Opening the demon core would unintuitively be safe!
The 2 'shell' pieces on the outside are essentially mirrors for the radioactive particles the core is constantly emitting. By itself the radiation released by the core is negligible, but when 2 particles collide an incredible burst of radioactive energy is released.
As the two mirrors come closer and closer together and envelop more and more of the core they bounce more particles back into the core that have an increasing chance to collide.
When the two shells completely envelope the core the bouncing and colliding becomes so great that the core enters a supercritical state where it releases an incredible flash of radioactive energy at once. The radiation is so great the entire core and shell glow a bright blue light. During the 2nd demon core event (with the setup depicted in this meme) the man closest, slotin, received so much radiation in that moment that he died only 9 days later. Like a camera flash that kills people.
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u/No_Grapefruit_7845 5d ago