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U.S.SCIENCE

After 40 Years, Chornobyl's Radioactive Particles Are Surprisingly…

Researchers studying the radioactive particles left at the site find them holding together better than expected; it is the rare nuclear update that doesn't ruin anyone's evening.

Photo: Hugovanmeijeren · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons · altered by BBN, shared under CC BY-SA 3.0
▶ As it aired · U.S.

Watch it as it aired: Hank Ledger, Kenji Moonfield and Dale Bearman on this story, from BBN Tonight at 8:36 PM ET. Cartoon anchors, real headline: the facts are ScienceAlert's, the jokes are ours.

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  1. Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorOkay, the one we teased: forty years after the Chornobyl disaster, scientists report that the radioactive particles still at the site are surprisingly stable, which is better than researchers had feared.

  2. Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorStable. That's the word people use right before the second paragraph.

  3. Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentDale, the headline literally says not as bad as we feared. Scientists got good news for once and you're treating it like a spoiler.

  4. Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorThe report doesn't say the site is safe, only that the particles are holding together better than expected.

  5. Dale Bearman · Chief Skeptic & ContributorForty years of holding together. I've had a shed that couldn't manage four.

  6. Kenji Moonfield · Internet & Trends CorrespondentA shed.

  7. Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorAnd the shed, I'm told, is still leaning.

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