International Chernobyl Day:

Nuclear disasters- lessons to be learnt

Ganga PRADEEPA

Disasters can happen in any time any place. Most of the times we are unable to control some disasters the first time. The Chernobyl nuclear disaster was one of the worst disasters of all time. Effects of the disaster are continuing to show as time passes and the amount of people still suffering is tremendous.

The Chernobyl disaster was a nuclear reactor accident in the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Ukraine, then part of the Soviet Union. It is considered to be the worst nuclear power plant disaster in history and the only level 7 instance on the International Nuclear Event Scale. It resulted in a severe release of radioactivity into the environment following a massive power excursion which destroyed the reactor.

On 26 April 1986, 01:23:45 a.m. reactor number four at the Chernobyl plant, near Pripyat in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, exploded. Further explosions and the resulting fire sent a plume of highly radioactive fallout into the atmosphere and over an extensive geographical area. Four hundred times more fallout was released than had been by the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.

This accident was the result of a flawed reactor design that was operated with inadequately trained personnel and without proper regard for safety. The resulting steam explosion and fire released at least five percent of the radioactive reactor core into the atmosphere and downwind.

Ranking as one of the greatest industrial accidents of all time, the Chernobyl disaster and its impact on the course of Soviet events can scarcely be exaggerated. No one can predict what will finally be the exact number of human victims.

Thirty- one lives were lost immediately. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians, Russians, and Belorussians had to abandon entire cities and settlements within the thirty-kilometer zone of extreme contamination. Estimates vary, but it is likely that some 3 million people, more than 2 million in Belarus' alone, are still living in contaminated areas. The city of Chernobyl' is still inhabited by almost 10,000 people. Billions of rubles have been spent, and billions more will be needed to relocate communities and decontaminate the rich farmland.

According to “Chernobyl Disaster as national catastrophes of Belarus� written by Jauhen Reshatau, “The impact of radiation on the human body is expressed in many ways, one of the most dangerous of which is the chromosome aberrations causing mutations. The mutations in the case of Chernobyl were mostly recessive, which means that their accumulative effect will not be obvious for several generations. However, cases of mutations in mammals and plants have already occurred in the contaminated area, and there have been a few cases of mutation in newly born children. But, again, the worst has yet to come.

The disaster at Chernobyl affected people all over the world and also affected various areas around the world due to the radiation leak. The effects of the accident were both local and worldwide. The wind carried the huge masses of radioactive particles all over the world. Europe was greatly affected by the disaster because bans had to be put on many foods which hurt the areas financially. Belarus, the country to the north of the accident suffered the worst.

According to "Chernobyl Trace in Belarus" written by Dzmitry Zelenke, "After the Chernobyl accident Belarus became a zone of ecological disaster. The situation got worse since the newly emerged areas of radioactive contamination coincided with the formerly existing areas of high chemical pollution. Radionuclide spreads from the areas to all regions of the Republic. But the trace of radiation has an extremely uneven, spotted nature".

The cause of the disaster was a malfunction within the plant that caused the radioactive core to become exposed. This caused a particle meltdown that let off large amounts of radioactive material. Many of the details of the accident are still unknown.

Some people believed the accident was caused because the operators were over confident in their decision making. Others said that there was a flaw in the design of the reactor and others blamed the accident on the safety systems. Further investigation showed that all three factors were involved.

This is the one place where you could understand how the world would be after a nuclear war. The plant is responsible for powering a huge area so needs to keep running. The area is still very contaminated. The estimated recovery time for this disaster is up to 130 years.

Future generations are sure to learn from this great disaster which occurred at Chernobyl.