By Andrew Byron-Writer, Danielle Jensen-Reseacher, and Tony Gonzales-Programer
http://home.swipnet.se/~w~33296/EFFECTS.HTM. (#1)
http://www.power-technology.com/projects/chernobyl/ (#2)
http://www.nea.fr/html/rp/chernobyl/c06.html (#3)
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/fschernobyl.html (#4)
http://www.greenfacts.org/chernobyl/l-2/5-social-economic-impacts.htm#3 (#5)
http://www.uic.com.au/nip22.htm (#7)
http://www.chernobyl-international.org/ (#8)
The Chernobyl disaster was the worst industrial disaster in the history of the world. On April 26, at 1:24am reactor number 4 at the Chernobyl plant blew up. The explosion was the result of an experiment that, due to human error, went awry. The operator at the time made the first mistake that lead to the disaster by disabling automatic shutdown mechanisms. When the operator then went to shut down the reactor from its unstable condition the poor design of the reactor and its systems caused a dramatic power surge within the reactor. Following the explosion radioactivity with an intensity equivalent to 500 of the bombs that destroyed Hiroshima at the end of World War II was measured in the atmosphere.2 Radioactive dust was carried as far away as Sweden where the disaster was first detected and reported.1 Directly after the accident, an area of 30 kilometers was declared restricted. Within this area about 116,000 people were evacuated. The numbers of people that have been affected (including but not limited to the amount of people that have died) from this disaster are not known due to poor documentation. Estimates have the number dead at about 15,000 people that have died as a direct result of the explosion. The people in the surrounding towns were exposed to radiation but the number that is questioned is how many rescue workers actually responded and were affected.
Some statistics that have been studied are the affects that this disaster has had on local agriculture. Many different attempts have been made to control and clean up the contamination in local agriculture areas. Even though these attempts have been made many large areas of agriculture land are still excluded from use. The local forests continue to have a problem with radiation and the problem is expected to continue but decrease through radioactivity decay.3 In Ukraine 8.4 million hectares of agricultural soil are contaminated and are subject to countermeasures, mostly the use of fertilizers.3
The current situation has at the Chernobyl facility has been labeled by many as a nuclear time bomb waiting to explode. The effort to control the damaged area of the Chernobyl plant was implemented and a giant concrete shell of sorts was built over the accident site. This shell is called a “sarcophagus” and its intention is to limit any further release of radioactive material. The main problem with the cleanup effort is that within this sarcophagus large holes and cracks are being discovered. Because of these cracks radioactive dust is escaping out into the environment. The Ukrainian authorities have been trying to find solutions for this problem and are seeking help from international communities.4
Since the disaster more than 300,000 people have been forced to move and have been relocated outside of the contaminated area. This may have been the best and only option in terms of exposure to radiation but the psychological distress that this relocation has caused is huge. To date, the impact on mental health is the largest public health problem resulting from the accident. Greenfacts.org states that “The affected populations are very anxious about the effect of radiation on health, and through their behavior, they may transfer that anxiety to their children…Although they are worried about their health, many residents take risks such as eating food from contaminated forests, smoking and drinking.”6
Some of the positives that can be taken from the Chernobyl accident include better knowledge on reactor safety. Automatic shut down mechanisms now operate faster, and other safety mechanisms have been improved. Automated inspection equipment has also been installed. A repetition 1986 Chernobyl accident is now virtually impossible, according to a German nuclear safety agency report.7
The Chernobyl disaster was an event that hopefully with new technology will never be repeated. The regions in and around the Ukraine and more specifically Chernobyl may never be the same because of it. The land itself is forever changed and the agriculture that was wiped out is not recoverable. The continued monitoring of the area is the best solution we can have to gain knowledge on nuclear health and affects that nuclear waste and disasters has on life on earth. The exact number of lives affected by it is a number that we will never know. Twenty plus years has passed since the Chernobyl disaster and the United Nations recognizes three to four million children that are suffering from that disastrous day in April of 1986.8 The worldwide change that has come about since the disaster is the only positive thing we can take from it. The updated nuclear technologies and safety measures that can be attributed to Chernobyl came with one huge price, human life.
Some images of the Chernobyl Nuclear Disaster.
The first two are images of the destruction the disaster had left.
The next two (from left to right) is the Chernobyl reactor and the second a nuclear explosion.
The following images contain a medal for services helping with the Chernobyl Disaster and an overhead view of the area affected.
The final image is an image of the affects the radation had on people, especially young children.
