April 26, 1986

 Timeline of the disaster Timeline of the disaster

What Happened at Chernobyl.doc  “Compare this scenario to a game tug of war. You are pulling as hard as you possibly can but going nowhere. Then suddenly the other team lets go and you are sent flying out of control.”

 ay/chernobyl ay/chernobyl

 The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station produced about 10% of the electricity used in Ukraine

 Destroyed Reactor 4  Boron and sand were poured on the reactor from the air  A “sarcophagus” was built around the damaged reactor

 I've heard that the sarcophagus which entombs the damaged reactor might collapse, spewing out radioactive debris and dust. I ask Mike Durst, a nuclear physicist at the IAEA, if it's true. He confirms that if there's a heavy snow fall it could. I'm pleased that winter's over. Mike spent three years onsite at Chernobyl in charge of a project to design the "new shelter" that will permanently enclose the damaged reactor for 100 years. Construction is scheduled to start next year. "The existing shelter was built very quickly when radiation levels were still extremely high. It was only expected to last about 20 years. There are no welded joins -- workers just couldn't get close enough. It was mostly put together with steal plates."

 Between April 26-Map 5, 1986: clouds of radioactive fallout were carried from Chernobyl to Scandinavia, then to Poland, Czechoslovakia, Austria, southern Germany, northern Italy

 Cloud reached the Balkans, Greece, Turkey  Even the United Kingdom was exposed to high levels of caesium contamination  Contamination still detected in plants and freshwater fish

 In Sweden: reindeer meat was affected  Warnings were still in effect in the 2000’s to not consume reindeer meat or mushrooms

 Considered to be the destructive potential of 100 atomic bombs being unleashed

 People were exposed to radiation both directly from the radioactive cloud and the radioactive materials deposited on the ground

 At least 600,000 workers have been involved with the cleanup activities  600 workers present at time of accident  134 received high radiation doses- suffered from acute radiation sickness

 An engineer said in an interview that “soldiers worked in shifts of seconds,”  “They only had time to throw one shovel full of radioactive material down the hole and run away. And for all that they gave them a certificate and 100 rubles. That about $25 today, for a man to receive a near lethal dose of radiation.”

 Contaminated milk- thyroids of many children have been heavily exposed to radioactive iodine  At least 100,000 people live in contaminated areas and receive a higher dose of radiation than the limit recommended for the general public

 It is difficult to state the number of deaths- people who have been exposed to low levels of radiation often die from same causes as unexposed people

 28 emergency workers died from acute radiation syndrome  Thousands of those who were children and adolescents at the time of the accident have developed thyroid cancer

 At least 7 million people have been affected in some way- cost hundreds of billions of dollars  Agricultural sector badly affected- great economics turmoil of 1990’s

 Relocation of 330,000 people  People who did stay have been affected because so many young and skilled people left

 They now have poor diets, unhealthy lifestyles, poverty, limited access to primary health care

 Greenpeace has estimated 90,000 will die from radiation cancer  Since many of the people believe they will die, they live with little regard for their health  Created a “culture of dependecy”

 Acute radiation effects: caused by exposure to radiation, occur immediately after the exposure  Acute radiation syndrome: serious illness after receiving high dose of radiation