History Main / PerilousPowerSource

* Sam Starfall from Webcomic/Freefall is an alien from a far less technologically advanced world, and he takes the hazards posed by a Polywell fusion reactor--a common "portable" power source in this setting--especially to heart, even though it rests in [[HyperCompetentSidekick Florence's capable hands]].

* Sam Starfall from Webcomic/Freefall is an alien from a far less technologically advanced world, and he takes the hazards posed by a fusion reactor--a common "portable" power source in this setting--especially to heart, even though it rests in [[HyperCompetentSidekick Florence's capable hands]].

* Sam Starfall, from [[Webcomic/Freefall]], an alien from a far less technologically advanced world, takes the hazards posed by a fusion reactor--a common "portable" power source in this setting--especially to heart, even though it rests in [[HyperCompetentSidekick Florence's capable hands]].

* Sam Starfall, from Webcomic/Freefall, an alien from a far less technologically advanced world, takes the hazards posed by a fusion reactor--a common "portable" power source in this setting--especially to heart, even though it rests in [[HyperCompetentSidekick Florence's capable hands]].

* Sam Starfall, from WebComic/Freefall , an alien from a far less technologically advanced world, takes the hazards posed by a fusion reactor--a common "portable" power source in this setting--especially to heart, even though it rests in [[HyperCompetentSidekick Florence's capable hands]].

* Sam Starfall, from WebComic/Freefall, an alien from a far less technologically advanced world, takes the hazards posed by a fusion reactor--a common "portable" power source in this setting--especially to heart, even though it rests in [[HyperCompetentSidekick Florence's capable hands]].

* Sam Starfall, an alien from a far less technologically advanced world, takes the hazards posed by a fusion reactor--a common "portable" power source in this setting--especially to heart, even though it rests in [[HyperCompetentSidekick Florence's capable hands]].

--> '''Sam:''' One of the scary things about Terrands is they're peaceful and still over half their power sources put out death rays as a byproduct.

[[/folder

[[folder: Web Comics]]
* The White Hole energy used by ''Webcomic/LadySpectraAndSparky'' is said to be highly unstable and radioactive. And indeed, [[spoiler:exposure to the unshielded energy killed Lady Spectra's husband.]]

* In ''Literature/HaloTheFallOfReach'', Captain Keyes is given a tour of his new ship's state-of-the-art fusion reactor, the most powerful in the fleet.

[[folder: Real Life ]]

[[folder: Web Comics]]
* The White Hole energy used by ''Webcomic/LadySpectraAndSparky'' is said to be highly unstable and radioactive. And indeed, [[spoiler:exposure to the unshielded energy killed Lady Spectra's husband.]]
[[/folder]]

* Similarly, [[Literature/TheBible Moses]] only gets to see God's back, since looking Him in the face would kill a mortal man. Moses comes back sunburned.

** The novelization makes this apparent design flaw ''slightly'' more understandable: ordinarily the room ''wouldn't'' be lethally radioactive (and of course ordinarily the engineers would have time to put on a proper protective suit). It's just that radioactive gasses are currently leaking into the sealed small room due to a breached pipe.

* One member of the ''ComicBook/{{Legion Of Super-Heroes}}'', Element Lad, was left the only one conscious when they were all cast into a different universe, and seems to have this reaction to the energies of the forming universe, terrified of looking out the windows of their spaceship. After he sends the others back but is left alone in the new universe without the ship, [[spoiler:he spent billions, if not trillions of years simply floating through space--his powers allowed him to survive by transmuting his body and the air that came with him. He watched ''stars come into being and die'' several times before he realized that was what was happening. Eventually, growing lonely, he drifted down to a planet and started to use his powers to help life come into being... and by the time his teammates came along, the entire galaxy was essentially embroiled in an ongoing conflict between the Progeny, the species he was currently using as his instrument to shape the evolution of the local races, and the "variant" species which he'd decided didn't fit into that shape.]] When his teammates finally met up with him, his way of thinking was [[BlueAndOrangeMorality completely unrecognizable]]. [[spoiler:According to Brainiac 5, he's not necessarily mad or sane or good or evil anymore--he's simply living in an incomprehensibly larger time scale, from which the eyeblinks that are mortal lifespans simply don't matter, and the galaxy is his petri dish because he doesn't need to care about the feelings of the beings living there--regardless of what the germs in the petri dish think of him while they're alive, regardless of anything, they'll be dead before he blinks one way or the other.]]

* In ''Film/{{Sunshine}}'', the ''Icarus'' ships have a special Sun-gazing room where the crew can sit and do exactly that. We (and the crew) are told that the filters are set at maximum or near-maximum capacity, and the sunlight is already blinding white. To release the filters would [[ChekhovsGun undoubtedly be fatal to whoever stood there]]. One crewmember has taken to donning a pair of sunglasses and turning the filters down as low as is safely possible (apparently in the visible-light spectrum only, as he doesn't have a noticeable tan) and describes it as a very spiritual experience. It's uncomfortably noted by other crewmembers that this obviously-slightly-crazy person is actually their ship's psychiatrist.

* In one of the ''{{Literature/Nightside}}'' books, John Taylor finds out that one of his friends is being used as a powersource for the local power plant. Naturally he does something drastic.

* Heysham Nuclear Power Station in the north-west of England has a visitor's centre, and part of the tour includes a viewing gallery (through some very thick glass) looking onto the top of the reactor housing (albeit, the reactor itself is sealed and shielded, and visitors are not allowed to view when they are changing out fuel rods as the top of the housing has to be open to load the new ones in). It's rather impressive to look upon.
** Actually, the bit you look on from the (now closed) visitors' gallery is the charge hall, and is perfectly safe, and the radiation is barely above background (as I know from walking around on it while wearing a dose meter). The reactor itself is beneath several metres of concrete and steel shielding. It's refuelled by attaching a shielded hoist to the top of the pressure vessel, so even then the radiation barely rises, visitors probably weren't allowed to look more for the commercial safety of British Energy's refuelling process. \\

* In one of the ''{{Nightside}}'' books, John Taylor finds out that one of his friends is being used as a powersource for the local power plant. Naturally he does something drastic.

* In the book ''Literature/HaloTheFallOfReach'', Captain Keyes is given a tour of his new ship's state-of-the-art fusion reactor, the most powerful in the fleet.

* Batteries with lithium-based chemistries contain volatile compounds that [[MadeOfExplodium react violently with ''plain old air'']] and require some pretty serious precautions in the design to prevent such a disaster. Such batteries are far and away the most popular option for powering cellphones. That's right, we're putting these little bombs ''in our pockets''.

* The Russian engineers of ''K19TheWidowmaker'' have a bad experience in their gorgon gaze; forced to enter the reactor compartment to prevent a meltdown, they pay the price of close-up and unshielded work with an atomic reactor. A sad and [[TruthInTelevision real-life]] example of why working with such forces in person rarely comes to a happy ending.

* Myth/GreekMythology: Perseus needed a mirror to look safely at Medusa, one of the original Gorgons, without her turning him to stone with her gaze.

* One member of the ''ComicBook/{{Legion Of Super-Heroes}}'', Element Lad, was left the only one conscious when they were all cast into a different universe, and seems to have this reaction to the energies of the forming universe, terrified of looking out the windows of their spaceship. After he sends the others back but is left alone in the new universe without the ship, [[spoiler:he spent billions, if not trillions of years simply floating through space- his powers allowed him to survive by transmuting his body and the air that came with him. He watched ''stars come into being and die'' several times before he realized that was what was happening. Eventually, growing lonely, he drifted down to a planet and started to use his powers to help life come into being... and by the time his teammates came along, the entire galaxy was essentially embroiled in an ongoing conflict between the Progeny, the species he was currently using as his instrument to shape the evolution of the local races, and the "variant" species which he'd decided didn't fit into that shape.]] When his teammates finally met up with him, his way of thinking was [[BlueAndOrangeMorality completely unrecognizable]]. [[spoiler:According to Brainiac 5, he's not necessarily mad or sane or good or evil anymore- he's simply living in an incomprehensibly larger time scale, from which the eyeblinks that are mortal lifespans simply don't matter, and the galaxy is his petri dish because he doesn't need to care about the feelings of the beings living there- regardless of what the germs in the petri dish think of him while they're alive, regardless of anything, they'll be dead before he blinks one way or the other.]]

* In the climactic scene of ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'', Indiana and temporary love interest Marion are tied to a stake in the middle of things as the Nazis are about to open the Ark of the Covenant. Indy tells Marion not to look at whatever power or entity comes out - sound advice, as it turns out, as nasty, {{Nightmare Fuel}}ish things happen to the Nazis, including one guy getting his ''[[ImMelting face melted off]]''.

* During ''OutlawStar'' the ship's computer, Gilliam, helps the new crew activate the XGP's engines during start up.

* Done in ''LastExile'' when Dio wants to see the power source of the ''Silvana''

* In the book {{Halo}}: The Fall of Reach, Captain Keyes is given a tour of his new ship's state-of-the-art fusion reactor, the most powerful in the fleet.

* GreekMythology: Perseus needed a mirror to look safely at Medusa, one of the original Gorgons, without her turning him to stone with her gaze.

* In ''Film/{{Sunshine}}'', the ''Icarus'' ships have a special Sun-gazing room where the crew can sit and do exactly that. We (and the crew) are told that the filters are set at maximum or near-maximum capacity, and the sunlight is already blinding white. To release the filters would [[ChekhovsGun undoubtedly be fatal to whoever stood there]]. One crewmember has taken to donning a pair of sunglasses and turning the filters down as low as is safely possible (apparently in the visible-light spectrum only, as he doesn't have a noticeable tan) and describes it as a very spiritual experience.
** It's uncomfortably noted by other crewmembers that this obviously-slightly-crazy person is actually their ship's psychiatrist.

* If you can actually see the blue glow of Cherenkov radiation from a nuclear reaction, you're already dead from a lethal dose of radiation poisoning. It's just taking time to properly kill you.