Megalodon may have been ‘even longer' than we thought
If you picture a megalodon, chances are you envision what amounts to a gigantic great white shark. The image is understandable, given almost every depiction of the ancient apex predators across research and pop culture. But last year, an international team put forth a new anatomical design based on their analysis of incomplete fossilized vertebrae. According to the researchers, the famous megalodon was likely 'more slender and possibly even longer' than the prevailing theory. Rather than a great white, the team offered sleeker mako sharks for a frame of reference.
The hypothesis kicked off a heated debate among paleobiologists, many of whom contended the evidence still simply didn't support giant prehistoric makos. Unfortunately, a follow-up study likely won't satisfy anyone who disagrees with the mako idea, either. According to many of the original study's authors, megalodons may have been even longer and leaner than they first proposed. In terms of today's shark parallels, think less 'mako' and more 'lemon.'
The revised shape and size is detailed in a paper published on March 9 in the journal Palaeontologia Electronica. After comparing portions of a megalodon's vertebral column to over 100 species of living and extinct shark species, researchers now estimate the megalodon may have topped out at around 80-feet-long, or about two school buses, while weighing as much as 94 tons—roughly as massive as a blue whale. For reference, the predominant megalodon theory puts them at 50-65 feet long and 53-115 tons. Based on their conclusions, even newborn megalodons were sizable creatures, and likely measured as large as a modern adult great white.
'It is entirely possible that megalodon pups were already taking down marine mammals shortly after being born,' Phillip Sternes, a co-author on both papers, argued in an accompanying statement. Sternes also contends the latest study 'provides the most robust analysis yet of megalodon's body size and shape.'
'Rather than resembling an oversized great white shark, it was actually more like an enormous lemon shark, with a more slender, elongated body,' he said. 'That shape makes a lot more sense for moving efficiently through water.'
While the great white shark's bulkier, torpedo-like frame makes it perfect for quick bursts of speed, the lemon shark evolved for energy-efficient, sustained ocean cruising. This concept of evolutionary efficiency played into the team's alternative theory, as well. Tim Higham, a study co-author and biologist at University of California Riverside, offered Olympic swimmers as a comparison.
'You lead with your head when you swim because it's more efficient than leading with your stomach,' he explained in a statement. 'Similarly, evolution moves toward efficiency, much of the time.'
If there's anywhere Team Lemon (formerly Team Mako) and Team Great White may find common ground, it's megalodon speed. Rather than a high-speed chaser or a slower, methodic hunter, the study's authors suggest a balance in which the sharks generally swam at a moderate pace while able to attack in quick bursts.
'Gigantism isn't just about getting bigger—it's about evolving the right body to survive at that scale,' Sternes said. 'And megalodon may have been one of the most extreme examples of that.'
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The UK's 'most hazardous building' - the story of Sellafield's nuclear disaster
The UK's largest nuclear site – once dubbed the "most hazardous building in the country" – could continue leaking radioactive water into the ground until the 2050s. That's the damning verdict of a new MPs' report into the ongoing decommissioning of the Sellafield nuclear power plant in Cumbria, which, nearly 70 years ago, was the site of one of the world's worst ever nuclear accidents. In October 1957, uranium cells inside one of the site's two nuclear reactors caught fire, burning for three days solid. The fallout remains to this day and, on Wednesday, a report by the Commons public accounts committee criticised the speed of decommissioning the site, warning that officials are in danger of losing a race against time to complete the clean-up safely. Of particular concern is the Magnox Swarf Storage Silo (MSSS), which was built in the 1960s and consists of 22 vertical underwater compartments, storing around 10,000 tonnes of radioactive waste. Since 2018, the silo has been leaking enough radioactive water to fill an Olympic swimming pool every three years. The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) has described the situation as its "single biggest environmental issue". The site, initially known as Windscale, was initially built as a royal ordnance factory during the Second World War. After the war, it became the main site intended to produce plutonium for the UK's nuclear weapons programme and became home to Britain's first two nuclear reactors. During its construction, chief engineer John Cockcroft had insisted that filters were installed at the top of the chimney stacks on the two gas-cooled nuclear reactors, Windscale Pile 1 and 2. On the morning of 10 October 1957, a planned energy release procedure in Windscale Pile 1 did not go to plan, and unintentionally heated parts of the reactor. Scientists were expecting the reactor to eventually cool down but then spotted a fire in uranium fuel cells, producing a blaze reaching an estimated 1,300C (2,380F) – causing an incident so bad it was eventually ranked in severity at level 5 out of 7 on the International Nuclear Event Scale. The severity of events were minimised by the government and nuclear establishment of the time. When the incident started, men wearing radiation suits used scaffolding pipes to try and push the burning fuel rods out of the graphite reactor. High radiation levels meant they could only spend a few hours at the reactor, so they sought more volunteers from a nearby cinema. The blaze was eventually extinguished when air to the reactor room was restricted, but tons of radioactive materials had already escaped into the atmosphere. Indeed, it was Cockcroft's filter – the pair were collectively known as 'Cockcroft follies' – on Windscale Pile 1's chimney that stopped the disaster from becoming a catastrophe as it limited the amount of radiation released into the air. The ramifications of the accident were felt for years. It is estimated about 240 cases of cancer were caused by the radioactive leak and all milk produced within 310 square miles (800 square km) of the site was destroyed for a month after the fire. The disaster proved to be a wake-up call for the nuclear industry. Windscale Pile 1 was permanently shut down, and remains sealed and not yet fully decommissioned while Windscale Pile 2, which was undamaged, was also shut down shortly afterwards. It also to led to vast operational and technical improvements in nuclear reactor design, technology, licensing and regulation. Nowadays, Sellafield is one of the largest nuclear sites in Europe, with more than 10,000 people cleaning it behind miles of fencing. The size of a small town, it also has its own infrastructure with facilities including a postal service, an armed police force, shops, canteen and a medical team. The site's aging buildings plus the highly radioactive nuclear waste and unstable materials stored at the site mean it remains a significant hazard. Despite being non-operational since 2003, the site has many years of dismantling to go, up to 2125. Indeed, Sellafield still contains hundreds of thousands of tonnes of radioactive waste, including the largest stockpile of civilian plutonium in the world, in excess of 140 tonnes. Sellafield Ltd, the company clearing the site on behalf of the NDA, has been criticised in the report for missing 'most' of its annual targets, including those at the MSSS. 'The consequence of this underperformance is that the buildings are likely to remain extremely hazardous for longer", the MPs' report said. The challenge for Sellafield Ltd, and the NDA, is not only cleaning up the site but also maintaining the ageing buildings, which were never designed to be accessed again, and contain the unknown amount of radioactive waste inside. The site has several high-risk buildings including the Pile Fuel Storage Pond (PFSP), an open-air pond holding irradiated fuel and sludge that was built in the 1950s. The Pile Fuel Cladding Silo (PFCS) which contains fuel casings and other highly radioactive materials and the MSSS, which holds metallic cladding waste and removed from nuclear fuel rods. Despite an estimated decommissioning cost of £136bn, according to the report, the leakage on the MSSS is expected to persist until the oldest section of the structure is emptied in the 2050s. Public accounts committee chairman Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown said: 'The sheer scale of the hundred-year timeframe of the decommissioning project makes it hard to grasp the immediacy of safety hazards and cost overruns that delays can have. 'Every day at Sellafield is a race against time to complete works before buildings reach the end of their life. Our report contains too many signs that this is a race Sellafield risks losing.' The NDA acknowledged that the leak at the MSSS is its 'single biggest environmental issue', saying managing and retrieving waste from the silo was their 'highest priority'. They said: 'As the report says, the leak in the MSSS is contained and does not pose a risk to the public. Regulators accept that the current plan to tackle the leak is the most effective one.' The UK has a reported volume of approximately 4.58 million cubic metres of radioactive waste stored in various facilities across the country. Radioactive waste goes through stages of treatment, packaging, storage and disposal depending on its classification as high level waste (HLW), intermediate level waste (ILW) or low level waste (LLW). HLW is typically found in liquid form, and is often generated as a by-product during the reprocessing of fuel from nuclear reactors, with current practice to store for at least 50 years before disposal. ILW consists of mainly steels, graphite, concrete, cement, sand and sludges and is stored until a suitable disposal route becomes available, essentially an underground facility the UK government is planning on building. LLW is building rubble, soil and steel items that may have come into contact with radioactive material and can sometimes be incinerated or recycled. In the longer term, the UK government plans to create a geological disposal facility (GDF) to store nuclear waste underground for thousands of years. 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UK's most hazardous building still leaking radioactive water, MPs warn
Britain's most hazardous building could leak radioactive water until the 2050s as clean-up operations at Sellafield struggle to progress quickly enough, MPs have warned. In a report published on Wednesday, the Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) criticised the speed of decommissioning work at the former nuclear power plant, citing examples of 'failure, cost overruns and continuing safety concerns'. Although the committee noted there were 'signs of improvement', PAC chairman Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown said Sellafield continued to present 'intolerable risks'. He said: 'As with the fight against climate change, the sheer scale of the hundred-year timeframe of the decommissioning project makes it hard to grasp the immediacy of safety hazards and cost overruns that delays can have. 'Every day at Sellafield is a race against time to complete works before buildings reach the end of their life. Our report contains too many signs that this is a race that Sellafield risks losing.' The PAC said those risks were underlined by the Magnox Swarf Storage Silo (MSSS), which the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) described to the committee as 'the most hazardous building in the UK'. The MSSS has been leaking radioactive water into the ground since 2018, releasing enough water to fill an Olympic swimming pool every three years, and is likely to continue leaking until the oldest section of the building has been emptied in the 2050s, around a decade later than previously expected. Pointing to the fact that Sellafield Ltd had missed most of its annual targets for retrieving waste from buildings, including the MSSS, the committee warned: 'The consequence of this underperformance is that the buildings are likely to remain extremely hazardous for longer.' The NDA has acknowledged that the leak is its 'single biggest environmental issue', and a spokeswoman said managing it and retrieving waste from the MSSS was 'our highest priority'. She added: 'As the report says, the leak in the Magnox Swarf Storage Silo is contained and does not pose a risk to the public. Regulators accept that the current plan to tackle the leak is the most effective one.' Sir Geoffrey said: 'It is of vital importance that the Government grasp the daily urgency of the work taking place at Sellafield, and shed any sense of a far-off date of completion for which no-one currently living is responsible. 'Sellafield's risks and challenges are those of the present day. 'There are some early indications of some improvement in Sellafield's delivery, which our report notes. Government must do far more to hold all involved immediately accountable to ensure these do not represent a false dawn, and to better safeguard both the public purse and the public itself.' Sellafield ceased generating electricity in 2003 and, in addition to work cleaning up the site, now processes and stores nuclear waste from power plants around the UK. 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'With the support of our employees, their representatives, community and stakeholders, we remain committed to driving forward improved performance and continuing to deliver our nationally important mission safely, securely and sustainably.' As well as criticising delays in clean-up operations and calling for an overhaul of how the site functions, the PAC expressed concern that there was a 'sub-optimal culture' at Sellafield. The committee pointed to the 16 non-disclosure agreements signed by Sellafield Ltd in the last 16 years, and called on the NDA to publish information about the prevalence and perception of bullying in its annual report. The NDA spokeswoman said: 'We're committed to an open and respectful culture and we've taken decisive action to enable this, including strengthening our whistleblowing policy. 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'This is underpinned by monthly performance reviews and increased responsibility for overseeing major project performance, enabling more direct scrutiny and intervention. 'We have zero tolerance of bullying, harassment and offensive behaviour in the workplace – we expect Sellafield and the NDA to operate on this basis, investigate allegations and take robust action when needed.'
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MPs release report saying Sellafield continues to present 'intolerable risks'
BRITAIN'S most hazardous building could leak radioactive water until the 2050s as clean-up operations at Sellafield struggle to progress quickly enough, MPs have warned. In a report published on Wednesday, the Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) criticised the speed of decommissioning work at the former nuclear power plant, citing examples of 'failure, cost overruns and continuing safety concerns'. Although the committee noted there were 'signs of improvement', PAC chairman Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown said Sellafield continued to present 'intolerable risks'. He said: 'As with the fight against climate change, the sheer scale of the hundred-year timeframe of the decommissioning project makes it hard to grasp the immediacy of safety hazards and cost overruns that delays can have. 'Every day at Sellafield is a race against time to complete works before buildings reach the end of their life. Our report contains too many signs that this is a race that Sellafield risks losing.' The PAC said those risks were underlined by the Magnox Swarf Storage Silo (MSSS), which the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) described to the committee as 'the most hazardous building in the UK'. The MSSS has been leaking radioactive water into the ground since 2018, releasing enough water to fill an Olympic swimming pool every three years, and is likely to continue leaking until the oldest section of the building has been emptied in the 2050s, around a decade later than previously expected. Pointing to the fact that Sellafield Ltd had missed most of its annual targets for retrieving waste from buildings, including the MSSS, the committee warned: 'The consequence of this underperformance is that the buildings are likely to remain extremely hazardous for longer.' The NDA has acknowledged that the leak is its 'single biggest environmental issue', and a spokeswoman said managing it and retrieving waste from the MSSS was 'our highest priority'. She added: 'As the report says, the leak in the Magnox Swarf Storage Silo is contained and does not pose a risk to the public. Regulators accept that the current plan to tackle the leak is the most effective one.' Sir Geoffrey said: 'It is of vital importance that the Government grasp the daily urgency of the work taking place at Sellafield, and shed any sense of a far-off date of completion for which no-one currently living is responsible. 'Sellafield's risks and challenges are those of the present day. 'There are some early indications of some improvement in Sellafield's delivery, which our report notes. Government must do far more to hold all involved immediately accountable to ensure these do not represent a false dawn, and to better safeguard both the public purse and the public itself.' Sellafield ceased generating electricity in 2003 and, in addition to work cleaning up the site, now processes and stores nuclear waste from power plants around the UK. In the longer term, the Government plans to create an underground geological disposal facility (GDF) to store nuclear waste for the thousands of years it will take to become safe. But the committee said delays in creating the GDF, which is now not expected to be done until the late 2050s, meant more costs for Sellafield as it required more storage facilities. NDA chief executive David Peattie said he welcomed the PAC's scrutiny and would consider how best to address its recommendations. He said: 'We take the findings seriously and the safety of the site and the wellbeing of our people will always be our highest priorities. 'As the committee has noted, Sellafield is the most complex and challenging nuclear site in the UK. We are pleased they recognise improvements in delivering major projects and that we are safely retrieving waste from all four highest hazard facilities. 'With the support of our employees, their representatives, community and stakeholders, we remain committed to driving forward improved performance and continuing to deliver our nationally important mission safely, securely and sustainably.' As well as criticising delays in clean-up operations and calling for an overhaul of how the site functions, the PAC expressed concern that there was a 'sub-optimal culture' at Sellafield. The committee pointed to the 16 non-disclosure agreements signed by Sellafield Ltd in the last 16 years, and called on the NDA to publish information about the prevalence and perception of bullying in its annual report. The NDA spokeswoman said: 'We're committed to an open and respectful culture and we've taken decisive action to enable this, including strengthening our whistleblowing policy. 'Evidence shows the improvements are working and the report acknowledges the improvement in staff survey results over recent years, but we are never complacent and will continue to strive to ensure the NDA group is a place where everyone feels respected and empowered to raise issues, knowing that they will be acted upon appropriately. 'As the report notes, it is one of the conditions of Sellafield's nuclear site licence to have a robust process for reporting safety issues and the independent nuclear regulator has given the site a green rating of compliance.'
