Maria+Duran

In memory of those affected by the Chernobyl Accident. 2008

Researcher: Maria Duran Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology  **//What were the consequences of the failure?//**
 * Chernobyl - **** A Global Catastrophe- **
 * //Inquest://**

//**Objective:**//
 * Answer the question assigned by the group in a profound and detailed approach. Evaluate and analyze the data in order to conclude with a strong research.


 * Table of Contents**

Changes to the Soviet Union || 4 ||
 * Introduction/Effects /Contamination ||  1  ||
 * Today/Statistics ||  2  ||
 * Chernobyl Time Line || 3 ||
 * As a result;


 * Source Citation **

//"Chernobyl accident - Ukraine: 1986." When Technology Fails. Ed. Neil Schlager. Online ed. Detroit: U*X*L, 2008. Student Resource Center - Gold. Web. 22 Apr. 2010. //

//"** Chernobyl Accident **." ////Encyclopædia Britannica ////. ////Encyclopædia Britannica Online ////. Encyclopædia Britannica, 2010. Web. 20 Apr. 2010 <[]>. //

//"**Ukraine**." ////Encyclopædia Britannica ////. ////Encyclopædia Britannica Online ////. Encyclopædia Britannica, 2010. Web. 20 Aapr. 2010 < ////[] ////<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 8pt;">>. //

//Bryan,// Nichol. //**Chernobyl: Nuclear Disaster**//. Milwaukee, WI: World Almanac Library, 2004. 3343. Print.

//<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 7pt;">Photograph by REUTERS/Damir Sagolj //


 * <span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Chernobyl was classified **<span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> as "The <span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> worst accident in the history of nuclear power generation <span style="background: white; color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">" by the article "Chernobyl accident  <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">" published on Encyclopedia Britannica. However, according to the article “ Chernobyl accident - Ukraine: 1986” by Neil Schlager only thirty-one people died immediately, in addition to another 299 who were injured at the accident. Schlager also claim that “About 135,000 residents were evacuated from the area within eighteen miles (29 kilometers) of the damaged plant, and later another 200,000 from other areas.”(Schlager)


 * After the accident** two hundred people were hospitalized immediately. Most were firefighters and rescue personnel involved in the work to control the accident. An estimated 135,000 people were evacuated from the area, including 50,000 residents of Pripyat, Ukraine. (Chernobyl Accident)

However**, Chernobyl contamination** did not spread evenly over the adjacent regions, but was unevenly distributed by the wind. The 2006 TORCH report stated that half of the airborne particles were deposited outside Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. A large area of the Russian Federation south of Bryansk was also contaminated, as well as parts of northwestern Ukraine.
 * Chernobyl accident also produced  **  a radioactive cloud which spread over most of Europe. Initial evidence showed that a serious leak of radioactive material affected other countries, as far as France and Italy. The article "Chernobyl Accident" Stated that   between 50 and 185 million curies of radionuclide escaped into the atmosphere, several times more radioactivity than that created by the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Chernobyl's accident contamination also affected farmers who also noticed that their livestock were dying of strange deseases. The birthrate of farm animals also began to drop, many cows and cheep were born with birth defects. Among the cows that survived, milk production dropped sharply and much of the milk that was produce had very high levels of radioactive to drink. ( //Bryan)//

In **an effort to cover up** the exploded reactor workers began to build an enormous sarcophagus over the damaged plant. Schlager furthermore stated that workers used steel-and-concrete tomb to isolate the ruins of Unit 4 because it will keep producing hazardously high levels of radiation for hundreds of years. However, the first covering did not last quite long, because by 1992, it had cracked and had begun to leak radioactive material into the environment. Therefore the Ukrainian government found it necessary to make plans for a second shell, stronger than the first, to install on top of the original sarcophagus. (Schlager)

Without doubt the **Chernobyl disaster severely affected the environment**, The "Ukraine" article also published on Encyclopedia Britannica, established that a large amount of land are contaminated by dangerous short- and long-lived radioactive isotopes, notably strontium-90, which can replace calcium in foods and become concentrated in bones and teeth. "Ukraine" also affirmed that "Contaminated agricultural lands near Chernobyl will be unsafe for thousands of years, though some of these areas continue to be occupied and farmed." (Ukraine 8)

Schlager quoted an American nuclear expert said, "Most of the lessons from Chernobyl have been learned already and applied in the United States." He also said that “The final legacy of the Chernobyl accident is probably its impact on opinion worldwide about nuclear power.” (Schlager)

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">CHERNOBYL TODAY //<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 7pt;">Photograph by REUTERS/Damir Sagolj // <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> Over the last twenty years, a large number of **health effects** have been attributed to The Chernobyl accident, including reduced fertility, increased incidence of stillbirths, birth defects, Down’s syndrome and infant mortality. ( **// Ukraine) //** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> According to L <span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Swiss721BT-RomanCondensed; msobidifontfamily: Swiss721BT-RomanCondensed;">an Fairlie, and David Sumner, authors of “ <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">The Other Report on Chernobyl” <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">9, 500 people still remain in zones of compulsory evacuation, they also mentioned that for these people, life is very difficult. “They lack all infrastructures, all services, the right for land use, and all medical care. They are subject to very high exposures from radioactive contamination.” (Torch)

Most young families abandoned these lands independently without assistance and a dramatic ageing of the population took place. In 2004, more than 2,320,000 Chernobyl survivors continued to receive periodic medical examinations. The Ukraine National Registry system has registered all Chernobyl survivors and has commenced automatic long-term health monitoring. (Torch)

By January 2005, the Registry had compiled information on 2,240,000 persons. The percentage of the adult population diagnosed ill after medical examination, is constantly growing. At present, 94% of accident liquidators, 89% of evacuees; 85% of residents of radioactively contaminated territories, and 79% of children directly or indirectly affected by the accident are officially considered ill under the Ukraine National Registry. (Torch)

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">What’s even sadder is that “These indices, although very large, could in fact be worse if screening were carried out thoroughly. But there is neither the finance nor political will for thorough screening in Ukraine.” (Torch)


 * <span style="color: #17365d; font-family: 'BankGothic Lt BT','sans-serif'; font-size: 36pt;">Chernobyl **
 * <span style="color: #17365d; font-family: 'BankGothic Lt BT','sans-serif';">TIME LINE **
 * 1970 || Work begins on the Chernobyl Nuclear Facility ||
 * 1979 || Secret Document warns soviet leaders of a dangerous design flaws in the Chernobyl reactors ||
 * 1986 ||  ||   || April 25 || Technicians begin a test on Unit 4 Reactor ||   ||   ||   ||
 * April 26 || Unit 4 explodes, destroying the reactor, and releasing radioactivity into the air ||
 * April 27 || Evacuation Begins (Residents near Chernobyl) ||
 * April 28 || Swedish authorities detect radioactive fallout coming from the Soviet Union ||
 * April 30 || Soviets reveal first details of the Chernobyl Accident ||
 * May 3 || Evacuation of 75,000 residents living within 19 mile of Chernobyl Begins ||
 * May 9 || Firefighters finally extinguish the graphite fire in the reactor ||
 * November || A 300,000 ton containment building around Unit 4 is completed. However, Chernobyl Units 1 and 3 returns to operation. ||

<span style="color: black; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 8pt; msoansilanguage: EN; msofareastfontfamily: 'Times New Roman'; text-align: center;">Bryan, Nichol. //Chernobyl: Nuclear Disaster//. Milwaukee, WI: World Almanac Library, 2004. 3343. Print.
 * 1987 || December: Chernobyl Unit 3 returns to operation. ||
 * 1991 || Soviet Union Falls: Ukraine and Belarus become independent nations. ||
 * 1996 || Industrialized nations agree to help Ukraine and Belarus shut down the reactors at Chernobyl. ||
 * 2000 || Unit 3- Last reactor- is shut down ||

As a result; Changes to the Soviet Union As a result the Chernobyl accident brought changes to the Soviet Unions. // Bryan,  //<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;"> Nichol explained on his book **__ Chernobyl: Nuclear Disaster __**** that “ ** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Government leaders fired several top officials in the nuclear power industry”. The Soviet Union also took authority for nuclear power away from the electric power Ministry and created a new Ministry of Nuclear Power. Bryan stated that it wasn’t until 1987 when “the director of the Chernobyl facility and his two deputies were put on trial” They were found guilty of what he quoted “gross violations of safety regulations which led to the explosion”. As a result the three were sentenced to serve ten years in a labor camp. (Bryan)