You may not of known that nuclear disasters can cause health effects but they really do! One of the worst nuclear disasters was Chernobyl. I’ll be telling you how it happened, the health effects it caused, and Chernobyl today.
It happened on April 25, 1986, at the nuclear power plant at Chernobyl, Soviet Union. More than thirty people were killed immediately. The radiation release was thirty to forty times of the atomic bombs dropped on Japan during World War II. Tons of people were ultimately evacuated from the most heavily contaminated zone surrounding Chernobyl. Radiation spread to almost all of Europe and Asia; the world first learned of the disaster when a nuclear facility in Sweden recorded abnormal radiation levels. The people there didn’t report what had happened.
Chernobyl had four RBMK-type reactors. These reactors are bad from instability at low power and easily go to fast, hard to control power increases. The accident happened as workers were testing reactor number four. The test was being conducted wrong. Six control rods were in place despite orders stating that a minimum of thirty rods were needed to maintain control, and the reactor's emergency cooling system had been shutdown as part of the test. An operator error caused the reactor's power to drop below certain levels, setting off a power surge that caused fuel rods to rupture, starting explosions that first destroyed the reactor core and then blew apart the reactor’s massive steel and concrete containment structure.
People were affected by the radiation in two different ways, either externally radioactive materials in the air and on the ground, or internally by breathing in the radioactive materials or possibly eating food that was exposed to the radioactive air. The amount of radiation absorbed is in the unit gray (Gy), the absorbed dose in the body of a few grays can cause acute radiation syndrome, ARS. This happened with a few Chernobyl workers. The doses of radiation from workers ranged from 2-20 Gy, which for some was fatal. Thyroid cancer affected many younger people who lived around the contaminated areas. This was because of high levels of radioactive iodine which was released from the reactor. “Radioactive iodine was deposited in pastures eaten by cows who then concentrated it in their milk which was subsequently drunk by children.” "Health Effects of the Chernobyl Accident: An Overview." WHO. Web. 12 Jan. 2016. Since radioactive iodine lives for short time had they just stopped giving locally supplied containmed milk to children the growth in radiation-induced thyroid cancer wouldn’t of happened. 5,000 cases in the containment areas have been reported to date, affecting children up to age 18. Fortunately treatment is very effective however they have to take medicine for the rest of their lives to replace the loss of thyroid function. There was a 2400 percent increase in cases of thyroid cancer. Mental symptoms …show more content…
There are even hotels in the Exclusion Zone. Visits are very strict and include security checks and strictly guided tours. They have to sign a disclaimer warning them not to touch anything or even sit on the ground. There’s body scanners that check for high levels of radiation. If it finds something an alarm will sound and the person is sweeped for radioactive dust before they are able to
It happened on April 25, 1986, at the nuclear power plant at Chernobyl, Soviet Union. More than thirty people were killed immediately. The radiation release was thirty to forty times of the atomic bombs dropped on Japan during World War II. Tons of people were ultimately evacuated from the most heavily contaminated zone surrounding Chernobyl. Radiation spread to almost all of Europe and Asia; the world first learned of the disaster when a nuclear facility in Sweden recorded abnormal radiation levels. The people there didn’t report what had happened.
Chernobyl had four RBMK-type reactors. These reactors are bad from instability at low power and easily go to fast, hard to control power increases. The accident happened as workers were testing reactor number four. The test was being conducted wrong. Six control rods were in place despite orders stating that a minimum of thirty rods were needed to maintain control, and the reactor's emergency cooling system had been shutdown as part of the test. An operator error caused the reactor's power to drop below certain levels, setting off a power surge that caused fuel rods to rupture, starting explosions that first destroyed the reactor core and then blew apart the reactor’s massive steel and concrete containment structure.
People were affected by the radiation in two different ways, either externally radioactive materials in the air and on the ground, or internally by breathing in the radioactive materials or possibly eating food that was exposed to the radioactive air. The amount of radiation absorbed is in the unit gray (Gy), the absorbed dose in the body of a few grays can cause acute radiation syndrome, ARS. This happened with a few Chernobyl workers. The doses of radiation from workers ranged from 2-20 Gy, which for some was fatal. Thyroid cancer affected many younger people who lived around the contaminated areas. This was because of high levels of radioactive iodine which was released from the reactor. “Radioactive iodine was deposited in pastures eaten by cows who then concentrated it in their milk which was subsequently drunk by children.” "Health Effects of the Chernobyl Accident: An Overview." WHO. Web. 12 Jan. 2016. Since radioactive iodine lives for short time had they just stopped giving locally supplied containmed milk to children the growth in radiation-induced thyroid cancer wouldn’t of happened. 5,000 cases in the containment areas have been reported to date, affecting children up to age 18. Fortunately treatment is very effective however they have to take medicine for the rest of their lives to replace the loss of thyroid function. There was a 2400 percent increase in cases of thyroid cancer. Mental symptoms …show more content…
There are even hotels in the Exclusion Zone. Visits are very strict and include security checks and strictly guided tours. They have to sign a disclaimer warning them not to touch anything or even sit on the ground. There’s body scanners that check for high levels of radiation. If it finds something an alarm will sound and the person is sweeped for radioactive dust before they are able to