OK! In an attempt to move on from those asshats, how about you give us some more nuclear facts? Assuming you're still interested in that topic.
(Also Jeffrey Wright is obviously the far superior Jim Gordon. No shade on Goldman but come on)
Sure thing! :D
So back in December 2001, 3 men 50km from Lia, Georgia (the country, not the state) came across 2 metal cylinders in the middle of the forest. They noticed that the snow was melted around the cylinders and decided to use them as heat sources when they camped for the night.
What they didn't know was that these cylinders were actually radioisotope thermal electric generators a.k.a. RTGs.
RTGs carry extremely radioactive material meant to generate electricity via radioactive decay. We actually use RTGs for spacecraft or remote areas like the Arctic. The Soviet Union was even using RTGs to power lighthouses and navigational beacons.
The Soviet Union had created 8 of these RTGs full of strontium 90 (a man-made radioactive isotope with many uses from medical studies to space stations, and a half life of 28yrs) in order for Georgia to better power their relay stations and the Khudoni Dam (which was meant to generate electricity to areas without power) throughout the country.
I believe it was in 1983 or 1984 when they made these, but don't quote me on that.
HOWEVER.
Before the RTGs could even be installed, Georgia gained it's independence from the Soviet Union (8 months before the fall of the Soviet Union). So the RTGs and the Khudoni Dam were temporarily abandoned as a result.
When the Soviet Union fell, orphan sources ("self-contained radioactive source that is no longer under proper regulatory control and poses an immediate radiological threat") were left behind without any warning signs or protection. Orphan sources can be anything from an abandoned RTG, medical equipment, to a nuclear warhead.
Just in case it wasn't clear, orphan sources are not a strictly Soviet Union thing. There have been many unfortunate cases of orphan sources killing people from all over the world.
4 of the 8 abandoned RTGs meant for Georgia were found between 1998-1999 and were safely discovered and removed.
Which brings us back to the 2 RTGs discovered in Lia in 2001. The 3 men were originally looking for firewood when they came across the 2 abandoned RTGs. By the time they discovered the RTGs, it was already really late in the evening so the men decided to make camp instead of traveling all the way back to Lia and decided to use the RTGs as heat sources.
Keep in mind, the men had no idea that the metal cylinders they found were RTGs. They were in the middle of the forest in extremely cold temperatures and were simply looking for a suitable heat source to keep them warm until they could go looking for more firewood again in the morning.
Unfortunately, one of the men tried to picking it up one of the RTGs with their bare hands and dropped it immediately because of how hot it was. They dragged the RTGs with some metal wires to their camp and sat with their backs touching the RTGs while they ate dinner.
Within a few hours they were vomiting. When they woke up the next morning, they were so dizzy and weak that they could barely load up even half of the firewood they had originally gathered up. Still not knowing that their heat sources were RTGs, 2 of them created packs to carry the RTGS on their backs as they continued to make the trek through the forest for hours in an attempt to try and find the additional firewood they needed.
Eventually, they abandoned the RTGs, but by then it was far too late. For weeks their symptoms persisted and grew worse until their families notified the local authorities of the men's conditions. They were, of course, immediately hospitalized.
If you weren't aware already, radiation breaks DNA down on the atomic level which leads to cancer, cell mutation or impaired function of the body's cells and organs. White blood cells, our body's natural defense mechanism, can't fight off any infections because the radiation straight up kills them. As a result, wounds don't heal and it's incredibly difficult to treat them.
I'll spare you the gory details.
One of the men died from cardiac arrest and multiple organ failure after 893 days of exposure to the RTGs. Another man recovered and was discharged from the hospital after 490 days of exposure. The third man was released early as his injuries were mild in comparison to the others after only 52 days of exposure.
Fortunately, the IAEA a.k.a. the International Atomic Energy Agency was quick to get involved once Georgia's government reached out to them for assistance. They were able to successfully remove the abandoned RTGs and even came back in 2003 to extensively search the rest of Georgia for any other potential orphan sources.
They found 300.
As far as we know, 2 of the remaining 8 RTGs are still missing to this day.
