Aftermath: Population Zero

**Alpine_Sapper** · 03-13-2008, 11:44 AM

Last night TDW flipped it over to NatGeo after my daughter went to bed, and found a program called "Aftermath: Population Zero". I missed the first few minutes, so I'm not sure of exactly why the human race was wiped out, but apparently every single hum on the planet died. Sometime around day 10 the waste from nuclear fuel had superheated to the point of explosion. They claim that each storage facility will explode from the split atoms continuing to heat up and the refrigeration systems being offline, and will be a nuclear explosion 20 times the size of Chernobyl, which was 50k sq. mi. So that puts one storage facility at 1 million sq. miles. With 78 facilitys in the united states alone, 158 across europe, and a whopping 58 on the island of Japan, this seems like a disaster that would completely kill all life. They state that strontium-90 will be active for 300 years (I think) and that plutonium would be radioactive for something like 248k years (I think).

My questions is based around the fact that they show animals living through this if they are large enough to survive the 1 1/2 inch of radioactive penetration, so whereas rodents die, larger animals would simply have radiation poisoning but their internal organs would be "unharmed".

Basically, I was wondering if anyone else had seen the show, and what your opinion on it was. Does this look like plausible reality to you based on the situation, or do you think it's all just wishful thinking and that the technology we created to further our comfortable life style will ultimately radiate the planet into oblivion?

http://channel.nationalgeographic.co...nel/aftermath/

**Beo** · 03-13-2008, 11:46 AM

That was a great show, really liked it too. Never said what happened to the humans, they were just gone. I think it could be plausable but not knowing much about nuclear reactors I couldn't say.

**wareagle69** · 03-13-2008, 11:47 AM

if it were that bad i would probably look forward to death..

**bulrush** · 03-13-2008, 11:47 AM

They claim that each storage facility will explode from the split atoms continuing to heat up and the refrigeration systems being offline,

Explosions are not guarenteed, this is just media hype. It is more likely the casings will just melt, and steam and smoke will carry radioactive particles up into the air, going hundreds of miles downwind, making all the area downwind uninhabitable.

if it were that bad i would probably look forward to death..

I would look forward to having a fist grow out of my chin, so I can be like Chuck Norris.

**hillbilly1987** · 03-13-2008, 12:29 PM

Originally Posted by Beowulf65

That was a great show, really liked it too. Never said what happened to the humans, they were just gone. I think it could be plausable but not knowing much about nuclear reactors I couldn't say.

i would have to say the same i liked it but i didnt know what happen to the people thoe

**trax** · 03-13-2008, 03:25 PM

Amazing. If everyone is dead, I mean every single human being, who really gives a crap how the animals are making out? I'm pretty sure once I'm dead, it'll take up all my time.

Animals are going to have some way to survive a nuclear attack that we don't? Unlikely, it'll just take them longer to die off because the people launching the bombs are probably more interested in taking out urban population centers than say, herds of caribou. If they start lobbing nukes, someone let me know and I'll go sit under a caribou until it's over. Then, of course, if everyone else is dead, I'm going to have to get way more fond of caribou than I currently am (it's not a food source dammit, it's family!)

**crashdive123** · 03-13-2008, 04:51 PM

Didn't see it, but don't accept the premise of their assertions. Chernobyl was different than most reactors around the world (graphite core) which are more difficult to control. If you're saying that the show stated that the explosion covered 50,000 square miles, that's a bit off. There was an explosion and fire. The cloud that was released as a result was large, but not as big as they state. There is a large uninhabitable area (36 mile diameter) but.....Just don't think their scenario is plausable.

**Tony uk** · 03-14-2008, 01:46 PM

Id be dead, Id be playing poker with Elvis

**BraggSurvivor** · 03-14-2008, 01:57 PM

Originally Posted by Beowulf65

That was a great show, really liked it too. Never said what happened to the humans, they were just gone.

Rapture

**Beo** · 03-14-2008, 02:00 PM

Had to be, otherwise where did everyone go? And the good Lord took everyone in that show

**thunderson5** · 03-31-2011, 10:55 PM

that would make such a good movie but like only handfulls of humanity survived some catistrophic event and one group is racing to shut down reactors and find other groups to help shut them down and of course they run into bad guys along the way,sounds good,i would watch it

**JPGreco** · 03-31-2011, 11:22 PM

Well, chernobyl is inhabited by many animals today. Also, a marina where nuclear weapons were tested is devoid of radiation to the surprise of scientists. Life would continue even if every reactor did explode. Numerous areas across the world do not have reactors anywhere near them and whatever inhabited those areas would eventually creep into any areas that the initial explosions occurred. Some animals would be able to adapt to the radiactive environment and possibly thrive.

I will agree that if they exploded, the initial die off would probably be rather large, but ultimately, life would go on.

**BENESSE** · 04-01-2011, 08:46 AM

Germany's radioactive boars a legacy of Chernobyl

April 1, 2011

(AP) BERLIN (AP) — "For a look at just how long radioactivity can hang around, consider Germany's wild boars.

A quarter century after the Chernobyl nuclear disaster in the Soviet Union carried a cloud of radiation across Europe, these animals are radioactive enough that people are urged not to eat them. And the mushrooms the pigs dine on aren't fit for consumption either.

Germany's experience shows what could await Japan — if the problems at the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant get any worse.

The German boars roam in forests nearly 950 miles (1,500 kilometers ) from Chernobyl. Yet, the amount of radioactive cesium-137 within their tissue often registers dozens of times beyond the recommended limit for consumption and thousands of times above normal."

In Austria, authorities say that eating the unlikely amount of 2 pounds of contaminated boar meat that is 10 times above the legal cesium limit would amount to two-thirds of an adult's normal annual radiation intake by food.
"We assume that wild game will still be similarly affected until 2025 and then very slowly recede," said Reddemann, of Bavaria's hunting association. "The problem will certainly still be around for the next 100 years, and Chernobyl will still be an issue for our children and grandchildren."
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/...20049585.shtml

**thunderson5** · 04-01-2011, 03:28 PM

read where it is already showing up in milk from the west coast,although in small amounts atleast they are saying in small amounts but as long as those plants keep spewing that crap into the atmosphere the levels will continue to rise