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Chernobyl Disaster: Radiation's Impact

The Chernobyl disaster in 1986 was the worst nuclear power plant accident in history. During a systems test at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine, there was an unexpected power surge and explosions, exposing the reactor core. This caused a fire that sent radioactive fallout into the atmosphere over Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, and parts of Europe. Over 350,000 people were evacuated from contaminated areas, and up to 4,000 deaths are estimated to be attributable to the accident due to radiation exposure and health effects. Large areas of Europe remained contaminated with radioactive materials like iodine-131 and cesium-137 from the burning reactor.

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Jude Fabellare
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17 views3 pages

Chernobyl Disaster: Radiation's Impact

The Chernobyl disaster in 1986 was the worst nuclear power plant accident in history. During a systems test at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine, there was an unexpected power surge and explosions, exposing the reactor core. This caused a fire that sent radioactive fallout into the atmosphere over Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, and parts of Europe. Over 350,000 people were evacuated from contaminated areas, and up to 4,000 deaths are estimated to be attributable to the accident due to radiation exposure and health effects. Large areas of Europe remained contaminated with radioactive materials like iodine-131 and cesium-137 from the burning reactor.

Uploaded by

Jude Fabellare
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

How does nuclear waste get to you?

The planet's water cycle is the main way radiation gets spread about the
environment. When radioactive waste mixes with water, it is ferried through this
water cycle. Radionuclides in water are absorbed by surrounding vegetation and
ingested by local marine and animal life. Radiation can also be in the air and can
get deposited on people, plants, animals, and soil. People can inhale or ingest
radionuclides in air, drinking water, or food. Depending on the half life of the
radiation, it could stay in a person for much longer than a lifetime. The half life is
the amount of time it takes for a radioactive material to decay to one half of its
original amount. Some materials have half-lives of more than 1,000 years!

Paths of Radiation to the Body


Chernobyl disaster
The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear accident that occurred on 26 April 1986, at
the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine (then in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist
Republic, part of the Soviet Union). It is considered the worst nuclear power plant
accident in history and is the only level 7 event on the International Nuclear Event
Scale.

The disaster occurred on 26 April 1986, at reactor number four at


the Chernobylplant, near the town of Pripyat, during an unauthorized systems test.
A sudden power output surge took place, and when an attempt was made at
emergency shutdown, a more extreme spike in power output occurred which led to
a reactor vessel rupture and a series of explosions. This event exposed the graphite
moderator components of the reactor to air and they ignited; the resulting fire sent
a plume of radioactive fallout into the atmosphere and over an extensive area,
including Pripyat. The plume drifted over large parts of the western Soviet Union,
and much of Europe . As of December 2000, 350,400 people had been evacuated
and resettled from the most severely contaminated areas of Belarus , Russia , and
Ukraine. According to official post-Soviet data, up to 70% of the fallout landed
in Belarus.
Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus have been burdened with the continuing and
substantial decontamination (The cloud from the burning reactor spread many
types of radioactive materials, especially iodine-131 and caesium-137) and health
care costs of the Chernobyl accident. A 2006 report prepared by the Chernobyl
Forum, led by the World Health Organization (WHO) states, "Among the 134
emergency workers involved in the immediate mitigation of the Chernobyl accident,
severely exposed workers and firemen during the first days, 28 persons died in
1986 due to ARS (Acute Radiation Syndrome), and 19 more persons died in 1987-
2004 from different causes. Among the general population affected by Chernobyl
radioactive fallout, the much lower exposures meant that ARS cases did not occur".
It is estimated that there will ultimately be a total of 4,000 deaths attributable to
the accident, due to

The 1986 Chernobyl disaster in the Ukraine was the world's worst nuclear power
plant accident, resulting in an estimated 4,056 deaths. Large amounts of radioactive
contamination were spread across Europe , iodine and cesium and strontium
contaminated many agricultural products, livestock and soil.

Advantage
- Nuclear power plants are more efficient and safer due to new technology.
- Reduces greenhouse gas emissions - no fossil fuels burnt.
- Running costs of power plants relatively low.
- Nuclear plants need only a small amount of uranium to produce a lot of energy - 1
truck of uranium produces as much energy as 1000 trucks of coal.
- Reduces need for imported energy sources.
- Reliable source of energy.

disadvantage
- Power plants are expensive to build
- Damages wildlife habitats
- Transportation of uranium is dangerous and causes CO² emissions
- Nuclear plants could be target for terrorist attacks
- Nuclear waste is dangerous
- Keeping people safe costs a lot of money.

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