final presentation

see the final presentation here:
http://www.barchdesign.com/?portfolio=half-life-of-the-third-skin

Pipey Tower

Reinterpreting the Site

Torro

Del Torro

Slow Tower 2Hi

High Radiation

Lowered Radiation

Slow tower

From Prepyat' to Reactor 4 - New Begining

Low levels of radiation are beneficial to Humans

On the quest to find benefits of radiation, I came across an interesting article in the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons. It goes over an unitented radiation experiment that was done to dwellers of 1700 apartment units in Taiwan. Steel at a recycling plant was accidentally mixed with steel that was exposed to radiation and later used in the construction of more the 180 buildings, exposing over 10,000 people  to effects of low-level radiation.  During period ranging between 9 and 20 years, people living in these apartments experienced unusually low levels of health problems and low cancer rates.

http://www.scienceboard.net/community/perspectives.122.html

NuScale

Small mini nuclear power plants, can become alternative fuel. NuScale is a company that is currently testing its designs for a small, scallable and robust nuclear power plant. It doesn't rely on external power sources for cooling.
http://www.nuscalepower.com/

Proposed Program

Radiation Cleanup

Even though radioactive contamination can remain active for thousands of years, with more research, we will eventually be able to cleanup radioactive spills. Some of the research currently contcentrates on techniques of extracting radionuclides from all contaminated areas and moving them to a different locations. Using foam and paste to extract radionuclides from different building materials even such difficult ones as porous concrete.
http://www.innovation-america.org/cleaning-radioactivity

But, we are not really dealing with the problem, we just give it to somebody else to deal with. What if we reverse chain events in a radioactive reactions. What if there is a way to speed up the radioactive decay from years to seconds. We have spend so much time and resources reseaching the nuclear bomb to create chaos and mayhem but in the last 50 years, very little has been done to look for reversing the effects of such catastrophic events. Just like some have experimented turning air pollution into harmless dirt, there must be a way to create reactions that speed up or stop the harmful radioactive decay.

What if the superpower is not the one who has the most destructive bomb, but the one who has the most anti-destructive bomb?

Concept for Design

IOne of Arad’s concept drawings for the Médiacité.

Site perspective

Proposed Site in Prepyat' (Припять)

Radiation Mitigation and Building Strategy

One of possible building options is to build vertically. Distance is one of key players in reducing levels of radiation. In combination with thickness of materials, it can help regulate the exposure. 

Lead, concrete, steel, packed soil, water and lumber are among some of the materials used for halving the intensity of gamma rays. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiation_protection

Design Action in Prepyat - Дизайнерская акция в Чернобыле и Припяти

Two Ukrainian designers, Sergei Mirnii (Олег Векленко) and Oleg Veklenko (Олег Векленко) are trying to bring cultural events into the zone of exclusion with the goal of opening access to the zone and trying to re-inhabit it.

http://chornobyl.in.ua/akcia-chernobyl-pripyat.html

Artist's response to the Chernobyl Accident

A French artist responds to the conditions of the contaminated areas of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia with a series of photographs and instillations trying to understand among other things, how people still live in these highly contaminated radioactive zones.

http://www.zonecontaminee.com/

IRSN

The French government has published a study on the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear accident.
A very good summary of what happened along with some data showing the current state of radioactive contamination in affected areas of Chernobyl and France.

http://www.irsn.fr/FR/base_de_connaissances/librairie/Documents/publications_grand_public/irsn_booklet_chernobyl_2011.pdf

The Universe

Sun, is the source of all life on Earth. Directly or indirectly, even creatures that live far in the depths of our oceans or deep in the caves of our mountains, everything benefits from our Sun. Before it formed, a larger star exploded spreading its radioactive debris all over our Solar System. It is possible that life on Earth began forming along with the new sun, thriving in the environment that was largely contaminated by radioactive debris. Is it possible to create a rebirth in the environment that was a site of a major nuclear disaster like Chernobyl?

http://www.history.com/shows/the-universe

Exclusion zone: nature preserve?

Ever since the humans left the contaminated area around the Chernobyl Nuclear Reactor, nature began to reclaim its land. Soon, the zone was transformed into a largest nature preserve in Europe. Animals that have not lived here in many generations, began to come back and thrive.
http://chornobyl.in.ua/chernobyl-volk.html

American Nuclear Society: Myths about Nuclear Energy

Some of the myths that surround the Nuclear Energy

http://www.ans.org/pi/resources/myths/

Radiation Effects - restored image from Los Angeles Times

Stalkers in Pripyat

http://lplaces.com/en/reports/20-pripyat
An interesting photo-journal of a hike through the evacuated city of Prepiyat.

An Introduction to Radiation Hormesis

And interesting article on radiation and how small doses are not only harmless but also beneficial to our health.
http://www.angelfire.com/mo/radioadaptive/inthorm.html
A study that surveyed a population of survivors of the nuclear bombs that were dropped on Japan in World War II, showed that certain age groups that received a minor doses of radiation, had lower then expected mortality rates.

Radiation - phobia?

The deeper I explored effects of radiation on the humans, the more I discovered how fears of its effects are disproportional to the actual dangers. In this blog, I will attempt to summarize my findings and post results of the investigation.