When a nuclear fuel rod has been exhausted, it's sent to chill out in a pool for a few years. It's still horrifically radioactive, and it needs to cool down before we stuff it into a giant concrete cask to be stored for the rest of conceivable existence.
This is what nightmares are made of:
Because radiation loses half of its intensity every 7 centimetres underwater, it actually only takes about 8 feet of pool to keep the radiation under wraps. The extra water at the top acts as a safety buffer. However, within an arms-length of the bottom, the radiation is lethal.
Imagine hearing a Geiger counter's crackly protests as you slowly descend, the water getting hotter and hotter. A burning sensation starting on your skin as the beta-particles chew through your DNA with carcinogenic fury. Nausea and migraines pummeling your body as you alight on the bottom of the pool, your ability to produce viable children immediately compromised.
Don't worry, it wouldn't last long.
Keep treading water, you guys.
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