Culture on My Mind
xkcd on Spent Fuel Pools
August 1, 2024

This time, I’m thinking about spent fuel pools.

In nuclear reactor plants, spent fuel pools are where used nuclear fuel is stored. Every 12 to 24 months, about 25-30 percent of the fuel load is removed from the reactor and placed in a shielded and controlled water pool at least twenty feet deep. The spent fuel is replaced with fresh fuel load while the spent fuel’s decay heat and radiation are mitigated by the water.

When xkcd‘s Randall Monroe started his what if? series, one of the “absurd questions” that he answered caught my attention:

What if I took a swim in a typical spent nuclear fuel pool? Would I need to dive to actually experience a fatal amount of radiation? How long could I stay safely at the surface?

The answer was first found on the what if? website, then in his book and as a YouTube video. The video version is what I’m sharing here today.

 

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Culture on My Mind is inspired by the weekly Can’t Let It Go segment on the NPR Politics Podcast where each host brings one thing to the table that they just can’t stop thinking about.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.

Culture on My Mind
xkcd’s Ten Thousand
July 17, 2024

This time, I have learning on my mind.

I love learning. I love sharing what I learn with others. I love seeing that moment on someone’s face when they learn something new. When a concept just clicks in their mind.

This is why some of the content on Creative Criticality starts with me saying “I wonder why…” and ends with me sharing what I found.

As xkcd said about ten thousand:

Culture on My Mind is inspired by the weekly Can’t Let It Go segment on the NPR Politics Podcast where each host brings one thing to the table that they just can’t stop thinking about.

For more creativity with a critical eye, visit Creative Criticality.