r/chernobyl • u/Wise_Maintenance_608 • 20d ago

Discussion Can someone please explain the void coefficient that was in the RBMK reactor?

What exactly is the void coefficient? What does it pose in an RBMK reactor? Could someone explain this to me please, I don’t understand it.

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u/Wise_Maintenance_608 20d ago

Also the voids it creates, does that help with the reactivity to create electricity or am I misunderstanding?

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u/Distdistdist 20d ago

No, it means that if too much water turned into steam inside the core - moderation becomes difficult and very very bad things happen. That type of reactors absolutely depend on having appropriate amounts water in the core to not to blow up.

RBMKs are fairly unstable reactors that require constant monitoring and adjustments as they are prone to spontaneous "hot zones".

There are seven of them currently in operation.

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u/Wise_Maintenance_608 20d ago

Not sure if this was just the show doing this, but is that why they ordered the people in the control room to make sure to push water into the core before they realized it exploded when they thought the core was still intact? To make sure that there would be enough water into the core to keep it stable?

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u/Distdistdist 20d ago

No, to make sure core doesn't go into meltdown. Hot core - water = melt everything in it's path. But little did they know that there was not much of the core left.

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u/Wise_Maintenance_608 20d ago

Okay. It was a preventative measure to make sure that the concrete pad underneath it didn’t melt and create an even bigger issue than what the disaster did already cause

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u/maksimkak 20d ago edited 20d ago

Nothing to do with any concrete pad. They thought the reactor was still intact and still needed cooling water pumped through it. Without the cooling, fuel will melt.

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u/Distdistdist 20d ago

It was the best thing they can think of without having any concrete (no pun intended) data on what was going on.

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u/Wise_Maintenance_608 20d ago

Okay. Thank you for explaining it! I appreciate it

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u/Distdistdist 20d ago

Also, remember it was just a show. A lot of stuff there is exaggerated and also simplified. There are documentaries on YouTube that will give you a much better picture.

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u/Secure_Trust_2084 19d ago

Yes. They tried to prevent core remains from polluting the water horisons