a nuclear detonation, even though there are often differences in the processing of nuclear fuel for reactors and nuclear material for atomic weapons.
Its been replaced by "critical assembly" as the mass can actually change depending on other factors. It is basically a measure of how many neutrons interact with the material. It also doesn't really apply to a nuclear plant because the material isn't pure enough to explode. Worst case is it becomes a really hot pile of melted waste and releases an "unacceptably high" level of radiation.
@@joshualandry3160 The fuel in a running nuclear reactor is definitely critical (and therefore has achieved critical mass). Controlling the criticality is how we vary power output, and if it's subcritical the reactor is "shut down". In TRIGA reactors the fuel is even prompt critical (briefly), which is criticality due to prompt neutrons alone (not thermal or decay neutrons). IIRC the "demon core" accidents were prompt critical as well, along with SL-1 and Chernobyl unit 4. Nuclear bombs need to be prompt critical, because they need to get all of the fission done in a microsecond (after that the assembly is no longer in a critical configuration due to the explosion).
@@user-lp3cf5yn5b The core would remain critical until it melted, reacted enough to go subcritical (Project Pluto lasts days to weeks, a power station lasts years, an aircraft carrier lasts around 25 years), or was otherwise converted to a subcritical configuration. Given other accidents, someone figuring out a safe-ish way to stop the reaction from a distance is the most likely outcome (some gardeners used a rifle to cut the rope holding a Co-60 source up when the mechanism failed). Take a look at the Kilopower reactor concept (the NASA one), which expands/shrinks depending on the temperature of the reactor, providing a negative temperature coefficient (higher temperature -> slower reaction). The Kilopower reactor is even roughly the size of the demon core, and is intended to run for over a decade. One of the more painful criticality accidents happened in Tokaimura, where a precipitation tank containing dissolved uranium became critical, and it took over a day (and an evacuation of nearby residents) before the tank was rendered safe (by draining the cooling jacket and dumping boron in to absorb the neutrons).
i've been in a german powerplant as part of my work field. My company constructed radiation measurement equipment for them. First thing we noticed wasn't nuclear radiation , it was thermal radiation. We were there between autumn and winter , i think. Snow and morning frost had covered the vast majority of the surroundings, but an extreemely large plot around the power plant was free of white due to the large amount of heat the place was giving off. It makes sense , i suppose. All that water from the tertiary (?) cooling cycle of water getting vented raised the surrounding heat by about ... 3-4 degrees c° on the parking lot. Inside, we had to listen to an hour long security video from the 90ies about how nuclear power plants work, stewing in the heat. That was in the building adjacent to the actual powerplant, mind you. We were reminded several times over not to touch our face with our hands, because the trace presence of radioactive particles in dust resting on handrails etc. is not enough to harm a person through their skin, but things change really quickly once you ingest them. Passing the first security checkpoint after confirming our identity to a camera, the inside got another bit warmer. So warm in fact, that all male workers were chilling comfortably in their underwear in the break room.( all they had was underwear under the onesies one has to wear deeper inside anyway). Peeking into the control room left quite an impression, because it reflected Homer's workplace ethics quite well. It was way larger, with lots of monitoring screens and measuring equipment , but because the powerplants are fully automated, all those guys had to do after years of training for this job was... sit and observe. They basicly were there, because their presence is mandated by law as a fail safe. Just sitting there , reading their newspapers, taking naps and twiddling their thumbs. And no , it was not break time at that point. There were no photographs around though , because you are not meant to personalize those work spaces. The area was large enough to host 20 people, but at the time it ran with four. No food or drinks for obvious reasons. Going deeper into the next security area, we got measured for radiation a couple times and had to strip down, slip into a onesie with gloves and new shoes. Can't recall if we had to wear safety helmets and goggles... i think we did. There was a MASSIVE wall seperating the outer from the inner area of the powerplant , you'd struggle to wrap both hands around it. And a similiarly massive steel safe door, as you've probably seen a couple times in heist movies. And inside.. well, we were in our underwear, wearing paper thin onesies in winter, and after 10 minutes inside you started sweating. Breathing without a mask was fine. Touching things and getting them close to your face was not. That must have been said to us half a dozen times. We've also seen the water pool, where expired nuclear fuel rods rest. Radiation above the pool surface was heightened, but safe. Beneath the surface, it was deadly. You fall in, that's it. It didn't glow and it wasn't green. just regular ol' transparent water :P A small side-note: those guys had free electricity for their cars and they had their own fitness center for training on the premises. A Biiiiiig one. The pay from what we heard was also nothing to scoff at. Same for the food. All in all , a pretty decent job... in europe. Heaven only knows how they treat their employees in america. i also think they had a lot of external labor, which they rotated out every few months to keep their exposure to radioactivity within acceptable levels? That goes for people who have to perform physical labor within the highest security area, not the ones outside the concrete egg. PS: I believe i remember being told , that nuclear pellets within the fuel rods are safe to handle by hand before they have been activated, but correct me if i am wrong.
This episode aired only 5 years after Chernobyl, and I've always wondered if it was intended as a parody of the incompetence that lead to Chernobyl happening. This is the first video I've seen of yours and it wa spretty good. I'll be watching more!
The "critical mass" reference reveals the level of public understanding about nuclear energy, conflation with nuclear weaponry, and how satire like The Simpsons plays with that misunderstanding. Although in this case, the humor depends on knowing that billionaire power plant owner Burns cuts corners wherever he can (until it directly affects him) to the extent of hiring bumbling, uneducated staff into safety-critical positions like our hero Homer. Interesting to see how an isolated episode looks as a "first" or "near first" introduction to the show. The creepy interplay between Burns and Smithers is one of countless established character relationships; this one comes across much more funny than creepy when you have seen the characters' prior development.
Critical mass means the amount of fissile materal required to create a chain reaction. If you core doesn't have critical mass it's not much of a core, at least not enough to be a valid reactor core. I liked that you actually showed a picture of a SCRAM button, if people knew more about the safety systems designed into a reactor, they'd be much less frightened of them.
Glad your back. Good reaction. Lawrence Huff wrote a book called Dome. It's about a nuclear reactor failing. It's a good read for a novice. As a professional you might like it.
The episode is from 1991 (Season 3, episode 5), and there are two meltdowns in the episode. The part you reacted to is basically a parody of the actual TMI incident, particularly with the "kill zone" map at 7:00
"You don't call a core meltdown minor." ... Unless you're in the Soviet Union and it would make the government look bad. In that case, just send more firefighters to clean up the graphite and claim there were no deaths.
7:08 if anyone's curious why they're under the desks, it's cuz during the cold War in the 80s that's what they taught kids to do if there was a nuclear attack, I wasn't alive but I've seen it referenced by South Park and other comedies
3 miles Island was just about 10 years old at the time of this episode. This is a parody of the incident, the media coverage and the corporate reactions.
2:19 I think they were praying that they'd be in heaven after the plant blows up knowing it was too late for them to do anything else. It was still a miracle that Homer resolved the issue though (lol)
I'm quite impressed at how accurate the whole thing was. They must have done a lot of research. When I first saw this episode, I thought it was all guesswork and BS. Simpsons used to be so funny. Now if I get two laughs per episode, I'm happy.
As for how anyone would happen to live in the red zone... that can be chalked up to cityplanning having been done shoddily, and as you will see, the plant is questionably managed as well. It is Springfield :D And one would assume the countdown is less to the literal meltdown and more to the point of no return or when it can still be prevented? One neat detail is that we didn't see exactly which button it was, whether to save the animators the trouble of going deeply into the functions of such hardware or to put the viewers in Homer's shoes, having no clue still which button it was :D Besides "Moe".
I haven’t seen this one in a long time. I was wondering how come the automated systems (which controlled the shutters) didn’t automatically initiate a scram! Even the early RBMK reactors had some auto-scram situations! I guess it’s just one of those concessions to tension - who knows why it started or why it had to be manually stopped. Or why Homer was the only one who could do anything - he’s in 7G so there should be at least 7 if not 49 other safety inspectors besides him on the payroll. Unless perhaps the automatic shutters cut off the cables for the rest of it, and everyone else was locked in the lunch room… probably best not to think about that too hard though. Burns’ reactors are unreliable and held together with chewing gum, so for all we know one of the rats might’ve dislodged some control surface or another!
Mr Burns is very cheap when it comes to the power plant. It has been the focus of a few episodes. Such as the one where he sells the plant to some German investors. Only for the Germans to realize that they would basically have to rebuild the plant. And the one where Burns runs for Governor so he can avoid a government regulation fine.
Thanks for explaining it, Elina! I always was curious how accurate this episode is to real life. I know the writers on Futurama (many of which worked on The Simpsons) were well-researched, befitting its science-fiction premise.
In cartoons, there doesn't have to be a 'real' reason for things to happen but there is something called 'The Plausible Impossible' (bit like poetic licence.) I remember learning about it years ago. They used Wile-E Coyote and Roadrunner cartoons as examples. e.g., cartoon character runs off a cliff and is suspended in mid air, turns around and runs back , or, has time to realise whats happened before falling. Another was where a 'tunnel' was painted on a wall, cliff, etc and a truck or train comes out (or Roadrunner runs in)
7:38 "007" is a direct reference to the movie Goldfinger, where James Bond stops the nuclear bomb inside Fort Knox from exploding just 7 seconds to go, which itself was a joke about Bond's agent number being 007.
When The Simpsons were created we were at the height of anti-nuclear crusades. TMI was still very fresh to memory and Chernobyl put the nail in the coffin.
The near meltdown took place because there was bubblegum covering the core temperature indicator. It was gradually creeping up because Homer was sleeping. I assume whatever was keeping the core hot was an unstable process that got out of hand because of inattention.
the meltdown happened likely because its homers job as the safety manager to monitor the reactor conditions and as a result something was going on while he was sleeping that could have easily been corrected or fixed but was allowed to continue until it resulted in a core meltdown scenario.
In the MSR, the reactor acts, by design, to cut off the reaction by fluid transfer to a safe vessel by a melting plug from the reaction core to a "drain tank" without further human intervention. "Walk-away" safe.
Elinimou your video was so amazing we miss your video you should upload your videos often I am Mogimou and I do not know about nuclear physics but you are so funny
just wait till you watch the episode where he purposefully gains weight to get on disability, then has to use well something to keep it from exploding.
There are people who live right beside nuclear power plants. I heard there were sometimes extremely loud bangs without any warning, like at least weekly. First time you hear it you think you're at ground zero of nuclear devastation.
@@YourFriendlyNuclearPhysicist Okay apparently it's not "bangs", but ridiculously loud releases of steam when the power "trips"...? So loud it feels like you're going to disintergrate. It was the 90s this happened.
Scramming the reactor for those who don't know simply means a quick and full insertion of the control rods between the fuel rods. Control rods are usually made of graphite because pure carbon tends to absord free neutrons like a dry sponge absorbs water.
If you think this had substandard safety protocols, I dread to think what you'd make of the kind of nuclear emergencies that occur in Thunderbirds (1965).
In Tennessee off of Interstate I40 there is a power plant 1 mile off the busy highway.. good thing Nuclear is the safest and most reliable way to produce energy!
Its a shame she dident show the follow up scenes when the inspectors came to find out how Homer managed to stop the meltdown. And yes he did the eeny meeny miny moe lyrics in front of them.
You must know about critical mass. Tell me if I'm wrong, please. The two types of reactive fuel over heat to the point of not being able to be re-cooled. Critical mass is the point on no return, you then have a self sustained, uncontrollable reaction...aka, elephants foot!
There's an episode where Bart travels across the country and ends up being stuck. Lisa gives Homer an idea to pour soda on top of the Fissionator 1952 to get a replacement. You should react to that.
I wasn't allowed to watch the Simpsons until I was 11. I had to sneak watch it with the volume down, by then SouthSark came along and I wasn't allowed to watch that.
Homer’s never known what the hell he’s doing. He only got the job because he was fired from his original job at the plant, then he unleashed a safety crusade on Springfield which culminated in taking down the plant, and Mr. Burns gave him the job of safety inspector so he’d stop.
Maybe something on reactors in space like RTG's on probes or new class of reactors being studied for the moon and mars maybe even nuclear engines for space travel
People live that close to nuclear power plants. Check out a satellite view of Pilgrim station in Plymouth, Massachusetts. It's decommissioned now, but this was only recent.
About living in the Red Zone. Always found it an Interesting Choice for Sweden to build the (Now decommissioned) Nuclear Plant Barsebaek less than 20Km from the Danish Capital Copenhagen, that's pretty close to the10 mile red circle. (Guess they got tired of Denmark constantly beating them in Soccer)
Thank you and welcome back 😍 I think they’re using critical mass as one of those word salads that they use in “science scenes” Like how everything with “Quantum” or “Nanotechnology” makes futuristic tach possible
People dont live that close to nuclear power plants? Look up Indian Point in Verplank NY, Michigan City, Hell The entire of Long Island... People for SURE live right next door to them.
Hi , why was it after working in one of these plants , it took nine months for my teeth to stop glowing green , in the dark , as it use to frighten my wife , when it got dark .🤔
6:48 ehmm yeah... tell that to citizens beeing evacuated out of tschernobyl, fukushima and pennsylvania :D there are A LOT of people living in a 30mile radius around a power plant
Hey guys! I’m back and more ready than ever for more exciting content! Thank you all for the great suggestion of future video ideas and we’ll get into as many as possible!
Let me know what you think of this video! Thanks for watching!☢️👩🏽🔬🧪🥼
Welcome back!!!!🎊🎉🎉🎉🎊🎊🎊🎉🎉🎉
@@jamesjohnston9225 thanks ☢️👩🏽🔬
Hang on, you said you don't know what critical mass as and a nuclear physicist? Say what? Has nothing to do with the core temperature. Critical mass is the minimum mass required to create a self-sustaining chain reaction, which is what you have your control rods for.
Like, in a nuclear bomb you never have critical mass before the boom either. During the boom, two sides (or more) of the bomb are blasted together to create that critical mass. So if critical mass is imminent in 5 minutes, that's a problem :). With the demon core they used beryllium to lower the mass to which the core could become critical. Several people died when they accidentally closed the sphere completely.
But for Homer, you can have a meltdown before you reached that critical mass.
Why don't you know that :)?
I hope we all get "lucky" as Homer. 🤣👍
If only my physic teachers was nice person as you...
"Unrequested fission surplus" sounds a lot like a rapid unscheduled disassembly (that's when your rocket blows up).
Ahahaha indeed 👩🏽🔬☢️
It sounds like Russia. Military special operation😂
@@Hans_Magnusson I will not honor that insult with a response.
When it comes to euphemisms, my favourite is still "donated under suspicious circumstances" 🤣
Yeah I never get tired of "Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly."
Don't forget "Engine-rich Exhaust" (when your rocket's engine is burning up) and "Lithobraking" (when your rocket crashes into a planet)
There was another episode where Homer became legally disabled via obesity so he could work from home. It resulted in him ultimately delegating responsibilities to a toy that led to another meltdown scenario.
That is in my top 5 of Simpson's episodes. #1 will always be "You Only Move Twice" with Hank Scorpio and Globex Corp.
And Bart summed up Homer's act of heroism perfectly...
@@missingnola3823 As an aspiring cartoon physicist, I still get a good laugh at Homer causing the simulator van to melt down (in yet a different episode, of course)
@@nowthatsjustducky Oh, I can't place the episode, but I can definitely recall that scene! A good one, for sure.
@@nowthatsjustducky It was ironic...
I was taught "critical mass" referred to the minimum amount of fissile material needed to sustain a nuclear reaction. It's an important consideration in nuclear weapons design. Basically, they're trying to say the power plant's fuel rods are about to undergo a nuclear detonation, even though there are often differences in the processing of nuclear fuel for reactors and nuclear material for atomic weapons.
Sounds reasonable! Thanks for the comment 👩🏽🔬☢️
Good time for a classic Airplane 2 gag. Stewardess says, "he's got a b-", and quickly covers her mouth. Stryker says, "no, not a 'buh', a BOMB".
Its been replaced by "critical assembly" as the mass can actually change depending on other factors. It is basically a measure of how many neutrons interact with the material. It also doesn't really apply to a nuclear plant because the material isn't pure enough to explode. Worst case is it becomes a really hot pile of melted waste and releases an "unacceptably high" level of radiation.
@@joshualandry3160 The fuel in a running nuclear reactor is definitely critical (and therefore has achieved critical mass). Controlling the criticality is how we vary power output, and if it's subcritical the reactor is "shut down". In TRIGA reactors the fuel is even prompt critical (briefly), which is criticality due to prompt neutrons alone (not thermal or decay neutrons).
IIRC the "demon core" accidents were prompt critical as well, along with SL-1 and Chernobyl unit 4. Nuclear bombs need to be prompt critical, because they need to get all of the fission done in a microsecond (after that the assembly is no longer in a critical configuration due to the explosion).
@@user-lp3cf5yn5b The core would remain critical until it melted, reacted enough to go subcritical (Project Pluto lasts days to weeks, a power station lasts years, an aircraft carrier lasts around 25 years), or was otherwise converted to a subcritical configuration. Given other accidents, someone figuring out a safe-ish way to stop the reaction from a distance is the most likely outcome (some gardeners used a rifle to cut the rope holding a Co-60 source up when the mechanism failed).
Take a look at the Kilopower reactor concept (the NASA one), which expands/shrinks depending on the temperature of the reactor, providing a negative temperature coefficient (higher temperature -> slower reaction). The Kilopower reactor is even roughly the size of the demon core, and is intended to run for over a decade.
One of the more painful criticality accidents happened in Tokaimura, where a precipitation tank containing dissolved uranium became critical, and it took over a day (and an evacuation of nearby residents) before the tank was rendered safe (by draining the cooling jacket and dumping boron in to absorb the neutrons).
i've been in a german powerplant as part of my work field. My company constructed radiation measurement equipment for them. First thing we noticed wasn't nuclear radiation , it was thermal radiation. We were there between autumn and winter , i think. Snow and morning frost had covered the vast majority of the surroundings, but an extreemely large plot around the power plant was free of white due to the large amount of heat the place was giving off. It makes sense , i suppose. All that water from the tertiary (?) cooling cycle of water getting vented raised the surrounding heat by about ... 3-4 degrees c° on the parking lot.
Inside, we had to listen to an hour long security video from the 90ies about how nuclear power plants work, stewing in the heat. That was in the building adjacent to the actual powerplant, mind you. We were reminded several times over not to touch our face with our hands, because the trace presence of radioactive particles in dust resting on handrails etc. is not enough to harm a person through their skin, but things change really quickly once you ingest them.
Passing the first security checkpoint after confirming our identity to a camera, the inside got another bit warmer. So warm in fact, that all male workers were chilling comfortably in their underwear in the break room.( all they had was underwear under the onesies one has to wear deeper inside anyway).
Peeking into the control room left quite an impression, because it reflected Homer's workplace ethics quite well. It was way larger, with lots of monitoring screens and measuring equipment , but because the powerplants are fully automated, all those guys had to do after years of training for this job was... sit and observe. They basicly were there, because their presence is mandated by law as a fail safe. Just sitting there , reading their newspapers, taking naps and twiddling their thumbs. And no , it was not break time at that point. There were no photographs around though , because you are not meant to personalize those work spaces. The area was large enough to host 20 people, but at the time it ran with four. No food or drinks for obvious reasons.
Going deeper into the next security area, we got measured for radiation a couple times and had to strip down, slip into a onesie with gloves and new shoes. Can't recall if we had to wear safety helmets and goggles... i think we did. There was a MASSIVE wall seperating the outer from the inner area of the powerplant , you'd struggle to wrap both hands around it. And a similiarly massive steel safe door, as you've probably seen a couple times in heist movies. And inside.. well, we were in our underwear, wearing paper thin onesies in winter, and after 10 minutes inside you started sweating. Breathing without a mask was fine. Touching things and getting them close to your face was not. That must have been said to us half a dozen times. We've also seen the water pool, where expired nuclear fuel rods rest. Radiation above the pool surface was heightened, but safe. Beneath the surface, it was deadly. You fall in, that's it. It didn't glow and it wasn't green. just regular ol' transparent water :P
A small side-note: those guys had free electricity for their cars and they had their own fitness center for training on the premises. A Biiiiiig one. The pay from what we heard was also nothing to scoff at. Same for the food. All in all , a pretty decent job... in europe. Heaven only knows how they treat their employees in america. i also think they had a lot of external labor, which they rotated out every few months to keep their exposure to radioactivity within acceptable levels? That goes for people who have to perform physical labor within the highest security area, not the ones outside the concrete egg.
PS: I believe i remember being told , that nuclear pellets within the fuel rods are safe to handle by hand before they have been activated, but correct me if i am wrong.
In america the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant is the plant all other nuclear power plants aspire to be
One would think that button would be clearly labeled if it was that important.
Must be in real life 👩🏽🔬☢️
have to think that Homer, at best, is a lazy genius and always has dumb luck.
Marine Engineer here, some Buttons that can save my Day aren't Factory-labeled at all and just have some Permanent Marker Writing "Reset" on them.
Yes or it can have a technical label like X-17
This episode aired only 5 years after Chernobyl, and I've always wondered if it was intended as a parody of the incompetence that lead to Chernobyl happening. This is the first video I've seen of yours and it wa spretty good. I'll be watching more!
"Somewhere there's a thingy that tells you how to work this stuff." I love that line, especially how he says "thingy".
Mr. Burns would have fit right in with pr people of Chernobyl.
You’re not wrong there !☢️👩🏽🔬
Where do you think he opened his first nuclear power plant?
@@YourFriendlyNuclearPhysicist It is actually canon in the Simpsons that Chernobyl was Mr. Burns.
The "critical mass" reference reveals the level of public understanding about nuclear energy, conflation with nuclear weaponry, and how satire like The Simpsons plays with that misunderstanding. Although in this case, the humor depends on knowing that billionaire power plant owner Burns cuts corners wherever he can (until it directly affects him) to the extent of hiring bumbling, uneducated staff into safety-critical positions like our hero Homer. Interesting to see how an isolated episode looks as a "first" or "near first" introduction to the show. The creepy interplay between Burns and Smithers is one of countless established character relationships; this one comes across much more funny than creepy when you have seen the characters' prior development.
Yeees welcome baaaack❤️❤️❤️i was waiting for another videooooo❤️❤️❤️
Thank youuuu👩🏽🔬☢️
Critical mass means the amount of fissile materal required to create a chain reaction. If you core doesn't have critical mass it's not much of a core, at least not enough to be a valid reactor core.
I liked that you actually showed a picture of a SCRAM button, if people knew more about the safety systems designed into a reactor, they'd be much less frightened of them.
Not gonna lie, but The Simpsons sometimes make me had a heart attack watching Homer operating the nuclear plant.
Simpsons writers are pretty geeky, I'm not surprised that the diagram of the nuclear reactor was accurate
I must say I'm impressed with how much the writers of this sequence actually got right.
Thank you very much for this reaction. 🙂
“Unrequested fission surplus” 🤣
Glad your back. Good reaction. Lawrence Huff wrote a book called Dome. It's about a nuclear reactor failing. It's a good read for a novice. As a professional you might like it.
Thank you for the comment I appreciate the support ☢️👩🏽🔬
And in the end the town of Springfield was saved by, oh let's say, Mo.
👩🏽🔬☢️
Using that flying fan 😂
You should have watched the part at the end where Homer saves another nuclear power plant the same way while the plant owner watches.
Do you have any idea what button you pressed?
Sure, moe.
Homer Simpson as the safety officer at a nuclear power plant. Nuff said !
Classic episode! Also loved the commentary, very informative 🙂
Your smile just letting me to afterlife 😇 every time I see
I love these! Please do more of these.
A new one coming up tonight ☢️👩🏽🔬
The episode is from 1991 (Season 3, episode 5), and there are two meltdowns in the episode. The part you reacted to is basically a parody of the actual TMI incident, particularly with the "kill zone" map at 7:00
"You don't call a core meltdown minor." ... Unless you're in the Soviet Union and it would make the government look bad. In that case, just send more firefighters to clean up the graphite and claim there were no deaths.
When Homer reads the manual, it states that the reactor is from 1952 - which might explain why the safety system didn't kick in automatically.
the first reactor was only activated in 1954, in russia too
7:08 if anyone's curious why they're under the desks, it's cuz during the cold War in the 80s that's what they taught kids to do if there was a nuclear attack, I wasn't alive but I've seen it referenced by South Park and other comedies
I had no idea what a nuclear attack *was,* but if it happened, I knew I needed to be under my desk for it! 🤣
@@jenniferkaplan1956 hahaha 😆 nice, also hide in a tent to avoid tornadoes 🌪😄
Here in Switzerland there is a power plant (Gösgen) that is located within 200 meters of inhabited area.
3 miles Island was just about 10 years old at the time of this episode. This is a parody of the incident, the media coverage and the corporate reactions.
Lol. I liked the poise with which you present the ridiculous (The Simpsons).
Thanks!👩🏽🔬☢️
2:19 I think they were praying that they'd be in heaven after the plant blows up knowing it was too late for them to do anything else. It was still a miracle that Homer resolved the issue though (lol)
Homer Simpson = Extremely lucky in Simpsons' Dictionary. 😂 🤣
I'm quite impressed at how accurate the whole thing was. They must have done a lot of research. When I first saw this episode, I thought it was all guesswork and BS. Simpsons used to be so funny. Now if I get two laughs per episode, I'm happy.
Hiya Elina love your channel keep up the work with the awesome videos =)
As for how anyone would happen to live in the red zone... that can be chalked up to cityplanning having been done shoddily, and as you will see, the plant is questionably managed as well. It is Springfield :D And one would assume the countdown is less to the literal meltdown and more to the point of no return or when it can still be prevented? One neat detail is that we didn't see exactly which button it was, whether to save the animators the trouble of going deeply into the functions of such hardware or to put the viewers in Homer's shoes, having no clue still which button it was :D Besides "Moe".
007(seconds). This is an homage to Goldfinger(1964).
Its been a moment since you've uploaded good to see you back :). I guess he pressed reactor SCRAM (AZ-5, EPIS) Great episode though!
Thanks for the comment 👩🏽🔬☢️ back and ready for some great future content! Indeed this must be the button
I haven’t seen this one in a long time. I was wondering how come the automated systems (which controlled the shutters) didn’t automatically initiate a scram! Even the early RBMK reactors had some auto-scram situations!
I guess it’s just one of those concessions to tension - who knows why it started or why it had to be manually stopped. Or why Homer was the only one who could do anything - he’s in 7G so there should be at least 7 if not 49 other safety inspectors besides him on the payroll.
Unless perhaps the automatic shutters cut off the cables for the rest of it, and everyone else was locked in the lunch room… probably best not to think about that too hard though. Burns’ reactors are unreliable and held together with chewing gum, so for all we know one of the rats might’ve dislodged some control surface or another!
Mr Burns is very cheap when it comes to the power plant. It has been the focus of a few episodes. Such as the one where he sells the plant to some German investors. Only for the Germans to realize that they would basically have to rebuild the plant. And the one where Burns runs for Governor so he can avoid a government regulation fine.
@@jordanread5829 exactly!
Thanks for explaining it, Elina! I always was curious how accurate this episode is to real life. I know the writers on Futurama (many of which worked on The Simpsons) were well-researched, befitting its science-fiction premise.
In cartoons, there doesn't have to be a 'real' reason for things to happen but there is something called 'The Plausible Impossible' (bit like poetic licence.)
I remember learning about it years ago.
They used Wile-E Coyote and Roadrunner cartoons as examples.
e.g., cartoon character runs off a cliff and is suspended in mid air, turns around and runs back , or, has time to realise whats happened before falling.
Another was where a 'tunnel' was painted on a wall, cliff, etc and a truck or train comes out (or Roadrunner runs in)
The 'minor malfunction' was a release of a 'minuscule' amount of radioactive gas at San Onofrey nuclear power plant in California, USA.
Love your videos!!
“AHHHHH, IT’S MY PROBLEM!! WE’RE DOOMED!!!!!!” 🤣
7:38 "007" is a direct reference to the movie Goldfinger, where James Bond stops the nuclear bomb inside Fort Knox from exploding just 7 seconds to go, which itself was a joke about Bond's agent number being 007.
@3:38 maybe its the worker in the back reading a book or their hats but this actually looks like the set of a comedy.
Shows like the Simpsons are the reason that we don’t trust nuclear energy, and we’re all the more blind for it.
When The Simpsons were created we were at the height of anti-nuclear crusades. TMI was still very fresh to memory and Chernobyl put the nail in the coffin.
so he pressed AZ-5 lol
Hehe indeed 👩🏽🔬☢️
You're delusional. Get to the infirmary.
@@trajan74 I don't see anything problematic with that comment.
7:49 Why isn't one of the definitions of lucky: *Homer Simpson?*
I love Barney in this: "ah, I could've lived a richer life." Dismissing death seemingly easier than Moe 🤣😆😂
7:07 -- Duck and cover is in fact what you do if there's an earthquake or tornado!
Yeah Homer!!! 😶
The near meltdown took place because there was bubblegum covering the core temperature indicator. It was gradually creeping up because Homer was sleeping. I assume whatever was keeping the core hot was an unstable process that got out of hand because of inattention.
the meltdown happened likely because its homers job as the safety manager to monitor the reactor conditions and as a result something was going on while he was sleeping that could have easily been corrected or fixed but was allowed to continue until it resulted in a core meltdown scenario.
from the golden era of the Simpsons!
👩🏽🔬☢️
4:40 Now Marge on the other hand, Marge is prayin uselessly heh
Look up Pickering Ontario sometime. One of the few towns that live dangerously close to a nuclear power plant.
In the MSR, the reactor acts, by design, to cut off the reaction by fluid transfer to a safe vessel by a melting plug from the reaction core to a "drain tank" without further human intervention. "Walk-away" safe.
2:25 Prty sure the prayin is them quickly absolvin their sins before they die actually xD
I know Homer Jay Simpson he's saved the nuclear power plant crisis
The Simpsons has done a lot to perpetuate the idea that a nuclear power plant is just a nuclear bomb waiting to go off.
This is the content I came for. Love it!
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My fictional company called bloxy incorporated had hundreds of meltdowns and failed stalls leading to unintentional black hole formations
Prayer does help. Peace be with you.
Elinimou your video was so amazing we miss your video you should upload your videos often I am Mogimou and I do not know about nuclear physics but you are so funny
Moginiiiiiiiiiiiim thank you so much I love you ♥️♥️♥️♥️ I will upload every week ☀️ I love your videos and can’t wait for Saturdays to watch them
I think you are the most beautiful nuclear physicist I've seen ☺️
Good thing the Springfield nuclear power plant didn’t use graphite tipped control rods.
We just gonna ignore the 2 guys trying to steal soda during this meltdown. What is the endgame for that soda heist? 😂😂😂😂
The rats made me wonder how clean these plants are usually kept.
Ahahaha 👩🏽🔬☢️ I’m not sure it’s referred to the cleanliness
Dude they have a gianormos spider that lives in the lower depts
@@themachoechidnaugandarandy7583 I meant in the real world.
There's an entire other episode dedicated to that but it's neither here nor there.
just wait till you watch the episode where he purposefully gains weight to get on disability, then has to use well something to keep it from exploding.
There are people who live right beside nuclear power plants. I heard there were sometimes extremely loud bangs without any warning, like at least weekly. First time you hear it you think you're at ground zero of nuclear devastation.
Not sure about the bangs you're regering to. Do you have more info ?
@@YourFriendlyNuclearPhysicist Okay apparently it's not "bangs", but ridiculously loud releases of steam when the power "trips"...? So loud it feels like you're going to disintergrate. It was the 90s this happened.
Scramming the reactor for those who don't know simply means a quick and full insertion of the control rods between the fuel rods. Control rods are usually made of graphite because pure carbon tends to absord free neutrons like a dry sponge absorbs water.
If you think this had substandard safety protocols, I dread to think what you'd make of the kind of nuclear emergencies that occur in Thunderbirds (1965).
In Tennessee off of Interstate I40 there is a power plant 1 mile off the busy highway.. good thing Nuclear is the safest and most reliable way to produce energy!
Please do more simpsons reactions
“Were there actually people praying? As if that’s going to help.” 😂😂🤣😂🤣
Ahaha that came out without even trying 😅 I mean if my life was in danger ⚠️ I wouldn’t choose to stay and pray 👩🏽🔬☢️
They are being given Last rites. It’s a Christian prayer given right before death. They are preparing to die.
Its a shame she dident show the follow up scenes when the inspectors came to find out how Homer managed to stop the meltdown. And yes he did the eeny meeny miny moe lyrics in front of them.
The series is predominantly episodic, but there is a loose timeline-especially classic Simpsons. Might explain why in season 5 the inspectors came.
I am pretty sure you have diluted some of the radioactive stuff with your charming eyes only 😊.
You must know about critical mass. Tell me if I'm wrong, please. The two types of reactive fuel over heat to the point of not being able to be re-cooled. Critical mass is the point on no return, you then have a self sustained, uncontrollable reaction...aka, elephants foot!
I have to admit that you are lovely, and articulate. My goodness…
There's an episode where Bart travels across the country and ends up being stuck. Lisa gives Homer an idea to pour soda on top of the Fissionator 1952 to get a replacement. You should react to that.
I wasn't allowed to watch the Simpsons until I was 11. I had to sneak watch it with the volume down, by then SouthSark came along and I wasn't allowed to watch that.
Homer’s never known what the hell he’s doing. He only got the job because he was fired from his original job at the plant, then he unleashed a safety crusade on Springfield which culminated in taking down the plant, and Mr. Burns gave him the job of safety inspector so he’d stop.
Maybe something on reactors in space like RTG's on probes or new class of reactors being studied for the moon and mars maybe even nuclear engines for space travel
Hehe sounds cool 👩🏽🔬☢️
Question if a nuclear power plant meltdown and press the wrong button what could happen like you took out the nuclear fuel rods
LUL, pushing that button was what made Chernobyl explode.
Oh after really long time 😅😅
We’re back ☢️👩🏽🔬
People live that close to nuclear power plants. Check out a satellite view of Pilgrim station in Plymouth, Massachusetts. It's decommissioned now, but this was only recent.
About living in the Red Zone. Always found it an Interesting Choice for Sweden to build the (Now decommissioned) Nuclear Plant Barsebaek less than 20Km from the Danish Capital Copenhagen, that's pretty close to the10 mile red circle. (Guess they got tired of Denmark constantly beating them in Soccer)
Thank you and welcome back 😍
I think they’re using critical mass as one of those word salads that they use in “science scenes”
Like how everything with “Quantum” or “Nanotechnology” makes futuristic tach possible
Thank you for the comment and support ☢️👩🏽🔬
Excellent and funny!
Ita an "unrequested fission surplus".
Marge is watching a TV soap opera. In Latin America, they're "telenovelas". In the French part of Canada, they're "teleromans".
You do you obviously, nuclear stuff is quite serious, but would love to see you let yourself laugh more. The Simpsons is a comedy after all :P
Lol. She said its been a while hehe.
People dont live that close to nuclear power plants? Look up Indian Point in Verplank NY, Michigan City, Hell The entire of Long Island... People for SURE live right next door to them.
Hi , why was it after working in one of these plants , it took nine months for my teeth to stop glowing green , in the dark , as it use to frighten my wife , when it got dark .🤔
Please do a reaction to the procedures taken in the HBO show Chernobyl
😍
6:48
ehmm yeah... tell that to citizens beeing evacuated out of tschernobyl, fukushima and pennsylvania :D
there are A LOT of people living in a 30mile radius around a power plant
Lucky thing it wasn't an RBMK... 🤣