Nuclear Reactors Are BeautifulThere's simply no blue like Cherenkov Blue.
Most commonly associated with underwater nuclear reactors, the color is produced from a type of electromagnetic radiation called Cherenkov radiation. This is emitted when a charged particle passes through an electrical insulator that can be polarized by an electrical field at a speed greater than the phase velocity of light. That definition is a brainful, so let's take it down a notch.
io9's Esther Inglis-Arkell penned an exemplary explainer in 2012. "Cherenkov Radiation is a sonic boom for light," she wrote. "When particles go faster than the speed of light, those around them see a special glow."
"Hold the phone, Batman!" you might be thinking. "Nothing can go faster than the speed of light!" That's true... in a vacuum. But water isn't a vacuum. Thus, the charged particles that are ejected from splitting nuclei in nuclear fission reactors can jet through their surroundings faster than the speed of light!
The resulting glow is utterly enthralling.
Gosgen Reactor Core
FRM II
Advanced Test Reactor Core
Glowing Box
Triga Mark II
http://www.realclearscience.com/lists/beautiful_nuclear_reactors/nuke_reactors.html?state=stop
